The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1911-12-09

Il - vesOnoOie rootrHmt or trade at com
mon law In well understood and Ia
tlearly defined II does not rest In the
discretion OF the court. II must be
limited to accomplish the purpose Of a
lawful main contract 10 which In order
that II shall be enforceable Mt all II
must be incidental. II II exceed the
needs OF that contract It In void.
1 The test Of reasona bleness was never
applied by the court Mt comman law
to contracts or combinations or con
spiracies In restraint Of trade whose
| purpose was or whose necessary effect
would be to stifie competition. to con,
troi prices or establish monopolies
The courts never assumed power to
say that such contracts or combina-
tions or cOnspiracies might be lawful
II 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. 1t
70 true that many theorists aud others
engaged In business violating the stat
ute have hoped that some such line
could be drawn by courts. but no court
OF authority has ever attempted 1t
Certainly there IL nothing In the deci-
sions Of the latest two cases from
which such a 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 muk-
| Ing this statute effective for the pur-
| poses for which II was enacted. The
knight case was dlscouraging and
seemed TO remit to the states the whole
available power to attack and suppress
the evils OF the trusts Slowly. howev-
er. 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
beeu brought. and a number are pend.
Ing. but juries have felt averse to con-
/ victlng for jail sentences and judges
have been raost reluctant to Impose
such SENTENCES ON men Of respectable
standing In society whose Offense has
been regarded as merely statutory
! Still. AS the offense becomes better un-
: derstood and the committing Of II par.
takes more Of studied and deliberate
defiance Of the law We can be conf
dent that juries will convict individu-
ais and that jail sentences will be i'm.
posed.
The Remedy In Equity by Dissolution.
' In the Standard OIL Ease 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-seven different corporations. the
stock Of which was held by New Ter
sey company. 1t In effect commanded
the dissolution Of this combination, di-
rected the transfer and pro rata distri.
button by the New Jersey company Of
the stock held by II I'm the thirty-seven
corporations TO and among it's stock
holders. and the corporations and indi-
vidual 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. TWEEN
ty-nine In number. had been engaged
I'm a successful effort to acquire COM
plete dominion over the manufacture.
sale and distribution Of tobacco I'm this
country and abroad and that this had
been done by combinations made with
purpose and effect to stihe competi-
tion. control prices and establish q
monopoly. not only In the manufacture
OF tobacco. but also Of tin foil and lic-
orice used In Its manufacture and Of
Its products OF cigars. cigarettes and
snuffs. The tobacco suit presented
Tar more complicated and difficult case
than the Standard Oil suit for decree
which would effectuate 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 OF. 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-
stitutlng the trust and new companies
organized for the purposes Of the de-
cree and made parties to 1t and num-
bering. new and old. fourteen.
/ Situation After Readjustment.
: The American Tobacco company
(old. readjusted capital $92 ,0O0.OO0;
the Liggett & Meyers Tobacco company
new. capital $67. 100000: the p. Loril-
lard company new, capital S47,OO0.-
0O0 and the II. J. Reynolds Tobacco
company (old. capital s7.52500O. are
. oh tAH. n.