New-York tribune., 1910-01-25
THE COMING TRUST DECISIONS.

THE COMING TRUST DECISIONS.
Some news articles represent business
circles as anxious lest the decisions Of
the Supreme Court in the Tobacco and
Standard Oil cases prove sweeping and,
taken together with the declared inten-
tion of the government to prosecute gen.
orally the offenders against the Sherman
act, produce disturbance to business.
But it is hard to see why any embar-
rasslnent should be expected from the
decisions or why business should be
unduly alarmed.
The attitude of the adminstra ton is
indicated in President Taft's recent
message on the interstate commerce
and antitrust laws and by Attorney
General Understands brief in the To-
Taft said:
II is possible for owners of a business
of manufacturing and selling useful ar
ticles of merchandise so to conduct their
business as not to violate the inhibitions
of the antitrust act and yet secure to
themselves the benefits of the economies
of management and Of production due
to the concentration under one control of
large capital and many plants. II they
use llO pSleI iuouCSlHSHl tlIdll lllt COu-
stant low price of their product and its
good quality to attract custom they vio-
late no law. But If they attempt
by use OF their preponderating capital
and by a sale of their goods temporarily
at unduly low prices to drive out Of
business their competitors, or if they at
tempt by exclusive contracts with their
patrons and threats of non-dealing eX-
cept upon such contracts, or by other
methods OF a similar character to use
the largenesS of their capital and the
extent of output compared with the total
output as means of compelling custom
and frightening off competition, then
they disclose a purpose to restrain trade
and to establish monopoly and violate
the act.
In other words, as the President in
terpretS the law and the decisions, mere
combination between previous competi-
tors is not forbidden. 1t is only the
abuse of the power which combination
gives that the law aims at.
That is also the construction the At
torney General puts upon the various
decisions of the United States Supreme
Court under the Sherman act which
he analyzes in his Tobacco case brief,
wherein he expressly disavows the ex
freme construction Of the law given by
Judge Lacombe when the Tobacco case
was before the Circuit Court.
The Supreme Court has passed on
many cases under the Sherman act and
there is little reason, therefore, to ex-
pect it to render now an opinion so
radically different in fundamental
aspects as TO compel the administration
to alter it's general view that the law
does not forbid combinations that do
not resort to oppression. Some may in
terpret the coming decisions as drastic.
just as others-for example, Judge La
combe-have taken the view that pre-
vious decisions are more sweeping in
their condemnation Of combinations
than Mr.. Taft and his Attorney Cen
eral consider them to be- But the opin-
ion OF other lawyers viii naturally not
guide the administration. and from the
programme implied in the message and
the brief Of not interfering with COM
bnations which are not oppressive
either TO the public or to their COM
petitors legitima teiy conducted business
has nothing to fear.