Omaha daily bee., 1911-12-06
WHERE THE LAW IS DEFECTIVE
Points that Call for Amendment
Suggested to Congress.
WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED
Good that Has Come Through the
Laws Operation.
CONTROL on THE CORPORATIONS
steps that should lie Taken to Sc
cure Better Regulation of COM
pGnies Formed for Inter-
state Business.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5.--President Taft
sent to congress at noon today the first
OF "a series of messages he has arranged.
This one deals entirely with tho trust
question, recounting what has been
achieved under the Sherman law and sug-
gesting additional legislation. The mes
sage IL as follows:
This message is the first OF several
which I shall send TO congress during
the interval between the opening of Its
regular session and Its adjournment for
the Christmas holidays The amount OF
information to be communicated as to
the operations of the government, the
number OF important subjects calling for
comment by the executive and the trans
mission to congress OF exhaustive re-
ports OF special commissions make 1t i'm
possible to include in one message of n
reasonable length discussion of the
topics that ought to be brought to the
attention OF the national legislature at
its first regular session.
Supreme Court DecIsIonu.
In May last the supreme court handed
down decisions in the suits in equity
brought by the United States to enjoln
the further maintenance OF the standard
Oh tug Aud OF the American tobacco
trust. 70 secure their dissolution. The
decisions are epoch-malSing and serve to
ADVISE tia business world authoritatively
Nor :. ~eope and operation of the anti
trust act Of 1890, The decisions do not
depart In any substantial way from the
previous decisions OF the court in con-
STRUNG and applying this Important
statute, but they clarity those decisions
by further defining the already admitted
exceptions to the literal construction OF
the act. BY the decrees they Furnish a
useful precedent as TO the proper method
OF dealing with the capital and property
OF illegal trusts. These decisions sug-
gest the need and wisdom OF additional
or supplemental legislation to make 1t
easier for the entire business community
to square with the rule OF action and
Legality thus finally established and TO
preserve the benefit freedom and spur
OF reasonable competition without loss OF
real efficiency or progress.
No Change I'm the RuIe OF Decision.
The statute In its first section declares
to be illegal every contract, combination
In the form, of trust or otherwise or
conspiracy, In restraint of trade or COM
merce among the several states or VITA
foreign nations, and in the second, de-
clares guilty of a mlsdemeanor every
person who shall monopolze or attempt
To monopolize or combine or conspire with
any other person to monopohze any part
or the trade or commerce OF the several
states with foreign nations
In two early cases, where the statute
was invoked to enjoln transportation
rate agreement between Interstate rail-
hall haN 10
no defense to show that the agreement az
to rates complained OF was reasonable at
common law, because It was said that
the statute was directed against all coli
tracts and combinations in restraint OF
trade whether reasonable at common law
or not. 1t was plain from the record,
however, that the contracts complained
Of in those cases would not have been
deemed reasonable at common law. In
subsequent cases the court said that the
statute should be given reasonable con-
structlon and refused to include within its
inhibition, certain contractual restraints
of trade which II denominated as incl
dental or as indirect.
These cases OF restraint Of trade that
the court expected from the operation OF
the statute were Instances which, at com
mon law, would have been called reason
able In the Standard oil and tobacco
cases, therefore, the court merely adopted
the tests of the common law, and In de-
filming exceptions to the literal application
OF the statute, only substituted for the
test of being incidental or indirect, that
OF being reasonable. and this, without
varying In the slightest the actual scope
and effect OF the statute. In other words,
all the cases under the statute which
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