The river press., 1911-12-06
MESSAGE Of
THE PRESIDENT
Nj. Taft Cham pIons the Anti
trust Statute.
new REMEDIES SUGGESTED,

NEW REMEDIES SUGGESTED.
Not Repeal or Amendment, but Sup
elemental Legislation Needed-The
Tobacco Trust Decision an Effective
One-Federal Incorporation Recon-
mended and Federal Corporation
Commission Proposed-The Test Of
"ReasonabIeness."
To the Senate and House Of Repre-
sentatives:
This message is the first Of several
which l shall send to congress during
the interval between the opening Of
its regular session and its adjourn
ment for the Christmas holidays. The
amount Of Information to be commu-
nicated as to the operations Of the
government, the number Of important
subjects calling for comment by the
executive and the transmission to con-
gress Of exhaustive reports Of special
commissions make it impossible to in
clude in one message Of a reasonable
length discussion Of the topics that
ought to be brought to the attention
of the national legislature at its first
regular session.
The Antitrust Law-The Supreme
Court Decisions.
In May last the supreme court hand
ed down decisions In the suits in equi-
ty brought by the United States to en-
join the further maintenance Of the
Standard Oh trust and Of the Ameri-
can Tobacco trust and to secure their
dissolution. The decisions are epoch
making and serve to advise the busi-
ness world authoritatively Of the
scope and operation Of the antitrust
act of 1890. The decisions do not de-
part in any substantial way from the
previous decisions Of the court in con-
STRUNG and applying this important
statute, but they clarity those deci'
sions by further defining the already
admitted exceptions to the literal con.
struction of the act. BY the DEGREES
they furnish useful precedent as to
the proper method of dealing with the
capital and property Of illegal trusts
These decisions suggest the need and
wisdom of additional or supplemental
legislation to make it easier for the
entire business community to square
with the rule Of action and legality
thus finally established and to pre-
serve the benefit, freedom and spur o.
reasonable competition without loss o.
real efficiency or progress.
No Change In the Rule Of Decision
Merely In Its Form Of Expression.
The statute in it's first section de
clares to be illegal "every contract
combination in the form of trust o
otherwise or conspiracy in restrain
of trade or commerce among the sew
eral states or with foreign nations
and in the second declares guilty Of
misdemeanor 'every person who sha]
monopolize or attempt to monopoliz
or combine or conspire with any othe
person to monopolize any part of tn
trade or commerce Of the several state
or with foreign nations"
In two early cases, where the statut
was invoked to enjoin transportt
ton rate agreement between inte1
state railroad companies, it was bel
that it was no defense to show tha
the agreement as to rates complaine
Of was reasonable at common law, b.
cause it was said that the statute We
directed against all contracts and con
binations In restraint of trade, wheth,
reasonable at common law or not.
was plain from the record, howeve
that the contracts complained Of
those cases would not have been deer
ed reasonable at common law. In SUI
seQuent cases the court said that Il
statute should be given reasonab
construction and refused to inclut
within its inhibition certain contra
tual restraints Of trade which it d
nominated as incidental or as indire<
These cases Of RESTRAINT Of trade tn
the court excepted from the operate
Of the statute were instances whi'
at common law would have been ca
ed reasonable. In the Standard
and tobacco cases, therefore, the cou
merely adopted the tests Of the col
mon law and in defining exceptions
the literal application Of the statu
only substituted for the test Of bel
incidental or indirect that Of bel
reasonable, and this without varyi
in the slightest the actual scope a,
effect Of the statute. In other wort
all the cases under the statute viii
have now been decided would ha
been decided the same way If I
court had originally accepted in
construction the rule at common Law
1t has been said that the court by
Producing into the construction of
statute common law distinctions /
emasculated it. This is obviously ,
true. By its judgment every contr'
and combination in restraint of int
state trade made with the purpose
necessary effect of controlling pri'