St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1911-05-24
standard Oil Decision

The decision OF the supreme
Court of the United States last week
that the Standard Oil Company of
New Jersey and it's nineteen subsidi-
airy corporations is a conspiracy in
constraint of trade is one of the his
tory making events in American life.
The decision also said the corpor-
alton was combination monopoliz-
ing interstate commerce in violation
of the Sherman anti trust law, and it's
dissolution was ordered within six
months. An important feature of
the decision was the courts interpre-
tation of the Sherman law, which says
that it shall apply to every restraint
of interstate trade, that the law shall
not be applied to every restraint of
trade BIZ, only to uIdue or rhreason-
able restraints of trade. The court
IN its opinion considered this feature
of disregarding the literal w"rd;ng
of an express act and justified its
position under the common law.
some have received this depart
ure from the former practice Of the
courts as q dangerous step. but busi-
ness men in general are pleased to
have the court assume some discre-i
ton as to whether a business organ
ization is a damaging or beneficial
one before declaring it under the
ban of law. This discretionary
power by the court will allow many
organizations technically IN viola
ton of the Sherman anti trust law
but which are not harmful in their
effects upon the public to continue
bushes undisturbed. At the same
time it is an assurance to the country
that the law of the land is stronger
than the largest and most skilfully
planned combinations of money if.
they are violating the rights OF the
public The law of the people
though tardy is supreme and unpre-
JUDGED in it's application.
The Standard Oil Company is con-
demned not because it is simply a
monopoly but because it is an unrea-
sonable monopoly and John D. Rookie
teller has been amassing his millions
in open violation of law. The court
holds that it is an unreasonable
monopoly because it was created to
gain complete control of the petro-
leum business and to destroy t'the
potentialitya of competition" as
shown by the conduct of the persons
or corporations who were mainly in
strumental in bringing about the
extension of power in the New Jersey
corporation before contamination of
that result and prior to the formation
of the trust agreements of 1879 and
1882, by considering the proof as to
what was done under those agree
ments ard the acts which immediate
~ preceded the vesting of power in
the New Jersey corporation. as we'll
as by weighing the modes in which
the power vested in that corporation
has been exerted and the results
which have arisen from it.
In this decision the court has made
plain what practices it will not allow
and all corporations regardless of size
or the prominence of the men. con-
nected with them will do we'll to fol-
low closely the law as it has been
interpreted. The general public
knows now that it has q reasonable
remedy for checking corporate abuse
and should not resort to any unrea-
sonable persecution of the great COM
binations of capital for the legitimate
conduct of business. Large combin-
ations of capital are necessary and
useful in modern days, and tine power
to control them, which this decision
shows the people have. is much more
valuable than any destructive power
that some radicals advocate.