Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-05-16

CO1A DAAdllOA WHICH IL cl1tASO was q
menace to the Industrial and econo-
mic advancement Of the entire coun-
try.
DECISION Is LIMITED.
At the same time the court inter-
preted the Sherman antitrust law
SO as to limit its application to acts
of undue" restraint Of trade and
not every restraint Of trade.
Il was on this point that the only
discordant note was heard in the
court. Justice Harlan dissented,
claiming that cases already decided
by the court had determined once fo-
all that the word undue" or "In-
reasonable" or similar words, were
not in the statute. He declared that
the reasoning Of the court in arriving
at its finding was in effect legisla-
ton which belonged in every instance
to congress and not to the courts.
HONEST BUSINESS SAFE.
Ever since the decree in this case
in the lower court the United States
circuit court for the eastern district
Of Missouri, was announced, hope
has been expressed by the business
world" that the law would be modi-
fed So as not to interfere with what
was designated as honest business.
Tonight that section of the opinion
calling for the use Of the rule OF rea-
son in applying for the law is re-
garded in many quarters as an an
swer to the prayers Of the business
world.
The opinion of the court was an
nounced by Chief Justice White. In
printed form it contained more taAn
ZOO words. For nearly an hodr
the chief justice discussed the case
the points in the printed opinion,
but not once referring to it in order
to refresh his memory.
MANY HEAR DECISION.
Before him sat a distinguished
audience of the most famous men
of the country. Senators and repre-
sentatives left their respective cham
bers in the capitol to listen to the
epochmaking decision of the court
Most eager to hear were Attorney
General Wickersham and Frank B.
Kellogg, special counsel of the gov
eminent, who had conducted the
great fight against the Standard Oil.
None of the brilliant array of coun-
sci for the corporations or individ-
ual defendants was present in the
court during the reading of the opin-
ion Yesterday, as on previous deci-
sion days for months past, rival
broker agents with messengers in
line to the various telephone and
telegraph instruments throughout
the capitol were on hand, but to
their dismay the announcement of
the decision was not begun until an
hour after the closing of the stock
markets.
NO TOBACCO DECISION.
Many expected that the decision
oe the court in the dissolution suit
against the tobacco corporation
would be handed down Immediately
after the decision in the Standard Oil
case. This was not done, however,
but the decision is expected on May
%. the last decision day of the court
until next October.
The opinion of the court yester-
day was construed to mean. that the
tobacco case, like every other case
in which restraints of trade are al |
legged, must be subjected to the new
test of reasonableness of the re-
straint, as laid down in the Standard |
Oil decision.
RULE OF REASON CITED.
By far the greater portion of the |
opinion of the chief justice was de- |
voted to the justification of the /
court in requiring that the rule of 1
be applied to restraints of |
trade before they were held to be |
violations of the Sherman antitrust
law.
The court found this justification
in the common law of the forefath-
ers and in the general law of the
country at the time the Sherman
antitrust law was passed. In short,
the court held that the technical
words of the statute were to be given
the meaning which those words had
in the common law and in the law
of the country at the time Of the
enactment