Norwich bulletin., 1911-05-16

Washington. Nav 15.-The Standard
oil company of New Jersey and its
nineteen subsidiary corporations were
declared today by the supreme court
or the United States to be conspira-
cy and combination in restraint of
trade. 10 also was held to be monep-
Dlizinz irtehstate commerce in violation
of the sherman antitrust law. The
dissolution OF the combination was or
uered within. six months.
As to Other Corporations. N
Corporations whose contracts are
mot unrs2sonsbly restrictive of COM
petition" are not affected. Other great
corporations whose acts may be called
into question viii be dealt with ac-
cording TO the merits OF their partic-
ular cases.
Justice Harlan Dissents on One Point.
The court was unanimous as to the
main features of the decision. Justice
Harlan dissented only as to a limita-
tion of the application of the Sherman
antitrust law.
Cabinet to Consider Situation.
President Taft and cabinet will con-
slider Immediately the entire trust sit
ustion and the sdvisability of pressing
for a federal incorporation act.
Tobacco Trust Decision Later.
A decision in the tobacco trust case,
which was expected simultaneously,
was not snounced today, but may be
n1nue0 DOWN on May ~.
A Long Struggle.
Todsy's decision ends the tremend-
pus struggle of years by the govern
tnent to put down by authority of law
p combination which IL contended was
a menace to the industrial and eco
homie advancement of the nation.
Not Every Restraint of Trade"
At the same time the court inter
preted the Sherman anti-tr1st law so
&S 10 linnit it's application to acts of
'ru1dus" restraint OF trade and not "ev-
cry restraint of trade. IL was this
point that there was a. divergence in
the court Justice Harlan dissented,
holding that cases already decided by
the court deternlineG once for all that
the woyd undue or 'unreasona BILE
sr similar words, were not in the stat
ute, He declared that the reasoning
nj the ceurt in arriving at lis finding
frss IN effect legislation which be-
1cNged in crsry instance to congress
end not TO the courts.
Wen. Interfere With Honest Busi-
ness.
Evs since the decision in the case
Prrs rso3nuixa*ed tn the lower court
the rtufs9e Ststee circuit court for the
eastern 6ixtsict Of Missouri hope had
been expressed E the business
world thsf the law would be construed
- az not 70 interfere with what Evas
designated as honest business" To-
'r1UYH t1nGt ssetion of the opinion ap-
T4yYng the rule OF reason" TO the law
fs ssgarded in many quarters as an
ANSWER TO the wAlats OF commerce and
finance.
Opinion Contains 20 900 Words.
The ossnion cf the court was on
seaDced by Chief Justice White. 1t
! 01ntasns more than twenty thousand
words. For nearly hour the chi af
sssttee discussed the case from the
bench. sesra over most Of the points
IN the pvfSt4d opinIon. but not once re-
fesriox to it in order to refresh his
nasmsry.
An Audience Of Famous Men.
Rezore him sat an audience of some
Of the most famous men in the coun-
Uy Senstors and representatives left
sheir respective chambers in the cap
Atol to hster TO the epoch making de-
otsion 1T the court. Most eager to hear
were ATTORNEY General Wiekersha
aud Frank " kslIogg, special counsel
pf the KoV ernmerrt. who had conducted
the pr6ta acted fight against the giant
ecmpasy.
Corporation Counsel Absent.
None Vt the brilliant array of coun-
BEL Tor the corporations or Individual
defendAnss was in the court during the
reading of the opinion. Today. on
previsrs days for months past, broh-
ers and agents with messengers in line
.nstrum ests throughout the capital
were On hand. but to their dismsy the
snnounceT Of the decision was not
begun wwtil an hour after the closing
OF the stock markets.
Tobacco Trust Decision May 20.
Many expected that the decision of
the court In the dissolution suit against
the tobacco corporations would be
handel dowE imm mediately after the de-
cision in teh Standard Oil case This
was not done however, but the de-
cision u expected May 49, the lsst de-
cision DAY Of the court until next Oc-
tober.
Will Be Subjected &c Same Test.
Ths szinion Of the court today was
construed to mean that the tobacco
case. like avery other case in which
restraint Of trade is alleged, must be
subjected to the new test of reason
ableness Of the restraint complained Of
es laid down in the Standard Oil de-
cisicn.
The "RuIe of Reason
BY far the greater portion OF the
opinion of the chief justice was devot-
ed to the Justification of the courts
requiring that the rule OF rea som
shall obtain as to restraints in trade
before they are held to be violations
of the Sherman antitrust law. Tha
court found this justification in the
common law Of the ferefathers and in
rhe general law or the country at the
time the Sherman antitrust law was
passed.
The Acts Of Standard Oil.
In subjecting to scrutiny the acts
aud doings of the Standard Oil in the
past for the purpose of obtaining as
ssfsnce in discovering intent and pur-
pose Chief Justice White made this
cutting remark:
I'VE think no disinterested mind can
survey he period in question without
being irresistibly driven to the con-
clusion that sthe very genius for COM
marCial development and organiza-
ton which it would seem was mani
Tested frorn the beginning soon begot
an intent and purpose to exclude 9TH
ers which was frequently manifested
By acts and dealings wholly inconsist- =
ent with the theory that they were
made with the single conception of
advancing the Development of business
power rv usual methods. but which on
the contrary necessarily Involved the
0tent 10 drive others from the field