Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1911-12-15
Attorney General Wicker
sham Says Bureau of Cor
porations Should be Given
Added Dignity Under
New Law.
CABINET OFFICER
MAKES HIS REPORT
He Also Declares That the
Enforcement of the Sher-
man Law is an Economic,
Rather Than a Legal,
Problem.

WASHINGTON, Dec. l4.-PursuinG
/ President Taft's recommendation that
| an executive bureau be created To-
supervise corporations chartered un-
| der a federal incorporation act. At
/ torney General Wickersham. i'm his
| annual report submitted To congress
today. suggests that the bureau of
corporations be raised to that dig
nifty, even in the absence Of the pro-
posed federal Incorporation statute.
This branch of the department of
commerce and labor. the attorney
general urges, should be brought into
closer relation with his department,
and adds that it might well be avail
ed Of as the nucleus for an admins
trative board under whose super
vision consultations or mergers for
lawful purposes might be formed"
In enforcing the Sherman antitrust
law the attorney general points out
that the department of justice and
the courts are confronted by econom-
ic. rather than legal. problems when
il comes To working out methods OF
disintegration after a corporation has
been declared an illegal cOmbina-
tiOn. The department enlisted the as
sstance of the bureau of corpora
tions in the dissolution of the to-
bacco trust. and it would he of great
value to the legal branch of the gov
ernment, Mr.. Wickersham says. If
the functions Of the bureau should be
so enlarged that it could he called
upon officially to make investiga-
tions and report its conclusions with
respect to plans for the voluntary or
enforced disintegration of mOnopolis- |
tic combinations
The attorney general reviews the |
record of a year of intense activity |
in federal prosecutions and points out !
that the department of justice finan- |
cially sustained itself as the result of |
the contribution Of $4.2O4115 to the |
United States treasury in the shape |
of fines collected. customs duties re- |
coveries. etc. The expense of the de- |
partment, including the office Of the |
attorney general. all of the district |
attorneys and assistants throughout |
the country aggregated $3,223,77S.
In a comprehensive review of the /
antitrust prosecutions. the attorney |
general shows that the seventeen
antitrust civil suits pending at the |
beginning of the last fiscal year were
augmented by six additional actions, |
while the eleven criminal prOsecu
tions under the same statute Were
increased by twenty-three more prose
cutions during the last fiscal year.
Eight civil suits and a similar
number Of criminal trials were brought
to conclusion during the year. In
four of the civil prosecutions judg
ments were rendered in favor of the
United States. while three were lost
and one was discontinued. Four con-
victions were secured under the Grim
inal clause of the statute during the
year and four cases were either
quashed or discontinued
Declaring that he appreciates that
public interest in the Sherman anti
trust law was even greater" than II
was at the date of his last report.
the attorney general sets forth the
following cases as being prosecuted
or pending for final settlement:
"The powder trust. the might rider"
cases, United States Steel corpora
ton. cotton corner. alleged towing
beef packers. Southern Pa
cific merger. bituminous coal cOmbi-
nation. naval stores suit, bathtub
trust. lumber trust. milk trust wall
paper combination, sugar trust, trans
Atlantic steamship pool, magazine
trust. shoe machinery trust, combi-
of coal roads, elevator suit in
Oklahoma. and kindling wood trust.
Emphasizing his satisfaction with
the decree of the New York circuit
court in the tobacco trust dissolution.
the attorney general has this to say
Of independent tobacco interests who
have criticised the plan of disintegra-
ton:
Competitors of the existing combi-
nation were eager to compel the i'm
Dosition of terms or conditions of the
which would have made
a solvent, successful business read
justment impossible. would have
brought about a receivership of the
property and forced judicial sales.
resulting i'm great financial loss. not
only to those interested in the COM
hination but to the business inter-
ests of the country at large, and in
tie end would have benefited only the
very individuals who had been DOM
inant i'm the formation of the combi-
nation. as they are possessed of means
ample enough to profit by the ruin
which would have followed. In my ,
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