The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-15
LEVY MAYER ASKS / FEDERAL CONTROL
 OF CORPORATIONS
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 restrictive of competitive conditions" and | that have mot been entered into or per | formed with the legitimate purpose of req | sonably forwarding personal interest and developing trade" are pronounced by the l great chief justice to be within the inhbi-
 tion of the antitrust act
 | To make contracts or combinations ille-
 gal there must be undue restraint" 1 Chief Justice White has said that | though the antitrust statute does not specify, 1t indubitably contemplates and requires "a standard" and that 1t was | intended by the statute that the stan dard of reason" should be the measure used for the purpose Of determining | whether in q given case particular | act has or has not brought about the result against which the statute pro- vides To quote the language of the chief justice, the antitrust act leaves it ito be determined by the light of reason in every given case whether any particular act or contract was within the contemplation of the statute" In other words, each and lev cry given case' must stand on its own facts.
 Must Wait Upon Decisions Few, if any, decisions rendered by l the supreme court during the last 40 years have produced more discussion
 and found more virulent champions ar
 rayed against each other. Without en- | tering into an analysis of the merits 1 or demerits of these contending forces. the fact remains that no official of an interstate corporation can know pos itively whether his corporation or con- duct comes within the range of the law until he has had a final decision from the supreme court.
 The suit against the Standard oil company was begun on November Is, 1906 It was decided by the supreme court May IS, 1911. It was in the courts for exactly four years and six months The Tobacco case was begun July 19, 1907, and decided May 29, 1911, "a period of three years and 10 months
 It is therefore entirely accurate to say that the management of no one of the great number of big corporations engaged in interstate commerce (and all such are subject to possible suit by the government) will be able to know with certainty what the outcome will be of an attack under the antl- trust act until after the lapse of years. Criminal Trial Even Worse
 But aside from this intolerable doubt as to financial consequence there is the anx- iety growing out of the uncertainty of an attempted enforcement of the criminal provision of the act. which subjects cf- | lenders. if found guilty, to the possl- 1 biity df that section of the law be up- l held, of a years Imprisonment for eevry | separate offense.
 The officers of interstate corporations 1 are in constant jeopardy of sudden | criminal attack. There is no fixed stand ard by which they can govern their con-
 duct The industrial world is at the | of md bo 6e- | partment of justice.
 | It is time that we be rid of these spies
 and watchmen. Neither the courts | whether regular or business) nor grand | juries can run our commercial institu- l tions. There is altogether too much pow
 CT of administration already in our courts. They are not equal to the great task end
 it is no part of their proper functions. Trust indictments will not create, en-
 courage, or develop industries. Prosecu- l tiors will not make places for workmen
 nor increase their wages.
 | The fundamental requirement of all law and order is precision and definiteness.
 Before the rendition of the decisions In 1 the Standard oil and Tobacco cases.
 President Taft was of the mind that the
 doctrine which the supreme court subse-
 quently adopted might preciptate disas- | ter.
 | 4uOtcS E)tdLCuCut VI ldAt i MT. Taft said on January ', 1910: ITO
 leave to the court to say what Is a req
 sonable restraint of trade, what is a req
 sonable suppression of compel etition, what is a reasonable monopoly is to put into the hands of the court a power inl- possible to exercise on any consistent principle which will insure the uniformity
 of decision essential to just judgment. It is to thrust upon the court q burden hot thnyr m r,ra n
 them to carry, and to give them a power approaching the arbitrary, the abuse of
 which might involve our whole Judicial
 system in disaster"
 This saying is just as wise today as it
 was before the recent decisions of the su-
 preme court were announced. The cience
 of government. and of law. and of busi-
 ness has not turned a somersault in the
 short space of IS months.
 Suggests Some Change For these insufferable conditions ]
 would suggest a few remedies that
 correlate with each other and which tc : me would seem to promise certainty
 whore uncertainty now exists. and re- l store confidence where misgiving and apprehension prevail, and substitute stability for instability in the business , world
 l. Place power with the President
 scientifically to reduce the tariff and
 If necessary, remove 1t entirely from l, imported articles that can be sold or a competitive basis with the products oi l trusts and monopolies that are not in , corporated under federal law. 2. Enact federal incorporation law 1 under which all corporations engaged
 in interstate trade may become incor.
 r7rsted. That law should contain pro.
 vs@lqn visitation and examination