The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1911-05-24
CLEAR CUT VIEW
Justice Harlan Files Dissenting Opinion
in Standard Oil Case.
HE WARNS The NATION

he WARNS The NATION
Says the Most Alarming Tendency of
the Day, So Far as the Safety and
Integrity Of Our Institutions Are
| Concerned, Is the Tendency to Ju-
dicial Legislation.
Justice Ha.lan's dissenting opinion
in the Standard Oil case has receiv-
ed a most careful consideration, and
is being discussed by large major
ity of the officials as well as other
people.
''As to all the chief justice has
said about the illegal combination OF
this oil company and its coming with
in the antitrust act, i cordially COIL
cur" said Justice Harlan at the out
set.
There are however, some things
in this opinion, and what are to re-
suit from this opinion, which I think
II may very we'll alarm thoughtful
men. or many thoughtful men; and
am willing to let them pass with ar3
idea that I approve them
Justice Harlan referred to the an
thrust act of 1890 as being passed
at time of great unrest regarding
aggregation of capital and referred
to the supreme court decisions in
the trans-Missouri and joint traffic
cases saying that no view was press
ed in this case that was not brought
tout in those two cases, under which
he supposed millions of dollars OF
property have changed hands, and
that unsuccessful efforts had been
made at every congress to get the
Sherman antitrust law amended.
The trans-Missouri case, he point
ed out, involved construction, as 70
the scope and meaning of that anti
trust law.
I'VE hear a good deal about the
lamp of reason, he said. We hear
that the time has come when we
should hold up the light Of reason
and look at this act as if the men
of that day, freshly after the pas
sage of the act, were moving about
in darkness and did not know what
they were doing or saying"
He named distinguished counsel in
that case and later on, referring to
the Sherman act, said:
Prosecutions have been institut-
ed and I suppose men have been
convicted and sent to Jail under the
antitrust act, upon the construction
that this court has given it.
tThe Court, in the opinion in this
case, says, that this act of congress
means and embraces only unreason-
able restraint Of trade-infat COIL
tradiction to what this court has
said fifteen years ago that congress
did not intend.
"If you will take the trouble to
look through the Federal Reporter
you will find that possibly nearly ev-
cry federal court in this country
has accepted those original decisions
as the final decisions of this court as
to the meaning of the act of CON
gres. Now we are asked to change
the rule and to say, it may be true
in the word of the statute this con-
tract or this agreement is in restraint
of interstate trade. It may be. But
it is a lawful restraint of trade. It
is a lawful restraint contrary to the
decision of this court, say, con-
trary to the practice and usages OF
this court.
eff mistake not, more than once
at this term lawyer has been COM
PEELED to take his seat, to stop the
particular line of argument that
he was pursuing, because he was ar
guing against a former decision OF
this court on that very question. He
wanted to break down that former
decision
Attention was called to those two
cases under which ne supposed mil
lions of dollars Of property have
changed hands, and that there has
been an effort at every session of con-
gress since the law was passed. to
get the Sherman anti trust law
amend.
t'It never has been amended" said
| he, tand there is not man in the
country today who does not know
that it never will be amended by the
congress of the United States to
mean what they wanted congress to
have it mean and what congress re-
fused to have it mean; to get the
courts so to construe it.
s.The most alarming tendency Of
this day, in my judgment so far as
the safety and integrity Of eur
situation is concerned, is the tell
dency to judicial legislation, to that,
when men having vast interests are
concerned, and they can not get the
law-making power of the country
which controls them to pass the legis-
lation they desire. the next thing they
do is to raise the question in some
case to get the court to so construc
the constitution of the statutes as
to mean what they want it to mean.
That has not been our practice.
eff there is any feature in our
government system that is now ad-
mired among the nations of The
earth" he continued, 'it is that pro-