Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1912-04-26

a
utes. he said. The commissioner wrote
to the president in part as follows:
To the extent OF my present knowl-
edge. / am satisfied that the facts are
as stated BY the company, with the single
exception that / do not have definite
knOwledge as to the nature of the case
now in the hands of the Department OF
Justice, but from the expressions Of the
attorney general am inclined to believe
that it is as Mr.. Perkins stated. a purely
technical legal question.
AS 70 the principle Of fair dealing and
Company Open With bureau.
good policy involved. also concur EN-
tainly true that this company has been
most open with the bureau.
Furthermore the attitude Of the Nor
gan interests. which control this com
pany. has been one Of active co-opera-
ton.
In the investigation OF the steel in
dustry the United States Steel corpora
ton has already spent thousands Of dol
lars in compiling for the bureau the most
complete and intimate information as to
the business and It's officers have gone
to immense trouble and loss OF time TO
facilitate In every way our work.
In my interview Of August "A with Mr..
Perkins he set forth number Of con-
siderations which seem to me Of great
weight. He stated his company had en-
deavored to obey the law in every re-
spect and had carefully put itself in line
with the policy OF the administration.
that the interests that he represented, in
GLIDING not only the International Har-
vester company. but also the far-resching
Morgan interests generally. had originally
favored the creation of the bureau Of
corporations and the policy OF the presi-
dent which that bureau represents and
that both in their attitude toward the
bureau and In their conduct and manage
ment Of their various concerns. including
the United States Steel corporation. they
had adopted similar policy OF frsnkness
and publicity; that so far as they were
aware they had not been guilty Of any
violations Of the law. certainly none in
yolving q moral consideration; that. as he
phrased II, he was now being laughed at
in New York by the Standard oil people
who were saying that he had tried to be
good and keep solid with the administra-
ton, but that he was now going TO get
the same dose as other people who had
not followed such policies.
Raise. Important Question.
"As to the legal question. whether this
company's organization has been a viola
ton OF the Sherman law. i am not par
ticularly interested nor have any fixed
position on the subject. therefore feel
that the starting OF q suit under the
Sherman law against this company would
be q moral injustice and q reversal Of
| the correct and advanced modern policy
Of the president in dealing with cor
porate business. II is submitted that
this case raises acutely question Of gem
eral Importance. which must be. think.
determined now and for which this case
will stand as q precedent.
This case raises the question included
In what the president has called good
and bad trusts the question whether
combinations as such shall be prohibited:
whether the government lie going 10 try
TO forbid all combinations regardless Of
their methods or ends or whether on the
other hand II Is going to pursue the
policy. frequently stated by the president,
OF regulation and control rather than of
prohibition.
Finally. this case against the COM
pany Is a civil, not criminal one. De-
lay will not affect the case through any
statute Of limitation. II there is 9 good