Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-05-10
AMERICAN TOBACCO COMPANY
ATTACKED IN TRusT-RUsT.
ING cAMPAlGN.i
SEEKING TO DISSOLVE
TOBACCO COMBINATION
If Government Wins, Road Will Be
Open to Secure Dissolution Of Stand
ard Oil Trust-RepubIiean Senatorial
Insurgents Feeling Rather cocky
Over This Showing of Strength.
Especial Correspondence

Especial Correspondence
| Washington, May 10.-The most inn
portant trust-busting case now pend
ing, in the opinion of the waiting bus
mess interests of the country, is the
tobacco trust case.
That case is to be decided by the SUI
preme court some time the latter part
Of the present year, or early next year.
1t is understood in circles here which
maintain close relations with the big
powers of finacial New York that a
number of big things in finance are
awaiting word from the courts as to
this case
In the tobacco case the government
has sought to have the American To-
bacco Company thrown into the hands
Of federal receiver, for the purpose
Of administering its affairs and maxi
ing certain that the combination is dis
solved. This corporation is a huge
holding company, with control Of the
stocks Of an immense number of to-
bacco and related corporations. The
government case against it is based
on a vast deal of evidence gathered
from many sources, but resting on the
broad proposition that the concern is
a violation of the Sherman antitrust
law If the government shall win in
this case, there will be small doubt of
its success in the suit for dissolution
of the Standard Oil Company. The
evidence i'll both cases follows the
same lines, tho in some regards the
government has been able to secure
more complete and satisfactory evil
dence to sustain its theory, in the to-
hacco case than in that of Standard
Oil. The tobacco case is farther ahead,
having already gone up to the supreme
court, while the Standard Oil case has
but recently been submitted to the
circuit court at st. Louis. 1t is the
common expression that the decision
of one will be the decision of both, tho
this is declared by the lawyers not to
be by any means necessarily true.
To lose both cases would be, for the
government thorough beating in its
efforts to make the Sherman law eff
fective. To win both would be the sign
that that law has real vitality in it,
and can be applied to many other COM
binations.
The report Is that the big moneyed
interests which have recently been
gathering in the control or shifting the
ownership of various concerns, espe-
cially transportation companies, are
waiting to know what can properly be
done toward centralzing that control.
There Is report that a holding COM
pany project bigger than U. S. Steel
and bigger than Standar4, Oil or the
Hartman system, is in project for the
domination of the expanded Hartman
interests, including all the present
Hartman lines plus the Erie, New
York Central and probably other roads.
One story insists that Northern Pacific
is to go into this pool, Mr.. Hill being
declared to have acquiesced in such an
arrangement
Having mustered ten republican
votes on their first test vote on tariff
schedule-and that one of the weakest
points they have any expectation of
conference.-the republican senatorial
insurgents are feeling rather cocky
about their chances of doing things
when they come to some Of the bigger
propositions.
There is going to be a huge fight
over steel, another over glass, and a
third over sugar. That the steel sched-
ule will be further reduced as result
of the fight is now widely predicted,
for it is looked upon as the weakest
point in the finance committees armor.
| 1t is declared doubtful if any even of
the protectionists among the southern
senator's will break away from their
party on this subject, and the rebel
lious republicans are of the opinion
that there is a good chance Of the DEM
ocrats lining up solidly for a proposal
to cut the present steel duties about
30 per cent. turnout.
| Steel has it's militant supporters, but
| it has not certain advantages that SUI
gar, for instance, had. Senator AID
rich and the finance committee will be
thoroughly loyal to both, but sugar has
| the backing of a number of senators
because of the beet sugar interests in
their states, which It could not posi-
bly, hope to muster but for this condi-
ton. In fact, there Is no doubt what
ever that the sugar tariff would be
radically revised, in this effort to Sc
cure cheaper sugar and lop off some of
the trusts profits, If it were not for the
beets. The sugar beet has made many
a campaign in congress, and 1t is a
skilled and wary veteran; it. is just
now making one of its most important.
1t is doing all the work for the trust;
at least, all that can be seen on the
surface.
Investigators OF the sugar question
have experienced the greatest difficulty
In getting facts. They learn that the
processes Of sugar refining in this
country-known to be considerably
different from those Of other countries,