White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1911-05-21
STANDARD OIL IS O|SSOLv vED'
|BY THE i. S, SUPREME COURT
Greatest Monopoly In the Country Has Six Months
In Which to Get Out Of Business and the Decision
Starts Wave of Prosperity Throughout the Land

Jersey and its nineteen subsidiary
corporations were declared Monday
by the supreme court of the United
States to be conspiracy and combi-
nation in restraint of trade. 1t also
was held to be monopoliZing inter-
state commerce in violation of the
Sherman antitrust law. The disso-
luton of the combination was order
ed to take place within six months.
Thus ends the tremendous strug-
gle on the part of the government to
put down, by authority of law, a
combination which 1t claims was
a menace to the industrial and
economic advancement of the entire
country
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 the only dis
cordant note was heard in the court.
Justice Harlan dissented. claiming
that cases already decided by the
court had determined-once for all
that the word undue or 'un-
reasonable or similar words, were
not in the statute.
He declared that the reasoning of
the court in arriving at its finding
was in effect legislation which be-
longed In every instance to congress
and not to the courts.
Ever since the decree In this case
in the lower court, the United States
circuit court for the eastern district
of Missouri was announced. hope has
been expressed by the business
world that the law would be modi-
fled so as not to interfere with what
was designed honest business. That
section of the opinion calling for the
use of the 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 White. In
printed form 1t contained more than
twenty thousand 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 II
In order to refresh his memory.
Before him sat an audience of the
most famous men in the country.
Senators and representatives left
their chambers In the capital to
listen to the epoch-making decision
OF the court. Most eager to hear
we're Attorney General wiekersham
and Frank B. Kellogg. special coun-
sci for the government. who had
conducted the great fight against the
Standard Oil company.
None of the brilliant array OF
counsel for the corporations or indi-
vidual defendants was present dur
ing the reading of the opinion.
AS on previous decision days for
months, rival brokers' agents, with
messengers in line to the various
telephone and telegraph instruments
throughout the capitol. were on
hand. but to their dismay the an
nouncement of the decision was not
begun until an hour after the close
of the stock markets,
Many expected that the decision in
the dissolution suit against the to-
bacco corporation would be handed
down Immediately after the decision
in the Standard Oil case This was
not done. however. but the decision
is expected on May 20. the last de-
cision day of the court. until next
October
strued to mean that the Tobacco
case, like every other case in which
restraints of trade are alleged, must
be subjected to the new test OF rea-
soma ableness of the restraint. as laid
down In the Standard Oil 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 of
trade before they We're held to be