The Washington herald., 1911-12-06

by the proper Federal authority. thus
| avoiding the creation under national
! auspices Of the holding company with
subordinate corporations in different
! States, which has been such an effective
: agency in the creation of the great trusts
! and mOnoToiCs.
/ If the prohibition Of the antitrust
act against combination in restraint Ot
/ trade l. to he effectively enforced, it is
| essential that the national government
shall provide for the creation Of national
! corporations to carry on legitmatr
! business throughout the United States
! The conflicting laws of the different
States OF the Union with respect Ia
| foreign corporations make ii difficult, if
| not impossible, for one corporation to
comply with their requirements so as to
carry on business in a number of differ
cnt States
renew the recommendation of the
enactment OF a general law providing
for the voluntary formation of corpora
tiOns to engage in trade and commerce
among the States and with foreign ma
tiOns. Every argument which was then
advanced for such a law, and every eX-
planation which was at that time offered
to possible objections, have been con-
tirmed by our experience since the en-
fOrCement of the antitrust statute has
resulted in the actual dissolution OF ac-
tive commercial organizations.
1t is even more manifest now than it
was then that the denunciatiOn of con-
SpiTaCies in restraint of trade should not
and does not mean the denial of organ
iZatiOn large enough to be lntrusted with
our interstate and foreign trade. 1t has
been made more clear now than it was
then that a purely negative statute like
the antitrust law may well be supple
mented by specific provisions for the
building up and regulation of legitimate
national and foreign commerce.
Government Administrative Experts
Needed to Aid Courts in Trust
DissOIutiOns.
The drafting of the DEGREES in the dis
solution of the present trusts, with
view to their reorganization into legiti-
mate corporations, has made it especially
apparent that the courts are not pro-
vided with the administrative machinery
to make the necessary inquiries prepara-
tory to reorganization, or to pursue such
inquiries, and they should be empowered
to invoke the aid of the Bureau of Cor
porations in determining the suitable re-
organization of the disintegrated parts
eral were greatly aided in framing the
decree in the tobacco trust dissolution
by an expert from the Bureau of Cor
pOrations.
Federal Corporation Commission
Proposed.
l do not set forth in detail the terms
and sections of a statute which might
supply the constructive legislation per-
mitting and aiding the formation of COM
binations of capital into Federal corpora
tions. They should be subject to rigid
rules as to their organization and proceed
ure, including effective publicity, and to
the closest supervision as to the issue
of stock and bonds by an executive
bureau or commission In the Department
of Commerce and Labor, to which in
times of doubt they might well submit |
their proposed plans for future busi-
ness. 1t must be distinctly understood |
that Incorporation under a Federal law |
could not exempt the company thus
formed and its incorporators and man
ayers from prosecution under the anti |