The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1912-04-18
RECORD CLEARLY REFUTES
CLAIMS OF THE DEMOCRATS
The Charge Made That the Republicans Have Failed to
Prosecute Under the Sherman Law
Not True.

ments of the Roosevelt administration
and the platform declared that the
Sherman antitrust law had been a
wholesome instrument for good in the
hands OF a wise and feurless executive
In his speech of acceptance Mr. Taft
pledged himself to the enforcement of
this law and has kept his promise
Until Mr. Taft became the president,
the administration of Mr. Rooseyelt
hello the record In both particulars
Thus has President Taft who was Mir
koosevelts riGhi arm during his last
administration. kept his pledge to the
American people to uphold and main
tain the policies of his predecessor in
furnishing the criminals and undesira
bic element in the big business of the
President Iaft's administration has
broken all records for prosecutions
Drought and won under the Sherman
antitrust law Without fear or favor
1t mas brought to the bar of justice cor
porations and persons engaging in lille
gal combinations in restraint of trade
Problems Confronting Taft.
Stripped of controversy as to the
exact meaning of certain language of
the Sherman antitrust act. the ques
lions that had to be determined by
those 10 administrative authority and
those who judcially determine their
acts were. first. how effective the law
was to reach the great aggregatioss
OF formerly competitive producers and
dealers. individual and corporate. who
| through lntercorporate stockholding
mergers. consultations and otherwise
had acquired so great Il control over
a particular line of industry as to en-
able them to dominate 1t and to ex-
clude or admit competition as they
might choose upon their own terms
| Secondly. to determine whether that
construction of the law was correct
which had been given to 1t by some OF
the judges of the circuit court in New
York In the tobacco case and in the
opinions of some of the justices of me
supreme court In other cases to the
effect that any combination which In
any respect operated to restrain to any
degree pre-exsting competition In
Interstate commerce was necessarily
condemned by law.
| In the three years of the Taft ad
ministration all of the sixteen cases
left pending by the previous admins
tration have been disposed of except
two, which have been argued and sub
mitted to the supreme court of the
United States and are now awaiting
decision. OF the remaining cases the
Standard Oh case was argued early
during the present administration and.
after an appeal. decided entirely In
favor of the government. The same
was also true of the tobacco cases. I
with the ultimate result of the disln
tegration of that big trnst into four
teen separate and distinct corpora
tions This. 1t Is believed. will effec
lively prevent continuance of the I
monopoiiStic conditions complained of |
Taft Anti trust Record.
During the Taft administration up to
February. 1912. twenty-five civil suits
have been brought and forty criminal
Indictments found under the Sherman
law. making In all sixty two proceed
ings. AS a result there were fifteen I
indictments. and eleven OF these In
volved eighty or more defendants I
Eight out of twelve defendants were
convicted on one Indictment after trial
by jury and their conviction confirmed
by the court OF appeals, and thirteen
criminal prosecutions are pending
brief review of the cases brought
under tie antitrust law during the ad.
ministration demonstrates clearly its
value to the American people in their
protection OF thar equality of opportu-
nifty which is declared by the platform
of the Republican party to be the right
of every citizen
Reference, To q few of the antitrust
cases brought by the Taft administra-
ton gives an excellent idea of the hard
ships some of these Illegal combina-
tons entail upon consumers In the
prosecution of u case against number
of individuals who attempted to corner
all the free cotton remaining of the
crop of 1908 it resulted in a raise In
the price OF that commodity to the
spinners. prevented some from making
any purchases and was therefore re-
straining interstate commerce.
In like manner the government took
cognizance of the pooling In the wire
industry. with the result that nine In.
dictments were found In New York
against eighty three persons engaged
In that business. 1t was an illegal re-
straint of trade. and when the court
proceedings had been finished the va.
rious defendants were fined In amounts
averaging $1,000 each. with the excep-
ton of the supervisor of the pool. who
was fined $4,000
One of the most outrageous cases of
combination In restraint of trade and
a notable violation of the Sherman law
was that of the hand blown window
glass industry. Practically all of the
manufacturers teighty-three in num-
ber) formed company which control
led the entire output of hand blown