The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-05-22
This Man Thinks Trust Decision
 Is Beneficial
Doesn't Regard Standard Oil as a Sinister Combina- ton = But Depends on Crops to Improve Busi- ness.
(By J. Frank Howell, 34 New Street,
 New York.)

The Supreme Court decision in the Standard oil case relieves the business situation of the incumbus of alarm and uncertainty that has been weighing it down for months. It declares the oil company to be a monopoly and gives 1t six months in which to re-organize and operate in conformity to the com mon law and the Sherman Act. This is ample time for the readjustment without sacrifice of property values, and with least inconvenience to the defendant trust. Writing into the law the prefix unreasonable" before ''re- straint of trade" adds to the difficulty and cost of prosecutions for violation of the law and leaves the burden Of proving the ''unreasonableness on the public and apparently diminishes the chances of conviction. It would appear that while the government gains g technical and moral victory, associat- ed capital Is granted added immunity against the haraSsmentS of incessant prosecution-nagging Whatever dispo- sition there might be to take advan- tage of this enlarged freedom of action and abuse of the generosity of the court is offset by the fact that viola tions of the provision of the Sherman Act in prohibition of Unreasonable, restraint of trade, are placed dis tinctly in the criminal classification and penalized by fine and imprison- ment. The moral effect of this empha- sized fact will be salutary.
 Taking by and large" as the saying is, the action of the court should, and no doubt will be, of distinct and inn mediate advantage to the investment and industrial interests of the nation It takes a great weight from the shoul- ders of enterprise and should mark the beginning of another era of pro- grees and expansion. Honest busi- ness. without regard to the amount of capital invested, has nothing to fear. The decision is made the occa- sion of a special letter to clients and the public-and also an invitation to take hold of securities.
 Only a sinister combination of ev- ents. not now in sight or likely to oc- cur can prevent a great and general sensational advance in the stock mar ket It is not the province of specu- lation to wait for actual happenings Speculation discounts the event. Ii is first to feel the movement of forces beneath the surface and removed from the vision of the multitude. For that and other reasons, which I will pre-. sent in this summary of the situation I anticipate a continuance of the start that has been made in the upward swing of prices Prices may react af- ter the initial jump, but will soon re- covef-
 One of the Rothschilds condensed the experience of a remarkably suc- cessful life in the phrase, 'I attrib- ute my success to the fact that I nev- CT attempted to buy at the bottom ol sell at the top" It is safe for laymer to adopt the philosophy of this, one o1 the worlds greatest bankers and mer- chants in securities. Be satisfied that underlying conditions warrant pur- chases and then act promptly, unde- terFed by the thought or fear that you may not be getting the goods at the very inside figure. Timidity is the thief of opportunity and of profit. Ii is as distinct from prudence and eau. tiou as black is from white. Pru- dence Is allied to highest courage whereas timidity expresses vacillation caprice. rashness, incapacity. A tim. i'd trader is usually a loser, rarely making up his mind to buy or sel until the favoring tide has about spent it's force and is ready to go the other way.
 Tn times past it usually took from five to ten years to recover from the effects of panic or severe business depression. It has now been foul