The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-07
Declares Recent Decisions Did Not Make Sherman \ Law Ineffective
UNCERTAINTY HAS
 BEEN ELIMINATED
"Literal' Is to Be Followed By "Rea- sonable" COnstruction-AttO General Speaks to Michi-
 gan Lawyers


 ney General wickersham spoke before the Michigan State Bar association here today and discussed the supreme courts recent interpretations Of the sherman antitrust law in the Standard oil and tobacco cases. He gave ms unqualified indorsement of the court application of the so-called rule or reason"
 Those who have thoughtlessly yield cd to the superficial conclusion result ing from the application by the chief justice of the rule of reason to the Interpretation of the Sherman law, he said, "can find but little to justify the idea that the Sherman law has been made ineffective by these two decisions, for precisely the contrary is estab- lished
 "The most cursory examination Of the decree in the tobacco case-the most casual consideration of the drastic far reaching remedy-makes it per fectly apparent that the Sherman law, perhaps for the first time, has been demonstrated to be an actual effective weapon to the accomplishment of the purpose for which it was primarily en- acted namely, the dissolution of the great combinations familiarly known as trusts.
 "The area of uncertainty in the law has been greatly narrowed and its scope and effect have been pretty clear ly dehned,' said the Attorney General. ..The school of literal interpretation has been repudated and the application of rule of reasonable construction de- clared. There will always be field of uncertainty in so far as an inves- tgation of facts is required-particu- larly when intent becomes a neces- sity, but this much surely may now be said 10 be beyond controversy:
 That ordinary agreements of pur- chase and sale of partnership of or corporate organizations don't violate the first section of the sherman act even though incidentally and to a linn ited degree they may operate to re- strain competition in interstate or for eign commerce between the parties to such agreements. But any contract, combination or association, the direct object and effect of which is tO con trol prices, restrict output, divide ter ritory, restrain competition or exclude or prevent others from competing in any particular field of enterprise inn poses an undue restraint upon trade and commerce and is in violation of the first section of the act.
 Applies to Pools
 This principle applies to all fassocia- tions of competitors of the character usu- ally known pools; to agreements with so-called wholesale or retail agents where by the manufacture of an article, even though made according to some secret process of formula, seeks to control the price at which it may be sold by pur- chasers indirectly or directly from the manufacturer,
 'It applies also to attempts to control competition between independent con- cerns by means of a common stock holding trust. whether individual or cor poration holder
 Tt is also now settled that no form of corporation, organization, merger or consolidation or transfer of title, whether by sale, conveyance or mortgage. anu no lapse of time from the date of the orig inal contract. conspiracy or combination, can bar a federal court of equity from terminating an unlawful restraint or con- polling the dsintegraton of a monoropo- listic combination"
 Quotes From Wilson
 Mir. Wickersham quoted from Gov. Woodrow Wilson's work The States the following:
 "lt is one of the most distinguishing characteristics Of the English race, where political habit has been transmitted to us, through the sagacous generation by whom this government was erected that they have never felt themselves bound by the logic of laws, but only by prac- tcal understanding of them, based upon slow precedent For this race the law lar time what it is then understood to be. and this understanding of it is com pounded of the circumstances of the time. Absolute theories of legal conse- uuence they have never cared to follow out to their conclusions Their laws have always been used as parts of the prac- tical running machinery of their poli- ties, parts to be fitted frorp time to time hy interpretation on existing opinion and social conditions
 Part of the Machinery
 "If this law" declared the Attorney General, designed to protect the people of this country from the evils of monopoly and to preserve the liberty of the individ- ial to trade freely. shall now be clearly understood the 20 years of slowly de- yeloped interpretation and widening prec edent will not have been without great value. For the law will henceforth be used to employ Wilson's language. as part of the running machinery of our pol itic system adopted to the needs of our