The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1911-06-24
GETS HARD BLOW.
Powder Combine Declared a Trust by
the United States Combine.
ORDERED TO DISSOLVE

The Dupont Company Charged With
Violating Sherman Law by Com
binir g to Restrain Trade and Mon
opolizing Powder and Explosive
Business and Ordered to Quit.
The United States circuit court for
the district Of Delaware Wednesday
handed down a decision declaring
that the alleged powder trust, which
Is dominated by the E. I. Dupont de
Nemours company, Is combination
in restraint of interstate commerce
in powder and other explosives in
violation of Section 1 of the Sherman
antitrust law; that it attempted to
monopolize and monopolized a part
of such commerce in violation of sec
ton of the same law, and decree
ing that the com bination shall be
enjoined from continuing this VIOLA
ton and that it shall be dissolved.
The action against the powder
trust was begun by the government
in 1907 and was directed against 43
corporate and individual defendants.
The suit as to Is of the defendants
was dismissed because some Of the
concerns are out Of existence or it
was not srown that they were parties
to the combination.
The court in an interlocutory de-
cree fixed October 18th as the date
to hear both sides in the action as
to the nature Of the Injunction to be
granted and consider a "plan for
dissolving said combination, which
shall be submitted by the petitioner
ard the defendant or any of them,
to the end that this court may as
certain and determine upon plah
or method for such discussion, which
will not deprive the defendants OF
the opportunity to recreate out of
the elements now composing said
combination new condition which
shall be honestly in harmony with
and not repugnant to the law
This follows to some extent the de-
grees issued by the United States su-
preme court in the Standard OIL and
the tobacco cases.
There are .l3 corporate and IS in
dividual defendants declared to be
in the illegal combination. a major
ity of the Individual defendants are
members of the Dupont family, all
of whom except Edmond G. Duckner,
are each director of one Of the Du-
pont companies.
The corporate defendants are: The
Hazard Powder company, Laflin &
Rand Powder company, Eastern Dyn-
amite company, Fairmont Powder
Company, International Smokeless
Powder and Chemical company, Jud-
son Dynamite and Powder company;
Delaware Securieites company, Della
ware Investment company, California
Investment company, E. I. Dupont
de Nemours & Co. Of Pennsylvania,
Dupont international Powder Com
pany, E. T. Dupont de Nemours Pow
der company, e. 1. Dupont de Mem
ours G. Co.
The only member Of the Dupont
family mentioned in the suit who is
not included among the found to be
violating the law Is Henry Dupont,
one of the United States senators
from Delaware.
The decision written by Judge Will
liam M. Lanny and concurred IN by
Judge George Gray and Joseph Buff
ing, goes into the history of inter-
state commerce in gunpowder and
other explosives back as far as 1872,
when the government charged the
first trade agreement Of manufacture
ers was entered into. The court re-
viewed the evidence in the case and
found when the suit has begun that
the Duponts had acquire dcontrol or
1902 controlled in the United States
the trade in several varieties of pow
der.
The court also found that the Du-
pont company of 1903 and the East
err Dynamite company controlled by
, the Duponts had acquired contro lof
siyty-four different corporations be-
tween April, 1904, and September,
1867, and caused them to be dlssolv-
ed. The court summarized the num-
erous companies controlled by the
and the Dupont company organ
lied in 1908, and then discusses
whether the combination it found to
exist was obnoxious to the provisions
of the Sherman antitrust act.
The court finds that the case in
hand is obnoxious to the antitrust
law and then takes up the nature of
the final decree it shall issue. On
this the court is guided largely by
the action taken by the supreme court
in the Standard Oil and Tobacco
cases.
ITO stop the business of the COM
bination imm mediately," the court says
might be attended with very dis
astrous consequences.
-
Unearth Big Frauds.
Frauds amounting to several mil