The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-01-04
THE CRIME OF THE TOBACCO TRUST.

ton correspondent of the New York
Herald says
No attempt is mad to lay down
the bounds of the antitrust laws IN
the brief which the government fIeo
in the appeal Of the American To-
bacco Company from the decision OF
the Circuit Court Of the Southern dis
trict Of New York, declaring 1t TO pc
a combination in restraint of trade.
1t is held, however, that if the express
terms of the Sherman act limit It's
prohibitions to the unreasonable re-
straint of commerce the case in point
would clearly fall within that pro-
vision.
Going directly to the case to be
heard the attorney general holds that
if duress, oppression and wicked ana
unfair methods are e~ssential to a vio-
lation Of the act they all appear. I'm
less Industrial corporations and
monopolies brought about through
corporations are exempt he finds that
the defendants are f~agrantly in con-
flict with the law.
Since the case is the first in the
administration of President Taft to
be tried before the Supreme Court of
the United States by his attorney gem
eral the brief is accepted as in a
measure rejecting the with
which the President will conduct his
legal warfare against the trusts.
In the lower court the decree dis
missed the petition as to individuals,
the United Cigar Stores Company, the
Imperial Tobacco Company and the
British-American Company and sub
salaries. The other defendants were
adjudged combinations in restraint of
trade and e%njOined. Issuance Of in
junction was suspended pending APP
peal to the Supreme Court.
1T is held by the Department Of
T,,c4;a, -, SIC - =, ,1f - - @l, 1,-x
that the Sherman act requires the
court to prevent and restrain lola
TONS not merely to pass upon the
history of past transactions. 1t hits
at q contention Of the appellants when
it says that afte~ the purpos of a
combination or attempt to monopo-
lie has become effective it would be
idle to inveigh against the
means by which it was accomplished
or eniOin the use of methods success
full in the past, but no longer neces-
sary. The courts should destroy the
foundations of the existing lawful
power, says the brief, and thereby it
aims at the very groundwork of the
trust.
almost satirical, the brief asks:-
If ones house were being lotted, he
would find small comfort in an i%njunc-
ton (hoWeVer fierce it's termS) which
merely restrained the robbers from
liz oAAiS TX 1duACl liz Z
them in
"Direct, vigorous blows against vital
points are held to be imperative when
dealing with powerful, determined
l~aW-breakers. This is aimed at the
contention hat the Sherman law
no application to those actually exc
cuted.
In other words, to attempt is pc
nal says the brief, but success gives
complete immunity
Coming to the question of reme-
dies, two possible effective ones are
suggested. The first is the e%njoining
Of the corporation from doing inter
state or foreign business until it can
show that it's affairs have been read
juSted SO as to make its operations
lawful. The second is that a receiver
take possession of the business and
by proper action restore the oppOrtu-
mites for competition. The latter is
recommended when the first would
unreasonably Inconvenience the pub
lie
This paper has, from the early ra-
pacity Of this trust. pointed out that
it was an outlaw Of was
destroying the chance of young men
who wished TO engage in the business,
taking the tobacco of the farmer at
it's own price, preventing the nat
ural expansion Of tobacco manu-
facture in the tobacco districts.
and had become a menace to
the prosperity Of every section
dependent upon the tobacco industry.
l Public sentiment has been stronger
than official sentiment, but both have
, been too weak, and the trust has gone
on IL, ifc i1lopol ,,,.+;.z
: prosecution that regard for the law
, ana the Just rights of the people de-
/, handed When the terms employed
S in the Governments brief are COM
pared with those used by this paper.
we are surprised at our moderation"
: The brief is unanswerable. The DAYS