Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-12-07

lions or conspiracies might be lawful
If the parties to them were only mod
crate In the use Of the power thus Sc
cured and did not exact from the pub
lie too great and exorbitant prices. IL
is true that many theorists and others
engaged in business violating the stat
ute have hoped that some such line
could be dra wn by courts, but no court
of authority has ever attempted IT,
Certainly there is nothing in the deci-
sions of the latest two cases from
which such dangerous theory of ju
dicial discretion in enforcing this stat
ute can derive the slightest sanction.
Force and effectiveness Of Statute .
Matter Of Growth.
We have been twenty -one years max
ing this statute effective for the pur.
noses for which It was enacted. The
knight case was discouraging and
seemed to remit to the states the whole
available power to attack and suppress
the evils of the trusts. Slowly, howev-
or. the error OF that Judgment was cor
rected, and only in the last three or
four years has the heavy hand Of the
law been laid upon the great illegal
combinations that have exercised such
an absolute dominion over many Of our
Industries. Criminal prosecutions have
bcen brought. and Il number are pend
ing, but juries have felt averSe TO con-
victing for Jail sentences and judges
hive been most reluctant to impose
such sentences on men Of respectable
standing in society whose offense has
been regarded as merely statutory.
Still. rs the offcnse becomes better I'M
dcrstood and the committing of 1t par
takes more of studied and deliberate
defiance of the law we can be conf
dent that iuries will convict individu-
ais and that Jail sentences will be i'm
posed.
The Remedy In Equity by Dissolution.
In the Standard Oil case the supreme
and circuit courts found the combina-
ton to be monopoly of the interstate
business Of refining. transporting and
marketing petroleum and its products.
effected and maintained through thir-
ty-seyen different corporations. the
stock of which was held by a New Jer-
sey company. 1t in effect commanded
the dissolution of this combination, di-
rccted the transfer and pro rata distri-
button by the New Jersey company of
the stock held by it in the thirty -seven
corporations to and among its stock
holders. and the corporations and indi-
vidua defendants were enjoined from
conSpiring or combining to restore
such monopoly, and all agreements be
tween the subsidiary corporations tend
ing to produce or bring about further
violations of the act were enjoined.
In the tobacco case the court found
that the individual defendants, twen-
ty-nine in number, had been engaged
in Il successful effort to acquire COM
plete dominion over the manufacture,
sale and distribution Of tobacco in this
country and abroad and that this had
been done by combinations made with
a purpose and effect to stifle competi-
ton. control prices and establish q
monopoly. not only in the manufacture
of tobacco, but also Of tin foil and lie
orice used in its manufacture and Of
its products of cigars. cigarettes and
snuffs. The tobacco suit presented a
far more complicated and difficult case
than the Standard Oil suit for decree
which would ,Eectuate the will of the
court and end the violation Of the stat
. ute. There was here no single hold
ing company, as in the case of the
, Standard OH trust The main company
was the American Tobacco company,
manufacturing, selling and holding
company. The plan adopted to de-
stroy the combination and restore COM
petition involved the redivision Of the
capital and plants of the whole trust
between some of the companies con.
shutting the trust and new companies
organized for the purposes of the de-
cree and made parties to it and num-
boring, new and old. fourteen.
Situation After Read justmont.
The American Tobacco company
(olD. readjusted capital 0o,000000;
the Liggett & Meyers Tobacco company
new. capital SGT, 100000 the p. Loril-
lard company new. capital 1000
600, and the r. ]. Reynolds Tobacco
company (old), capital S7,52500O, are
chiefly engaged in the manufacture
and sale Of chewing and smoking to-
bacco and cigars. The former one tin
foil company is divided into two. one
of 1926 900 capital and the other OF
100000. The one snuff company Is
divided into three companies. one with
capital of SO ZOO. 600, another with O
capital of $S,OOO.OOO and third with
capital of SS,OOO,OOO The licorict
companies are two. one with capita
of S5,75S.300 and another with CAPT
, tai Of S2OOO.OOO. There is also Tho
|, British American Tobacco company.
,, British corporation. doing business
abroad with capital of $26,0OO'0Oo
the Porto Rican Tobacco company
: with capital Of S1.S00,OO0. and thu
corporation Of United Cigar Stores
, with a capital of $9.O00,000.
, Under this Arrangement each of TIT
different kinds Of business will be dis
tributed between two or more compa
MES with division of the prominen
brands in the same tobacco products
50 as to make competition not only
. possible. but necessary Thus tn,
smoking tobacco business of the cOun
try Is divided so that the present In
dependent companies have 21.39 per
cent, while the American Tobacco com,
, pany will have 330S per cent. the Lig.
gett e Meyers 2005 per cent, the Loril,