The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-10-09
Government Will Bring Action
Against Some Officials
1T IS NOW ANNOUNCED
But the Names Of the Defendants Are
Not Made Known--Suit in Equity
Also Is Ready for
Filing.

Washington, Oct 9-There win be
criminal prosecution of officials of the
steel trust, according to statmeent
made yesterday at the department of
Justice. Who these officials are, the de.
partment would not make known.
Meanwhile. on the desk Of Attorney.
General Wickersham, awaiting his re.
turn late last night from New York,
were the papers in suit in equity ready
for filing against the United States steel
corporation.
In the bill of complaint, two specific
charges are made: First, the violation
Of that section OF the Sherman antitrust
law prohibiting unreasonable combina-
tions in restraint of trade; second, VIC
lation of the Elkins interstate commerce
law.
AT the same time that will be sub.
mitted TO Mr.. Wickersham the complete
bill of complaint against the steel trust,
he will be given all the material gath
cred by Investigators of the department
of justice against the international Har-
vester company (the harvester trustl.
This evidence is so complete that it can
in short time be arranged into a bill
of complaint against that corporation.
The offer of George w. Perkins, the
financier and promoter of the harvester
trust, to dissolve that corporation win
also be placed in the hands of the attor-
ney general
The federal government charges the
steel trust with unreasonable eombina
tion in restraint of trade" Under this
caption il is alleged that the trust has a
monopoly Of the steel industry of the
United States by holding more than so
per cent. of the iron ore in the country.
The department OF justice also alleges
that the United States steel corporation
has violated the Elkins interstate com
merce act by receiving rebates from rail
roads owned or controlled in part by 1t.
These railroads are situated near the
ore deposits and have working agree
ment with trunk line railroads, accord
4 ing to the governments allegations.
On this phase of the governments
complaint against the steel company, the
Stanley investigating committee OF the
House has conferred with Solicitor-Gen-
eral Lehman, who prepared the suit
against the steel trust. and who will, II
the case reaches court, handle the plain
1 tiff's case. Chairman Stanley in his in
vestigation last summer and spring
gathered this evidence and late this sum
mer turned it over to the solicitor gen.
eral
1t was said yesterday by Solicitor.
General Lehman and BY the attorney
general some time ago, that whether the
steel trust was sued or If it voluntarily
dissolved, no bar to criminal prosecu-
tion would result.
The same is true in the harvester
trust case. In the negotiations with the
department of justice by Mr. Perkins
and the later negotiations between Mr..
Perkins and the attorneys general, Mr..
Perkins was given to understand that
whether or not he dissolved his corpora
tion in accordance with the supreme
courts decisions in the Standard OH and
American tobacco cases, the department
fwoud permit no bar - criminal prosecu-
tion To be raised He was informed then
and again recently that il the depart /
ment finds that it has evidence upon
which to prosecute criminalls, criminal (
prosecution will be started.
According to some sources in the de,
partment of justice, the suit against the I
steel trust viii be filed within the next /
few weeks and the one against the har.
vester trust within the next two months <
unless those corporations make an offer
to dissolve in the only way the depart
ment will permit-that Is, according to
the Standard Oil and American Tobacco
company decisions,
The departments bin of complaint
against the sugar trust is complete. The
department is moving slowly in this case.
The officials having the case in charge \
want to file criminal suits against the
officers and the trust itself before filing
a suit in equity Az first it wss intended L
that the suit in equity for dissolution 1
should be filed, but the supreme courts
decision in the case of knight, in which I
the statute of limitation WAS defined
clearly in the opinion of the attorney |
general, caused halt.
This is one of the knotty problems the
attorney general will take up after his
return to Washington. The suit prob n
ably will be filed in New York by United
States District Attorney Wise.
The investigation of the rubber trust,
in which ex-senator Aldrich's family is n
heavily interested. will be pushed this
fall and winter. Already the department Il
has much evidence in hand
The decree of dissolution in the cases
Of the electrical trust, the powder trust
and the wholesale grocers' trust, will be
gone over by Mr.. Wickersham early next
week or the week following. As soon as
they are in shape, the attorney general
will submit them to the court for APP
proyal and filing. That action will give
the government permanent injunction
against these concerns combining again
in the future
According to high official of the de-
partment of Justice the next twelve
months promise to be the busiest in the
history of the department. The attor-
ney general has not only carte blanche,
but instructions from the president to
ego ahead and prosecute" where viola