Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-04-02
PRESIDENT SAID TO KNOW GOV
ERNMENT WILL WIN TRUST
CASES IN COURT.
KNOWING WHAT is COMING,
IN NO HURRY TO FILL VACANCY
Confident That Decisions of
Supreme Court in Standard Oil and
Tobacco Cases Will Be Against Al
legged Trusts-specuIation as to Eff
fects on Rail Corporations.
Especial Correspondence

Washington, April 2.-The announce
ment which is traced directly to the
White House that President Taft will
not name successor to Justice Brewer,
of the supreme court, for several weeks
and perhaps months, is looked upon in
official Washington as a straight tip
! to business interests that the president
knows that the forthcoming decisions
in the Standard Oil and tobacco trust
cases are going to be favorable to the
government.
President Taft. it is generally be-
lieved by public men, knows more
| about what is going ON in the supreme
court than did his predecessor. Mr.
Roosevelt. The relations between Pres
ident Roosevelt and the veterans of the
supreme bench We're VIGOROUSLY bad
Mr.. Roosevelt was impatient with
| many of the methods and views of the
| great court. He didn't quite understand
the court, and the court didn't at all
understand him. Consequently Presi-
dent Roosevelt was likely to be quite
as innocent concerning the tenor of a
coming decision, as the humblest man
in the street.
On the other hand Mr.. Taft has
maintained very amicable relations
with the court. For many years his
highest ambition was to be a supreme
judge, and without exception the mem
bers of the court would have been
pleased to receive him as an associate.
Reason For Conclusions.
Reasoning from these well-known
facts, people in Washington are con-
WINGED that President Taft~knows that
the government is going to win pretty
decisive victories in the two great
pending Sherman law cases. People
who have talked with him since JUS
tice Brewers death are convinced that
he has the best of reasons for believing
the government is going to win.
The president has announced, indi-
rectiy, that he will not hasten to fill
the vacancy on the supreme bench. He
is satisfied to let the court decide the
pending cases without having a full
bench. This has been accepted as the
best possible evidence that he knows
the pending cases are going to be de-
cided by something like a unanimous
court, and in favor of the government.
If this reasoning is correct-and it
the serious problems in which a strict
construction Of the antitrust law
would involve both business and leg
islation. are likely to be preciptated
soon. The tobacco trust case is ex-
pected to be decided within short
time and to foreshadow the Standard
Oil decision. Thus the whole question
of future policy with regard to the
great cornora tionS would he tossed in
to the congressional campaign of the
coming autumn, and would not be de-
MED consideration. Conservative con-
stituencies would expect conservative
declarations from candidates, and in
pirants to office would vie with eacf,
other in the enthusiasm of their anti
trust pronouncements.
May Hit Railroads.
More than all this, the people in
charge of the railroad rate legislation
at this session are wondering whether
the court will say anything about the
tobacco trust which will have a bear
ing on the railroad question. The rail-
road law has much to do with the
same set of constitutional questions
that will be involved in the trust de-
cisions. Consequently the people in
charge of the railroad bin are Begin
ming to realize that if they get their
measures framed up, and then the SUI
preme court comes along with the to-
| bacco trust decision, it may be neces-
sary before the end of this session to
make over the railroad bill. The posi-
bilities of embarrassment and difficult
! ty in short are just beginning to be