The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1911-06-01


difficulties extend TO the satisfactory
preparation OF = satisfactory decree
In this connection the Court express
ed itself as soiicifous OF procuring
remedy which would be complete and
effleacious and ye, result in IS little
injury as possible both TO the public
and the private interests involved.
matter In the hands of the lover
court for the purpose OF working out
a method OF dissolution and recreation
with the understanding that unless
the law was complied with the COM
bination must retire from interstate
commerce or go into the hands OF a
receiver was the best solution OF the
problem.
Thirty Days of Grace.
Unlike the Standard OIL Company.
which made no move to-day for re-
hearing, William r. Perkins, as coun-
sci for the American Tobacco Com
pany, asked the Court after the an
nouncement of the decision, for
leave to present petition and to stay
the issuance of the mandate of the
court for thirty days. The request
was granted. Shortly after the
court adjourned until next October.
Chief Justice Whites opinion may
be grouped into three parts. First
he gave a detailed statement of the
history Of the case and dwelt upon
what he designated as the "undis-
puted facts" Next he took up the
meaning of the Sherman antitrust
law and its application to the case at
bar, and lastly, he considered the
remedies to be applied.
At the outset of his statement, he
classified the sixty-five American cor
porate defendants into three groups.
The American Company, because of
it's dominant relation to the subject
matter of the fcontroversy, was desig-
mated as the primary defendant"
The American Snuff Company, the
American Cigar Company, the Amer
lean Tobacco Company, the MacAn-
| drews and Forbes Company and the
| Conley Financial were named as &C
cessory defendants.
! The fifty-nine other American Cor
, porations were denominated the
Subsidiary defendants. The two
; English Corporations, the Imperial
/ Tobacco Company and the British
! Company, as we'll as the twenty-nine
individual defendants headed by Jas.
B. Duke, remained unclassified.
The "undisputed facts" in the case
were divided by the Chief Justice in
to two periods, the one being from
the time of the organization of the
first, or older American Tobacco Com
pany, in 1890, to the organization
of the Continental Tobacco Company,
in 1898, and the other being from
the date of that organization to the
beginning of the case under review.
Justice Harlan Objects to the Words
Unreasonable Restraint"
Associate Justice Harlan delivered
a vigorous dissent to part of the de-
cision of the Supreme Court in the
tobacco case, although he agreed that
the American Tobacco Company and
it's accessory and subsidiary corpora
combination in violation of the Sher-
man antitrust act. His dissent, as
expressed from the bench, conferred
around two points. First, he took
issue with the court for sending the
case back to the lower court.
81 have found nothing in the rec
ord" he said, (which makes me at
all anxious to perpetuate any new
combination among these companies
which the Court comedies had at all
! times exhibited a conscious wrong
! doing"
In the second place he reiterated
the objections he expressed in the
Standard Oil decision of two weeks
ago to the adoption of the rule of
reason" as a standard for ascertain
/ ing WI at restraints of trade violate
the ST erman antitrust law.
my objections" said Justice Har-
Ian, have particular reference to
those parts of the Courts opinion
! which re-aff1rm what was said re-
Gently in the Standard Oil case about
the former decisions of this Court
touching the antitrust act. We are
/ reminded again as we were in the
Standard Oil case, of the necessity to
apply the rule of reason in the con-
| struction of the act of Congress,
which is, / think, expressed in Ian
/ guage SO clear and simple that there
! is no room whatever for construc-
! ton. Congress, with full and exclu-
sive power over the whole subject,
has signified its purpose to forbid
!; every restraint of interstate trade, in
whatever form, or to whatever extent,
but the Court has assumed to insert
in the act, by construction merely
words which make Congress say that
it means only to prohibit undue re-
straint of trade.