Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-05-16

" dSilli5 thlty NldA IL it h'A1tii'tdt u
Oil Co. of New Jersey and its 10 sub
sidiary corporations were declared to-
day by the supreme court of the Unit
ed States TO he q conspiracy and COM
bination in restraint of trade. 1t also
was held to be monopolizing inter-
state commerce in violation of the
Sherman antitrust law The dissolu
ton of the combination was ordered
within six months.
Thus ends the tremendous struggle
of years by the government to put
down by authority of law a cambina-
Ition which it contended was a menace
TO the industrial and economic adj
yancement of the nation.
At the same time the court interpret
ed the Sherman antitrust law so as to
limit its application to acts of "un-
due" restraint of trade and not every.
restraint Of trade. 1t was on this point
that there was divergence in the
court. Justice Harlan dissented, hold
ing that eases already decided by the
court determined once for all that the
word undue" or unreasonable" 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 belonged in
every instance to Congress and not to
the courts.
Ever since the decree IN the ease
was promulgated in the lower court,
the United States circuit court Tor
tie Eastern distriat of Missouri, hope
had been expressed by the business
world that the law would BE con
strueg 50 as to not interfere with
what WAS designated as honest bust
ness Tonight thst section of the
opinion applying the Rule of reason"
to the law is regarded in many quar-
ters as an answer to the wants of
commerce and finance.
The opinion of the courC was an
aoHneed by Chief Justice White. II
contains more than 10000 words. For
nearly an hour the chief Justice dis
cussed the case from the bench, go
ing over most of the points in the
printed opinion, but not once refer
RIG to it in order to refresh his mem
orr. Before him sat an audience of
some eff the frost famous men in the
country. Senators and representatives
left their respective cham bers in the
capitol to listen to the epoch making
decision of the court Most eager to
hear were Attorney General Wicker
sham and Frank b. Kellogg, specia.
counsel Of the government who had
conducted the protracted fight against
the giant company None of the bril-
liant array of counsel fer the corpor-
aticns or individual defendants was in
the court during the reading Of the
opinion.
Today, as on previous decision days
for months past, brokers and agents with
messengers in line for the various tele-
phone and telegraph Instruments
throughout the capitol We're on hand,
but to their dismay the announcement
of the decision was not begun until an
hour after the closing Of the stock mar
llets.
Many expected that the decision of the
court in the dissolution case against the
tobacco corporations would be handed
down Immediately after the decision in
the Standard Oil case. ms was not
done, however, but the decision is ex-
pected ON May %. the last decision day
of the court Uatil next October.
The opinion of the court today was
construed to mean that the tobacco case.
like every other case in which restraint
of trade is alleged. must be subjected to
the new test Of reasonabIeness of the
restraint complained of as laid down in
the Standard oil decision.
BY far the greater portion of the opin-
ion of the chief justice was devoted to
the justification of the courts requiring
that the rule Of reason" shall obtain as
to restraints ia trade before they are
held to be violations of the Sherman
antitrust law. The court found this JUS
tifcation in the common law of the fore
fathers and in the general law of the
country at the time the sherman anti
trust law was passed.
In his opinion chief Justice White
first reviewed the preliminary pro-
| eeedings in the case in the circuit
court of the United States for the
Eastern district of Missouri. lie re-
stated the essential points in the bill
by the government asking for the
dissolution of the Standard Oil and
the answer questioning the jurisdie-
ton of the courr and denying the
contention of the government. He
dismissed the objection to the juris-
diction in few words, by holding
| that it was not we'll founded. He then
came TO the arguments as to the law
and the facts in the ease saving that
| out of the ensuing Jungle both
sides were agreed only one thing
and that was that the determination
| of the controversy rested upon the
proper construction and application OF
| the first and second sections of the