The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-06
Objects to the Repeal or Amendment of Sher-
 man Law
CLARK REFUSES TO
 DISCUSS MESSAGE
Reading of Message Interrupted By Applause From Republican Side. Senate Will Meet TOm0r-
 TOW and Adjourn
 Until Monday

Washington, December 5.-Presideni faft's message on the trusts was read in both branches of Congress today and was generally well received.
 The Presidents objection to the repea Of the sherman law was approved by some of the leaders on both sides, al though the democrats held that his first message should have dealt with the tariff
 Democratic Leader Underwood said the President and the administration were trying to overshadow the tariff with trust issues.
 'The message is an able one from the Presidents standpoint" said MT. Under wood, ''but we feel that the leading mes sage should have dealt with the tariff There seems to be an effort on the part of the President and the administration to force trust issues ahead.
 ''I am opposed to a repeal of the Sher- man law myself but there may be SUD- elemental legislation to define it. 1 do not think the House favors a federal in- corporation act"
 Speaker Clark said he could not dis cuss the message until he had studied it thoroughly.
 Republican Minority leader Mann of Illinois, who has not always agreed with the President praised the message.
 "It is probably the strongest utterance President Taft has ever made,'' he said, ''It shows that he is on the side of the people: that he is not controlled by the trusts, and that he doeS not wish to cause undue violence to proper combinations of capital
 In the House the reading of the mes Sage was interrupted by applause from the republican side.
 As the reading clerk was droning through the 10000 word volume a major ity of the members were following the reading from printed copies which had been distributed to their desks.
 The Senate heard the reading of the message with it's usual dignifled atten- tion and then adjourned in respect to the memories of Representatives Madison of Kansas and Latta of Nebraska, whose deaths were announced by a committee from the House.
 For a lack of something to do the Sem ate will not meet until Thursday after noon and will then adjourn until Mon day. The House will meet at midday tomorrow
 To the Senate and House of Representa-
 tives:
 This message is the first of several Which l shall send to Congress during the interval between the opening of it's regular session and it's adjournment for the Christmas holidays. The amount of in- formation to be communicated as to the operations of the government, the num- Der of important subjects calling for com Inent by the executive, and the transmits sion to Congress of exhaustive reports of special commissions. make it impossible to include in one message of a reasonable length a discussion of the topics that ought to be brought to the attention of the National Legislature at it's first regular session.
 The Antitrust Law-The Supreme
 Court Decisions
 In May last the supreme court handed down decisions in the suits in equity brought by the United States to eujoin the further. maintenance of the Standard Oil Trust and of the American Tobacco Trust, and to secure their dissolution. The decisions are epoch making and serve to advise the business world authorita- lively of the scope and operation of the antitrust act or lSy0. The ueclsloiS uo not depart in any substantial way from the previous decisions of the court in con- struing and applying this important stat ute, but they clarify those decisions by further defining the already admitted ex- captions to the literal construction of the act By the decrees, they furnish a use- full precedent as to the proper method of dealing with the capital and property of illegal trusts. These decisions suggest the T ~F, a1 l.. mental legislation to make it easier for the entire business community to square with the rule of action and legality thus finally established and to preserve the benefit freedom, and spur of reasonable competition without loss of real efficiency or progress. No Change in the Rule of Decision
 Merely in Its Form of Expression
 The statute in it's first section declare.