The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1910-03-22
The Most important of All the
Trust Cases Has Been
Submitted.
THE CASE WILL BE HISTORIC
American Business interests Are
Awaiting Ruling of Court
of Last Resort.

ments have been concluded in the Su-
preme Court of the United States in the
matter of the appeal from the, Missouri
decision which ordered the dissolution
of the Standard Oil Company, and this
greatest of the antitrust cases is now
in the hands of the highest court in the
land. The legal battle was the most
serious that the Standard Oil Company
ever faced, and the decision in this
case, and in the tobacco trust case, is
awaited with great anxiety by big bust
ness interests all over the country. The
United States circuit court of the east
ern district of Missouri ordered the dis
solution of the Standard Oil Company,
declaring it an illegal combination and
monopoly in restraint of interstate com
merce. The keenest legal intellects
within command were procured for the
STANDARD Oil side of the case, while
Attorney General Wickersham himself
headed a brilliant array of counsel for
the government. The decision will
mark an epoch in the antitrust cam
paign.
The circuit court announced grave
findings against seven individual de-
PENDANTS, John d. Rockefeller, William
Rockefeller, Henry NJ. Flagler, Henry
H. Rogers, John D. Archbold, Oliver III.
Payne and Charles NJ. Pratt, the Stand
ard Oil Company of New Jersey and
other defendant companies.
The court found that in 1899, by an
exchange of stock by the seven in
dividuals, the Standard Oil Company of
New Jersey acquired the legal title to
majority of the stock of nineteen COM
panies, which in turn controlled large
number of others, all but one engaged
in the oil business.
What it found as to this combination
was this:
That since 1899 the affairs of all
these companies have been managed by
the principal company as the business
of single person, so as to fix for them
the price of crude oil, the rates for
transportation and the selling prices of
its products.
That the par value of the combined
capital stock in 1899 was about $780,
100000, and that in 1908 it was $780,
100000.
That twelve of these companies own.
ed 54,565 miles of pipelines.
That six of these companies had 3574
NtillHS obdLiOuo thiouShoub " hisSN
States.
That these companies from 1899 to
1907 produced more than onetenth of
the crude oil obtained in this country.
That they owned and operated more
than one-half of all the tank cars used
to distribute its products.
That they manufactured more than
three. fourths of all the crude oil refined
in the limited States
That they transported more than four
fifths of the petroleum derived from
the Pennsylvania and Indiana oil fields.
That they marketed more than four
1ifths of all the Illuminating oil sold
in the United States.
That they exported more than four
iifshs of all the Illuminating oil sent
forth from the United States.
That they sold more than nine tenths
of all the lubricating oil sold to rail
road companies in the United States.
On this finding the court decreed:
That the organization of 1899 was a
combination or conspiracy in restraint
of interstate commerce in petroleum and
its products, such as the fiist section
of the Sherman antitrust act declares
is illegal; that the seven individual
defendants, the Standard Oil Company
of New Jersey and thirty-nine other
companies had entered into combi-
nation or conspiracy to monopolize, and
lad in fact monopolized, substantial
part of interstate commerce in violation
of the second section of the Sherman
antitrust act; that thirty-three other
companies accused were proven not to
be in this combination.
The court enjoined the principal COM
pany and its directors from exercising
any control over the subsidiary COM
panies; it enioined the subsidiary com
panies fom declaring or paying any divi-
dends to the principal company, but not
from distributing ratably to the share
holders of the principal company the
stock of the subsidiary company; it en-
Joined those found to be in the "illegal
combination" from continuing in 1t or
forming new combination by means of
aggregation of the physical properties
in the hands of one member of the
combination. and forbade those in the
combination from engaging in inter.
state commerce until the combination
was discontinued.
The counsel arrayed In defense Of tho
Standard oil included John q. Milbnrn,
OF Buffalo, N. ", ia whose home Mo,
Kinley died; d. 4. Watson and John q.
johnson. leaders OF the Pennsylvania
bar, aud Morts llosenihal, the legal pill
lar Of the STANDARD oil interests. OF
these johnson made the principal 6rgn.
ment TO the Supreme Court IN the de.
Tense IN the tobacco cases. The defense
has urged that the corporations, which
entered Into the Organization Of 1899,
mad moi been eompetii0Ts since 1879
hist The oekAolden of tho pTlnelpal
company we're tho lelni owners VI the
sioel VI The sshFlalAFy companies and
had tbs flghl % convey ilelf stock ia
The later 40 the former Ia trust for
then selves, and eongTeas Nas without
pnneI b. restrict their acquisition, their
naihaa " holding a. their disposition
~ lhflg llflf - iheig properly IL their
pse u Il lAhl ihe fnfppg Ailons ahesa
1lafi Nas lhfasisl IL H. hianaef4 nll
tHmpaas u hfr dffaeY ale pHfaie
fAlfsfsl iana $40 hai Charged : u >
HHfaIf dsfF a. ais ia faitI4aaE IL fla