The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-05-16
And Combination in Restraint
of Trade
VIOLATES ANTITRUST LAW
United States Supreme Court Renders
Decision and Gives Company Six
Months in Which to Dissolve
the Combination.

Washington, May 10 The STANDARD
Oil company Of New Jersey and its IL
subsidiary corporations WERE declared
yesterday by the supreme court OF
the United States to be conspiracy in
restraint of trade II also was held to
be monopolizing interstate commerce IN
violation OF the Sherman antitrust
law and the combination was ordered
dissolved within six months.
AT the same time the court inter-
preted the Sherman antitrust law so
as to limit its application to acts OF
"urdue" restraint of trade and not
"every" restraint 1t was on this
point that the only discordant note
was heard in the court Justice Har-
Ian dissenter. claiming that cases al
ready decided by the court had deter
mined once for all that the word "un-
due" or Unreasonable" or similar
words, were not in the statute. He de-
clared that the reasoning of the court
was in effect legislation. which be-
longed to Congress,
Ever since the decree in this case
in the trial court, the United States
circuit court for Missouri, was an
nounced. hope has been expressed by
the business world" that the law
would be modified so as not to in
terfere with what was designated as
honest business. That section of the
opinion calling for the use of rule OF
reason" in applying the law is regarded
in many quarters as an answer to the
prayers of the business world.
The opinion of the court was an
nounced by Chief Justice Whate 1t
contained more than 10000 words
Nearly an hour the chief justice dis
cussed the case from the bench, 60
ing over most of the points in the
printed opinion, but not once refer
ring to it to refresh his memory
Before him sat a distinguished au-
dience, senator's and representatives
left their chambers to listen to the
epoch making decision.
Attorney Wickersham and Frank B
Kellogg, special counsel of the gov
eminent who had conducted the fight
against the Standard Oil were present.
None Of the array of counsel for the
corporations or individual defendants
was in the room.
Broker agents, with messengers in
line to the various telephone and tel
egraph instruments throughout the
capitol, were ON hand, but the an
nouncement of the decision was not
begun until an hour after the closing
of the stock markets.
Many expected that the decision of
the court in the dissolution suit
against the tobacco corporations would
be handed down Immediately after the
decision in the Standard Oil case. This
was not done, but it is expected on
May 80, the last decision day of the
court until next October
The opinion OF the court was con-
strued to mean that the tobacco case,
like every other case in which restraints
OF trade are alleged, must be subjected
the restraint, as laid down in the
Standard OH decision
BY far the greater portion of the
opinion Of the chief Justice was de-
voted to the Justification of the court |
in requiring that the 'rule of reason"
be applied to restraints in trade before
they were held to be violations of the |
Sherman antitrust law The court |
found this justification in the common
law and the general law of the country /
at the time the Sherman law was
passed In short, the court held that |
the technical words oil the statute were
to be given the meaning which those
words had in the comman law and in
the law Of the country at the time of
the enactment This meaning, says
the court, calls for the exercise of rea-
son in determining what restraint on
trade is prohibited