The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-01-09
|UP DIN VIEWPOINT
RES I 6 OUTCOME
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NVill Court Take Ground Of
Northern Securities or Sugar
Rcfineries Case?
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or VITAL l.Mpo r TANG e.
"A Retrospective View Of Argu-
n,ents in Tobacco Trust
Litigation.
Especial to The 1lmes. pispatoh.l

/ Especial to The Timel. Dispatch.l
Washington, D. G.. January Sat
torney- General Beckett, of North Caro-
lima, left here to- night accompanied by
| Mrs. Bickett, for Raleigh. He had been
here to hear the argument IN the case
| OF the government against the Ameri-
| can Tobacco Company.
When asked what he thought would
| be the final outcome of tho case, Mr..
Beckett declared: This will depend
entirely upon the view that the court
takes upon the facts disclosed In tho
lrecord. If the court applies the prin-
| ciples Of the Northern Securities case
| to the facts in this case, then the
American Tobacco Company must be
dissolved. but IL the court applies the
principles OF the sugar refineries case,
then in order for the government to
get along. 1t must further appear that
| the defendants acquired their present
| holdings by Illegal methods. or for the
purpose of establishing a. monopoly.
| Upon this phase of the case the
question of method and motive Is
the determining one. The court
below seems to have acquitted
| the defendants of any improper
| or illegal methods, and 1t is sur
prising and disappointing that at
| the very point where the case of the
est. II is weakest Upon the whole. /
am of the opinion that the government
will win OUT, but just how far the
court will 60 or what remedy will be
applied ] would not venture to say. as
the argument developed a wide differ
ence OF opinion between great lawyers
as to just what the Sherman law
means. But the Attorney General in
his closing remarks truly expressed
I, A ~, ~t,k
on the subject when he said that the
shen1an law represented a settled con
viction Of the American people that II |
was better for some Limitation to be |
placed upon the expansion Of business
than for the individual Initiative of
our citizens to be destroyed One thing !
appears to be certain, and that is that |
the time has arrived when the trusts
must be good" or exceedingly careful.
What is the significance of your
visit at this timc?" Mr.. Bickett was |
asked.
or Vital Importance.
Why" said he "in all probability |
this generation will not see before the |
Supreme Court of the United States a |
case fraught with as much Importance
to the people of North Carolina as the |
case of the United States against the |
American Tobacco Company. For |
about three years the government has
been at work upon this case. IT has !
had force of lawyers, supported By an
army OF special agents. investigating |
every phase of the tobacco business
and the operation Of the American
Tobacco Company. a man high in
authority In Washington told me that
he supposed the government had not
spent far from 100000 In the develop
ment of this case. The case comes up |
to the Supreme Court upon a printed |
record comprising five volumes, each |
volume nearly as large as an average |
North Carolina report. In view of all |
these facts thought 1t well worth
while to come up and hear the argu-
ment on both sides OF the case"
| Asked about the impression made !
upon him by the argument, Mr.. Bick-
cit said:
Mr. 9IcReynoTds. the special Assist
ant Attorney General, who has had |
charge of the case from It's incipiency.
opened for the government. He is q
strong man with strong convictions. !
He has literally given himself-all |
that there is in hin1--to this case. ri
was easy to see that he was holding
tight rein on himself as he spoke,
and as his voice, vibrating with pent-
up feeling, rang through the chamber
one somehow thought Of Moses stand
ing in the court of Pharaoh pleading
for the freedom of his people. The
effectiveness of his speech was some
what weakened by his failure to sup
port his heavy onslanghts with an
array of facts from the records. More |
than once the court asked for specific
facts and the responses We're disap- |
pointing to those of us who were in
keen sympathy with the speaker.
Plausible, Not Convincing.
Delaney Nicol, OF New York.
opened for the defense. He Is a man
Of pleasing address, but his opening
was plausible rather than convincing.
lie said he proposed to give q sketch
or the birth and growth of the Amer
lean Tobacco Company and then for
Two hours and a. half he told the tale
Of the trust, When he finished ] felt
like l had been reading a little hook
my Sunday school teacher once gave
me entitled The Model Boy A North
Carolina professor of law sat beside
me, We acted as self-appointed UNI
pres on the debate. and we unani-
mously voted that w. w. Fuller or
Jun1us Parker would have made a [
much clearer and more forclble pref
Sentatlon OF the case for the defense.
The next speaker for the defense
was J, G. Johnson. justly esteemed a
giant OF tho bar. He made powerfully
speech lie plnnsed at once into tho I
heart of the controversy, resting his
case OH seven clear-cut legal PROPOSE 81
tons and supporting his positions
With coSent reasoning and ~ wealth
OF AUTHORITY Ills was he big speech,
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