Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-03-12
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BEGINS MONDAY,
Standard Faces final Fipht
For Its Existence,
Most Serious Legal Battle
Yet Is Impending.
brilliant Array Of Counsel Before
united States Supreme Court.

mas ever raced will confront i, oay-
Monday. - AeN-
mat IS the day set by the supreme
court OF the United States to hear ar
si.!htlltS OF the appeal of the Standard
VII Co OF New Jersey from the nd.
verse judgment of the United States
circuit court for the Eastern DISTRICT
OF Missouri. which ordered the dissolu-
ton of the New Jersey corporation az
an Illegal combination and mOnOnolv
N restraint of interstate. commerce. To
point out the alleged errors OF the cir-
chii court in it's findings and in it's de-
cree, the keenest intellects within COM
mana nave been procured. To argue
'or the aftlrmance of the decision of the
lower court. Mr.. Wickersham, the at
'orhty general of the United States
himself will head brilliant array OF
counsel for the government.
The circuit court announced grave
findings against the seven individual
deirnuarts. John ID. RockefelIer, Will
nam f@ockeieilcr, Henry NJ. Flagler,
ii"hry Ia. Rogers, John d. Archbold,
ollY"r IL Payne and Charles NJ. Pratt,
;ho Standard oil Co. of New Jersey and
other def"ndant companies.
The court found that in 1899, by an
exchange Of stock by the seven indi-
viduals, TIE Standard Oil Co. of New
Jersey acquired the legal title to q
majority of the stock of 10 companies,
which in turn controlled large NUM-
her of others. all but one engaged in
the oil businss SIS
What is found as 10 this combination
WGS thiS:
That since 1899 the affairs of all these
companies have been managed by the
principal company as the business of a
single person, so as to fix for them the
price of crude oil. the rates for trans
portation ana tie selling prices Of it's
products.
That the par value of the combined
capital stock ir 1899 was about $780,
100000, and II at in 1903 it was $150.06O, =
600
That II OF these companies owned
54.565 miles of pipe lines.
That six OF these companies had 3574
sellmg stations throughout the United
States
That these companies from 1899 to
1907 produced more than one-tenth OF
tHN tthtit oii tIbthlie'd III tliiH touhei
That they owned and operated more
than one-half of all the tank cars used
10 distribute its products.
That they manufactured more than
-fourths OF all the crude oil re
fined in the United States.
That they transported more than
four-t ifths OF the petroleum. derived
from the Pennsylvania and Indiana oil
fields.
That they marketed more than four
frths Of all the Illuminating oil sold
in the United states.
That they exported more than four =
hfths OF all the illuminating oil sent
forth from the United States.
That they sold more than four-fifths
of all the naphtha sold in the United
States.
That they sold more than nine
tenths of all the lubricating oil sold
to railroad 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 first sec
clarcs is Illegal; that the seven individ-
ual defendants, the Standard Oil co.
of New Jersey and 80 other companies
had entered into q combination or
conspiracy to mnnopnlize and had IN
fact nonopniZed Il substantial part ot
Interstate commerce in VOCATION Oh
The second section of the sherman anu
trust :fct; tnaI 33 other companies ac-
cnscd were PROVEN not to hr IN thiS
combination.
The court cnjoined the principal COM
pany and its directors from exercising
any control over The subsidiary COM
panics: il enjnined the subsidiary com
panies from declaring or paying any
dividends to the principal company,
but not from distributing ratably to the
shareholders OF the principal company
tre stock Of the subsidiary company:
II onioined those found to he in the
illegal combination" from continuing
in II or forming now combination ny
means of aggregation Of the physical
nronerties in the hands of one member
Of tho combination. and forbade those
in the combination from engaging IN
Interstate commerce until the comhina-
ton was discontinued
The counsel arraycd in defence OF
the Standard Oil includes John G. Mill
burn. OF Buffalo. y. Y, in whose home
Mckinley died: n. T. watson and John
q Johnson. leaders of the Pennsylvania
bar: and Moritz Rosenthal, the legal
ni,lar of the Standard Oil interests. Oh
these johnson made the principal argu-
ment to the cuprerae court lii the de-
fence in the tobacco cases. The de-
fence mas urged that the corporations,
which entered into the organization OF
1900 had not been competitors since
1879: that the stockholders of the prin-
cipal company were the joint owners OF
tho stock of the subsidiary companies
and had the right to convert their
stock in the latter to the former IN
| trust for themselves, and Congress was
wihout mower to restrict their acquisi-
ton their method of holding or their
disposition of their title to their prop
erty or their use of il; that tpe corPor-
at;ons whose stock were invested in the
| standard Oil Co. of New Jersey are
| private corporations and not charged
with a public duty as were the raii-