The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-05-16
STANDARD OIL CO.
MUST DISSOLVE
IN 6 MONTHS
Limit Set by Supreme Court
Decision Yesterday
JUSTICE HARLAN DlSSENTS
Objects to Construction That Limits
Sherman Law by Use Of Term
Unreasonable"

Washington, May 16.-The Standard
oil company OF New Jersey and its 10
subsidiary corporations were declared
yesterday by the supreme court of the
United States to be a conspiracy and
combination in restraint of trade. 1t
also was held to be monopolizing in
terstate commerce In violation OF the
Sherman antitrust law. The dissolu-
ton OF the combination was ordered
within six months. Thus ends the
tremendous struggle of years by the
government to put down by authority
of law a combination which ii contend
ed was menace to the industrial and
economic advancement of the nation.
At the same time the court inter
preted the Sherman antitrust law SO
as TO limit its application to acts of
undue" restraint of trade and not
every" restraint of trade. 1t was on
this point that there was a divergence
in the court Justice Harlan dissent
ed, holding that cases already decided
by the court determined once for all
that the word undue" or ''unreason-
able" or similar words, were not in
the statute. He declared that the rea-
soning of the court in arriving at its
finding was in effect legislation, which
belongs in every instance to Congress
and not to the courts.
Ever since the decree in the case
was promulgated in the lower court,
the United States circuit court for the
eastern district of Missouri, hope had
been expressed by the business
world" that the law would be con-
strued so as not to interfere with
what was designated as honest bust
ness. Last night that section of the
opinion applying the rule of reason
to the law is regarded in many quar-
ters as an answer to the wants of
commerce and finance.
The opinion of the court was an.
nounced by Chief Justice White. 1t
contains more than 10000 words
For nearly an hour the chief justice
discussed the case from the bench,
going over most of the points in the
printed opinion but not once referring
to it in order to refresh his memory
Before him sat an audience of some OF
the most famous men in the country
Senators and representatives left
their respective chambers in the cap
itol to listen to the epoch-making de
cision OF the court. Most eager tC
hear were Acknowledgement Wicker
sham and Frank B. Kellogg, specia
counsel of the government, who ha6
conducted the protracted fight against
the giant company. None of the bril-
liant array of counsel for the corpora
lions or individual defendants was IL
the court during the reading of the
opinion. Yesterday, as ON previou!
decision days for months past, brok
ers and agents with messengers IL
line for the various telephone and tel
egraph instruments throughout th'
capitol were on hand, but to their dis
may the announcement of the decision
was not begun until an hour after thu
closing of the stock markets.
Many expected that the decision o
the court in the dissolution sui
against the tobacco corporation woul,
be handed down Immediately after thu
decision In the Standard oil case
This was not done, however, but tn
decision is expected on the 29th, tn
last decision day of the court unit
next October The opinion OF tn
court yesterday was construed t
mean that the tobacco case, like ever
otter case in which restraint OF trad
is alleged, must be subjected to tn
new test of reasonableness of the re
str int complained of as laid down il
the Standard oil decision. BY far tn
greater portion of the opinion of tn
chief justice was devoted to the just
fica ton of the courts requiring tina
the rule of reason" shall obtain as t
restraints in trade before they ar
held to be violations of the Sherma
antitrust law. The court found thi
jus ilfication in the common law Of tn
forefathers and in the general law c
the country at the time the Sherma
antitrust law was passed.