Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1911-06-09
COURT SAYS TOBACCO
TRUST MUST DISSOLVE
Second Of Country's Big Com
binati0ns to Be Hit.
Government May Proceed Against
Twenty-Five individuals Named
in Its Original Bill of
Complaint.

The second of the big antitrust
cases was decided in Washington by
the supreme court of the United
States, when it ordered the dissolu-
tion Of the American Tobacco COM
pany.
The dissolution, however, unlike
thai of the Standard Oil company, is
to be carried on under the direction
of the lower court-the circuit court
Of appeals for the southern district of
New York The supreme bench places
upon that court the burden of devising
not only plan of dissolution, but of
'Tecreating, out of the elements now
composing it, new condition which
shall be honestly in harmony with and
not repugnant to the law"
In order to enforce such a decree,
IT became necessary for the supreme
court to reserve and remand the case
to the federal court in New York. The
decision of the supreme court goes
much farther than that of the lower
tribunal. 1t includes within the con-
demnation of the decree, the twenty
nine individuals named in the govern
ments bill of complaint, the two Eng
lish corporations, the British-American
Tobacco company and the Imperial To-
bacco company, and also the United
Cigar Stores company.
Chief Justice White, who read the
opinion, held that the circuit court of
appeals had erred in dismissing the
governments bill of complaint against
the individuals and the foreign cor
porations and also in not granting the
governments prayer and including
within the decree the United Cigar
Stores company.
In brief the supreme court COM
pletely sustained all of the vital points
contended for in the original bill of
complaint filed by the government.
AttOrney-General Wickersham in a
formal statement expressed great
pleasure over the decision by the high
est court.
1T is scarcely to be conceived that
any more comprehensive and effective
application Of the statute to this vast
combination could have been decreed -
One of the important effects of the
enlarged decree entered by the su.
preme court is that it makes possible
a criminal action against the twen-
ty-nine individuals named in the gov.
ernment's original bill of complaint.
These defendants now stand in ex-
actly the same attitude as John D.
Rockefeller and his associates, whose
prosecution under the criminal stat
utes is now being urged in the senate
in connection with the Standard Oil
case
The defendants include James B.
Duke, Caleb c. Dula, Percival S. Hill,
George Arents, Paul Brown, Oliver H.
Payne, Thomas F. Ryan, William II.
McAllister, Anthony N. Brady, Benja-
min ~ Duke, H. M. Hanna, Herbert
D. Kingsbury, Pierre Lorrilard, Rufus
l.. Patterson, Grant D. Schley and Will
hanson w. Fuller.
The tobacco trust is to have six
months in which to put its house in
order and to reorganize in a way that
will comply with the law. Meanwhile
further steps to enlarge it's powers, or
committing any further actions that
are unlawful The lower court is au-
thori2ed in its discretion to add sixty
days to the six months period. In
the event of the failure of the de-
fendants 10 comply with the law in
that time the court is directed to pro-
ceed by Injunction, or if necessary by
the appointment of a receiver to ac
oomplish the reformation of the Amer
lean Tobacco company and it's subor
dinates and its associates into an or
ganization that will square with the
law.
The opinion was unanimous except
for dissent by Associate Justice Har
Ian. The venerable justice agair
voiced his protest against the actor
by the majority of the court in con
strung the law Gin the light of rea
SON. He characterized the action Of
the court as "usurpation of the
judiciary" and INDUCED in other EN-
pba0c statements that were little less
tnan sensational