Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1911-05-30


General Wickersham as most COM
| prehensive and sweeping victory for
the government"
, The trust is held to be a combina-
'1oh IN restraint of trade and a mono
poly in violation of the law. The de-
cision affects sixty-fve American cor
porations. two English corporations and
| twenty-nine individual defendants.
! An opportunity is given the trus,
TO disintegrate and recreate a condi-
ton of transacting business not repug-
nant to law
II, at the end of six to eight months
the corporations fail to bring them.
| selves within the law. a receivership
and dissolution by court decree will
follow.
The trust is held to have been guilty
OF lntimidating and clearly to have
shown purpose to stifle competition
Chief Justice White announced the
decision which was practically unani-
nous. altho Justice Harlan dissented
on several points
AS in the Standard Oil case. Justice
Harlan -esents the application Of the
rule Of reason" to the Sherman anti
trust law
The court, having held the defendant
corporations guilty of conscious wrong
DONG. Justice Harlan is mot at all
anxious to perpetuate any new COM
pinatlon growing out of them.
Washington, May 3O.-The govern
ment won sweeping victory over the
so-called tobacco trust when the
supreme court OF the United States
held the American Tobacco Company
and its allied corpora tons to be OPP
| Grating in violation of the Sherman
antitrust law.
~ directing that the combination be
forbidden the privilege Of Interstate
commerce or be placed in the hands of
ia receiver unless it disintegrates in
| harmony with the law in six, or at the
| most eight months, the court is re-
saroed to have dealt with the tobacco
corporations more drastically than the
standard OH Company of New Jersey
whose dissolution was ordered two
weeks ago.
Both the first and the second sec
lions of the Sherman anti-trust Ia n
nave been violated by the so-called
tobacco trust. according to the court
Not only has it wrongfully and unla W.
fully restrained interstate commerce IN
the eyes Of the court. but It has AZ
tempted to m onopolize the tobacco bust.
! ness to the injury of the public and q,
its competitors.
| While the decree was regarded as
unusually severe at the same time
tnere was touch Of leniency in no,
making the combination an outlaw
| now The various elements of the
CON o'natlon are to be given an oppor.
UNITY, under the supervision of the
Chlted States circuit court for tbs
ISouthern district of New York O,
recreation 50 there may be brought
ABOUT "a new condition which shall he
honestly in harmony with and not re.
pugnant to the law"
Entire Court Agreed,
| Inc entire court agreed that the To-
pacco combination violated the ,Sher
man antitrust law, but Associate .1us
tice Harlan dissented from the re-
peated Interpretation Of the Shern,a,
! trust law so as to call for III,
application OF the rule OF reason" II
determining what restraints of trad.
were forbidden by the act. In this re-
spect the division of the court was tn,
same as in the Standard Oil case.
Justice Harlan also took issue Wit,
me rest of the court as to the reorea n
lzatlon of the tobacco company saw.
ing that he had found nothing in tn.
record which made him "at all anxiou,
70 perpetrate any new combinatio,
among these companies which tn,
court comedies at all times exhibited :
conscious wrong doing"
AT the outset he said the court haf
concluded that the lower court clearI,
erred IN dismissing the Individual de-
PENDANTS. the United Cigar store
Company, the Imperial Tobacco Com
pany, the British-American Tobacc,
Company and their subsidiary CORPORA
tons.
Hesitates in Decree.
desltatlng to pronounce the decree
the court said that the case involved
difficulty greater than had been nre
scented by any Sherman antitrust cas-,
which had been before the court. ON
reason why 1t was so difficult to find ;
remedy was because decree forbid
ding stock ownership by one part of tn
combination in another part would af
ford no adequate measure of relic
since different ingredients of the com
bination would remain unaffected an,
by the very nature and character O
their organization would be able t.
continue the wrongful situation, An
other reason was because the method
of apparent ownership by which tn
wrongful intent was. in part, carrie,
out and the subtle devices resorted t,
! FOR the purpose Of accomplishing III
wrong contemplated, was OF such
character that it probably was impos
sible to restore the prior lawful condi
lions.
A third reason was that "the method
devised by which the various essentia
elements to the successful operation O
the tobacco business for any particu
lar aspect have been so separated un
der various subordinate combinations
yet SO unified by way Of the contro
worked out the scheme here CON
demned, are so involved that an.
specific form OF relief which we nov
might order in substance and effec
might operate really to iDJure the pub
lie and 1t may be- to perpetuate I
/ wrong"
1 Two general remedies. Chief Justic
White said. might 10 1ssorted 70. Tn