Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-05-17
Bills Presented in Con-
gress Result of
Oil Case.
WOULD LIMIT POWER
President Taft Said to Be Dis.
pleased With Distinction
Drawn. ~

Washington, May 1.-THE expected
renewal of antitrust legislation follow
ing the Standard Oil decision came to
day with the introduction of several
bills designed to offset the interpreta
ton of the law as laid down by Chief
Justice White and to take away from
the courts the discretion to differen.
tiate between good" and bad" trusts
WASHINGTON TALKS OF CASE.
Washington, May 17.-Washington
gave over the greater part of yester
day to a discussion OF the Standard
Oil decision.
While there was much qualification
in administration circles over the order
for dissolution OF the giant corporation
which had been declared IAN unreason.
able" combination and monopoly in re.
straint of trade, there unquestionably
was misgivtng as to the Interpretation
of the antitrust law giving the courts
the right to determine whether or not
a monopoly was reasonable"
TAFT DISAPPOINTED.
President Taft, who a little more
than year ago, in a special message
to congress, declared that under su.
preme court precedents there could be
no such things as reasonable" and
unreasonable" restraints of trade, or
in other words, good trusts" and bad
trusts was said to have been keenly
disappointed that the court should
have seen fit to reserve itself in this
matter.
ezRhefe rs apparent similarity between
President Taft's view and that express
ed by Associate Justice Harlan in his
dissenting opinion.
RIGHTS HELD UsURPED.
Justice Harlan holds that his brother
justices have no right to rusurp the
functions of the legislature by writing
into the statute a differentiation be
tween reasonable" and "unreason.
able" He declares that congress had
resisted all appeals to so amend the
act. In their extremity great aggrega-
tions of wealth had applied to the court
in an effort to have it construe the
law in a way that would be fiat rever-
sal of what it had held on two pre-
vious occasions.
Justice Harlan declined to be a par
ty to such a reversal and hence his
dissenting opinion. He denounced as
the most alarming tendency of the
day the tendency to judicial legisla-
ton. Men of power, he said, always
were trying to get the courts to do
what congress would not do.
CONGREsSMEN TALK.
Various interesting views on the su.
preme courts decision in the Standard
Oil case were expressed yesterday by
members of congress. Three of the
most interesting, widely at variance
in many respects came from Sena-
tor LaFollette, Representative Mann.
the republican house leader, and
Representative Adamson of Georgia,
chairman of the committee on inter
state and foreign commerce.
II heard only . part of Chief JUS
tice Whites oral statement, but |
did hear all of Justice Harlan's
statement of his reasons for dissent
ing" said Senator LaFollette. "They
were given with great clearness and
force. Assuming that he correctly
interprets the decision OF the court
then / say that the supreme court
has written into the law a construc-
tion which that court has hereto
fore decided to be unwarranted and
unsafe
WHAT THEY WANTED.
at is this very construction which
the trusts and combinations have
sought to engraft upon the law for
many years. Failing in the courts,
they have for more than a decade
made every effort TO amend the law
to make it read precisely as Justice
Harlan says the supreme court has
now decided that 1t shall read.
IF It shall be found that this de-
ef5ion in effect amends the anti
rust law as Judge Harlan asserts, It
will prove the most unfortunate ex-
ample of legislation by judicial con
itruction which our history affords" q"
DECISION PLEAsEs MANN.
Representative Mann. who was
chairman OF the committee on inter-
Itate and foreign commerce In the
asst congress, said that in his opin-
ion the courts Interpretation and
he stress laid upon unreasonable"
restraint were necessary.
II am pleased with the decision&
ne said. "Of course the question of
the court usurped the leg \
slatiye function has been raised re-
sarding the injection of 'unreason-