The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-11-18
WICKERSHAM WILL.
NOT APPEAL IN
TOBACCO CASE
Satisfied That Monopoly viii
Be Terminated
WILL ACCEPT DECISION
Size of New Corporations Constitutes
No Valid Objection on Part Of
Government
WILL ACCEPT DECISION

New York, Nov dissatisfied that
the decree entered in the circuit
court yesterday providing for the dis
indignation of the American tobacco
company into IA corporations will
terminate a monopoly and substitute
actual competition instead, Attorney
General Wlckersham will not appeal
the case to the supreme court of the
United States. He will accept the
circuit courts decision, although the
government possesses the right to
carry the plan of dissolution to the
highest tribunal at any time within
a year The governments approval
of the plan was made known by the
Encouragement in an official state
ment issued at Washington yester-
day.
The size of some of the corpora
tons into which the company will be
separated constitutes no valid objec-
ton to the courts decree, in the opin-
ion OF the encouragement. "The
public at large will be more apt to
benefit" be declares, from competi-
ton between number of large, sol
vent, well-organized companies in
strong hands, than from the general
decentralization of business which
would ensue were the business TO be
distributed between large number
of small, weak organizations with in
sufficient capital to maintain them
selves in active competition
Some of the representatives of the
so-called independent retailers as.
sociations' urged the distribution OF
the business among 20 corporations
instead of IA. The suggestion might
as we'll have been so or 200. Fol-
the government to have supported
any such contention would have un
doubtedly resulted in a receivershiI
and enormous and widespread injury
to the general business of the coun
try" Regarding the contention
which he says was advanced that thu
size of some Of the companies wal
| greater than that OF any OF the eX
listing independents, the attorney-gen
eral says. Nothing in the law re
fers, or. in the opinion of the attor
ney-general would justify the govern
ment in taking the position that Il
reduce monopolistic combination
to legal size, no one OF the distribu
tee concerns should be larger thai
the largest existing Independent con
| Germ
The objections to the dissolution
scheme on the ground that the sam
body of shareholders would substar
TALLY control each of the separate
companies are met, the attorney-ger
eral says, first by comforting votin
rights which now are vested in tn
common stock. alone, upon the pre-
ferred stockholders also; and, sec
ondly. by the restrictions upon tn
actions of the respective corporation
"The encouragement believes,
continues the statement. that thi
plan with the restrictive provision
embodied in the decree, will accom-
plish a recreation OF lawful condi
ions and being so convinced, he ha
opposed the efforts of outsiders /
inject themselves into the situatio
and to delay or prevent the carryin
out Of the plan.
Under the impression that III
meaning OF the opinion by the cou
was beclouded by the various discu
sions OF II and was not generally u
derstood the Acknowledgement en-
bodied in his statement a synopsis
the terms OF the decree. He said
contained substantially all of Il
requests made by the government e
cept the enforced sale and distrib
ton to outsiders OF the United Gig
stores company and permission
the government to apply at any tin
] within five years to the court for 7
lief based upon a showing that col
petitive conditions have not actual
: resulted from the operations Of Il
| nlan