The farmer and mechanic., 1911-07-18
EFFECT OF THE TOBACCO TRUST
CASE IN RALEIGH.

CASE IN RALEIGH
The general opinion is that the
result of the trial in which the To-
bacco Trust was made to pay the
Ware-kramer Company $4,000 and
the costs for unlawfully destroying
its business Will be good for the pub
lie, and may be the entering wedge
that will make possible the restora-
ton Of competition in the tobacco
business. Most of the papers that
have discussed the case approve the
verdict, though the amount recovered
is deemed too small However, the
public had no interest in the amount
Of damages except that they should
act as a deterrent to the trust in the
future, The big thing was that for
the first time in North Carolina a
jury Of North Carolina men had de-
clared the American Tobacco Com
pany corporation in restraint OF
tade-an illegal and laW-breaking
trust. That verdict must be follow
ed by criminal prosecution SO that
the people may be relieved from the
trusts taking the tobacco Of the
farmers at its own price and sand
bagging all possible competition
The Southern Pines Tourist, after
giving the result, says:
'Ihe American Tobacco Com pany
has appealed on exceptions that to
the layman seem puerile and wholly
technical and have nothing to do
with the merits Of the case. How
ever, under the tortuOus and slow pro-
cesses of American Jurisprudence it
may be possj bic for the big company
to delay settlement for years, and
perhaps wear the little company, now
in the hands of receivers, out. The
significant feature of this hard
fought case is that the American To
baccO Company is branded GRIM
mai and it's methods pronounced il
legal
The New Bern Sun thinks there may
be delays so that the Ware kra n or
Company may not soon get the small
sum (comparative) award-but it
sees light for the future, saying:
In the future the trust Will prob
+. ably be more careful how they crusn
| Independent concerns or the next YER
! dict may be larger"
The Greensboro Record discusses
! the verdict and its probable effect 6 t
some length in two editorials that are
! Illuminating. We quote them in full:
The decision of the United States
/ Supreme Court in the tobacco trust
| case followed by the finding of the
! Jury in the civil action just tried at
/ Raleigh, may have a broader effect
than anticipated. Should the result
. be, as now seems probab BILE, The -
/ Niyal Of competition, there viii be a
new lineup IN business. While the
American Tobacco Company has
n ade it's millions it has been done Iy
crushing competition. 1t has a mint
of money and can still go ahead and
make millions more, but it will never
| be able to, run roughshod over the
! people as it has been doing. With al
its money. however, we see now anc
| then some concern that has Weathered
tho. storm, though these companies
are the exception, while the ruin OF
! cOul tlesS others is still fresh in the
public mind Towns that fought the
! trust when il first Waded in to &c
stroy its competitors. gave up and
| welcomed the huge trust with oi."n
arms, seeing. or thinking, there was
nothing else TO do. These same tow rs
will of course stand to the company,
for naturally they want to aid maI;-
| factories of all kinds in their midst
vet the trust will find that its profits
/ will not be so stupendous as hereto
| fore. Perhaps other towns. where The
handling and manufacture of tobaccG
! have been throttled, Will wake up and
enter business and there VIII be bet
ter times all rouHu
'.rhe amount Of damage awarded by