The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1911-05-31
REASON RULE
TAFT'S POLICY
Caat..|Ss,, ,,i.22mber Attacks Dis
sent Of Justice Harlan.
OIL DECISION IS CITED
Statement EecIares Harlan Did Not
Always Cbjett to "RuIe of Reason"
and Inmi ration Act Is Quoted.

| and lmmi ration Act Is Quoted.
| Washington. May 31.-That the gov,
eminent means to formulate its anti
| trust policies in accord with the "ru e
of reason as laid down by the su
| preme court in the Standard Oil ana
tobacco trust decisions, notwithsland,
| ing the vigorous diSsents of Associate
Justice Harlan and the large number
| OF bills introduced in the senate to
| amend the Sherman antitrust law,
! was made evident.
Administration officials, after a
| study OF the tobacco decision ana a
| thorough comparison with the Stand
| ard Oil decision, were agreed that the
| rule of reason" is no new feature OF
! the supreme courts Interpretation Of
law, and one member of the cabinet,
whose views have always been regard
ed as rejecting those Of the admins
tration, made a comprehensive state
ment to that effect.
The statement was attributed to
IAN official close to the administra-
ton" 1t follows in part:
fJustice Harlan in his dissenting
opinion in the tobacco case objects
vigorously to the application in the
| construction of the act Of congress of
the rule Of reason" to which atten-
ton was called by the chief justice IN
his opinion in the Standard Oil case
and again in the tobacco case.
Justice Harlan declares that to in
sert by construction the word 'unrea-
sonable' or undue in the Sherman act
is judicial legislation. Congress, he
says, has in language so clear and
simple that there is no room what
ever for construction, signified its pur-
pose to forbid every restraint Of trade
in whatever form, to whatever extent,
whereas the court, under the chief
Justices opinion, inserts the law words
which make congress say that it
means only to prohibit undue re-
straint of trade This he objects to
as amounting to reading into the act
by judicial legislation of an excep-
ton not placed there by the law-mak-
ing branch OF the government, AMI
this, he contends. the court cannot
and ought not to do.
But Justice Harlan has not always
regarded the judicial function as ex-
Guiding the right to interpret statutes
in the light OF reason and to refuse
literal application to the words of the
act where that would involve a mani
fest wrong. In the case OF Cnurcn OF
the Holy Trinity against United States
the court had under consideration the
act OF congress known as the ali: II
immigration act, passed Feb. 90, 1855.
THE Church of the Holy Trinity in
New York had made contract with
Rev. E. Walpole Warren, an alien re-
siding in England, to remove TO New
York and enter into it's service as its
rector and pastor for a compensation
to he raid t. p "a 49, e =
contract an action was brought against
the church by the United States to re-
cover the penalty prescribed for vio-
lation of this act. Justice Brewer wrote
the opinion OF the court, in which all
the other justices, including Justice
Harlan. concurred. He promised by
conceding:
THAT the act of the corporation IS
within the letter of this section. for the
relation of rector to his church is one
of service and implies labor on the
one side, with compensation On the
other
He further noted that certain sre-
cific exceptions made in the act in
which clergymen were not inClHdel,
strengthened the idea that every 9th
er kind of labor and service was in
tended to be reached by the statute.
Yet notwithstanding all of that it was
said that the court could not think
that congress intended TO denOunc e
with penalties a transaction like the
employment of Christian minister.
1.-The decision in the case of the
Church of the Holy Trinity clearly de-
monstrates that no new principle is
introduced by the rule OF construction
adopted by the court in both the
Standard Oil and the tobacco cases,
but that the same rule was applied
| there which has often been applied be
fore of reading general words in a
statute by the light of the reason for
the enactment of the statute, the his
tory of the evil which gave rise to the
legislation and the purpose for which
the legislation was enacted, and the
further duty to give to the words of a
statute, if possible, an Interpretation
which, while accomplishing the result
| which the statute was enacted to bring
about, will avoid the untoward conse
| quences which would necessarily fol
low narrow and literal interpreta-
ton of it's meaning"
A resolution calling upon the attor-
ney general to inform the house
whether he has undertaken criminal
prosecution of the American Tobacco
company and its officers was introduc-
ed by Representative Byrns, of Ten
nessee. If such prosecution has not
been instituted, the attorney general