The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1911-12-05

A reasonable restraint Of trade at COM
mon law is well understood and Is
clearly dedned It does not rest in the
discretion OF the court. 1t must be
limited to accomplish the purpose OF a
lawful main contract to which in order
that IL shall be enforceable at all It
must be Incidental II It exceed the
needs of that contract it is void.
The test Of reasonableness was never
applied by the court at comman law
TO contracts or combinations or con-
gpiracies in restraint of trade whose
purpose was or whose necessary effect
would be to stine competition, to con.
troll prices or establish monopolies.
The courts never assumed power to
say that such contracts or combina-
tdons or conspiracies might be lawful
IL the parties to them were only mod
crate In the use OF the power thus Sc
cured ana did not exact from the pub
lie too great and exorbitant prices Il
is true that many theorists and 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 Il.
Certainly there IL nothing in the deci-
sions Of the latest two cases from
which such dangerous theory Of 1u-
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 max
ing this statute effective for the pur
poses for which 1t was enacted. The.
knight case was discouraging and
seemed to remit to the states the whole
available power to attack and suppress
the evils Of the trusts. Slowly, howev
or, the error of that judgment was cor
rected, and only in the last three OF
four years has the heavy hand OF th
law been laid upon the great illega
combinations that have exercised sucf
an absolute dominion over many Of our
industries. Criminal prosecutions havt
been brought, and a number are pend
ing. but turaes have felt averse to con
v1cttng for jail sentences and judge
have been most reluctant to impose
such sentences on men of respectabl,
standing in society whose offense ha,
been regarded as merely statutory
Still as the offenSe becomes better un
derstocd and the committing of 1t par
takes more OF studied and deliberat
defiance OF the law we can be conf
dent that juries viii convict individu
ais and that jail sentences viii be i'm
posed.
The Remedy In Equity by Dissolution
In the Standard OH case the suprem
and circuit courts found the combinn
ton to be monopoly OF the interstat
business Of refining. transporting an
marketing petroleum and its products
effected and maintained through thii
ty-seven different corporations, th
stock of which was held by New Jer
sey company. Il in effect COMMANDED
the dissolution OF this combination, di
rected the transfer and pro rata distri
button by the New Jersey company o
the stock held by it in the thirty-sevel
corporations to and among its stock
holders. and the corporations and tndi
viduaI defendants were enjOined iron
conspiring or combining to restort
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
In q successful effort to acquire com
pleta dominion over the manufacture
sale and distribution of tobacco in this
country and abroad and that this had
been done by combinations made with
purpose and effect 20 stl1e compeh
ton. control prices and establish q
monopoly. not only In the manufacture
Of tobacco, bat also of tin foil and lie.
eriee used in fits manufacture and OF
it's products Of cigars, cigarettes and
snufEs. The tobacco suit presented
Ear more complicated and difacult case
than the Standard OIL suit for a decree
which would eatectuate the win 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 Oh trust. The main company
was the American Tobacco company
a manufacturing, selling and holding
company. The plan adopted 10 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
stituting the trust ana new companies
organised FOR the purposes of the de
cree and made parties to It and mum
beging, new and old, fourteen.
Situation After Read Iustmcmt.
The American Tobacco company
(cld), readjusted capital e92. .O00.0 .000s
the Laggeft & Meyers Tobacco company
(new). capital $67 100000; the p. Loril-
lard company tnewi, capital $4,000
600. and the q. ]. Reynolds Tobacco
company tolds, capital $7.525. 600. are
chiefly engaged in the manufacture
and sale OF chewing and smoking to-
bacco ana cigars. The former one tin
foil company is divided into two. one
OF 1925 900 capital and the other Of
100000 The one snuT company IL
divided into three companies. one with
a capital Of 915. 5.OOO. 900, another with a
capital OF $1,000. 900 and third with
capital Of $s,OO0.o00 The licorice
companies are two. ons with capital
AZ ag TKQ qnn and anafhar WIFI, q can't
tai OF 100000. There is also the
BritishvAmerican Tobacco company. a
British corporation. doing business
abroad with a capital OF $4,000, 900,
Che Porto Rican Tobacco company,
with a capital Of el.GO0. 900, and the