Arizona republican., 1911-01-02
STANDARD OIL AND TOBACCO
Most Important Litigation Ever Brought to Court Arguments Will Also Be Made on Constitutional l. ity of Corporation Tax.

Washington. Jan. 1.-Prosecutions i by the government designed to ac-
 complish the dissolution of the Stand ard oil and of the American Tobacco organizations embOdying the greatest
 antitrust" fight of the generation. will be taken up for the second time ' by the supreme court of the United States at the beginning of it's work
 for the New Year. Continuing its IconsideratiOn Of affairs of government.
 the court will immediately afterwards give its attention to the constitution ality Of the corporation tax provisions of the Payne-Aldrich tariff act
 All three cases attracted world wide attention when first presented to the court about a year ago. With the ob- ject of procuring consideration by | full bench. they were set for re-argu- ment on January 8. Intervening cases will cause a delay until probably JanU- | ary ,, when it is believed the argu-
 ments in the Tobacco case will begin.
 The Standard oil and the corporation
 tax arguments will follow. About three days will be required for each. The Standard oil and the Tobacco cases put the Sherman antitrust law
 to the most crucial test to which it
 has been subjected during the twenty years of its existence. The corpora tion tax cases place on trial the power of the federal government over cor porations The contention has been
 made that if the Standard oil and To-
 bacco organizations are dissolved the government will be forced to license corporations in order to allow legiti
 mate business to be carried on. The corporation tax decision may define the power of the federal government over corporations so as to guide this proposed subsequent legislation. Inci- dentally, about S25.000.0O0 anually in
 taxes depend upon the decision. Although the tobacco case is to be argued first, the Standard oil suit has attracted more attention. Attorney General Wickersham has referred to the Standard oil case as probably the most important that ever came before the court.
 The Standard oil suit was institut- ed in 1906 in the circuit court of the United States for the eastern division of the eastern judicial district of Ms
 souri, The federal government was the complaining party. It claimed that the Standard oil Company of New Jersey, as a holding company. acquired since
 1899 and held by direct stock owner ship. 65 companies. These 65, it was alleged. owned the stock of 49 other companies. making a total of 114 com panies. The government asked that this organization be dissolved under the sherman antitrust law.
 A year was taken by the four judges
 in the circuit court to pass on the case. By unanimous agreement, decree was entered by the court dissolving the or ganization because it was in restraint of interstate commerce" and because
 it was attempting to monOpolize." Be fore the decree became effective an ap- peal carried the case to the supreme court.
 The Tobacco case was instituted in | 1907 in the circuit court of the Unit ed States for the southern district of New York. The government here. too, was the complaining party. Allies in the various branches of the tobacco. business with combined assets of more than S4OO. .O0O. 900. constituted the or ganization which the government sought to have the court dissolve. The four judges each rendered sep arate opinions in the Tobacco case, but three of them united in a decree hold | ing many of the corporations had en- tered into a combination "in restraint of trade in violation of the first sec ton of the sherman antitrust act. These three decreed the dissolution of this combination. other corporations, including the United Cigar Stores company. the Imperial Tobacco cOm- pany and the British American TObac- co company. were found not to be in the combination. None were held to
 be "monopoliZing" in violation of the
 second section of the Sherman anti trust law.
 The application of the Sherman anti | trust law to these two organizations,
 involves not only an investigation into the facts. but includes an interpretation
 of the law itself. The principal uncer-
 tainties in regard to the law cluster around three words in the statute. i These words form the basis of three questions What is commerce.? What
 is restraint" of trade or commerce? and what is it to "monopOlize"? Around What is commerce?" the principal fight in the Tobacco case
 probably is to be found. The commerce whicb tha oOvarnp,ant cIainnc iS hainQ