The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1912-12-11

Of the world which requires us. If ",
would maintain our navy as HI insur
ance of peace, to augment our nava
force by at least two battleships a yea.
and by battle cruisers, gunboats. tor
pedO destroyers and submarine boat.
In a proper proportion. We have NJ
desire for a We would go as far a.
any nation in the world to avoid war
but we are a world power.
Department Of Justice.
This department has been very &C.
tive In the enforcement of the law. II
has been better organized and with q
larger force than ever before in the
history Of the government. The prose.
cutions which have been successfully
concluded and which are now pending
testify to the effectiveness of the de.
partmental work.
The prosecution Of trusts under the
Sherman antitrust law has gone on
without restraint or diminutiOn, and
DEGREES similar to those entered in the
Standard Oil and the tobacco cases
have been entered in other suits, like
the suits against the powder trust and
the bathtub trust. l am very strongly
convinced that a steady, consistent
course in this regard, with a continu-
Ing Of supreme court decisions upon
new phases Of the trust question not
already finally decided, is going to Of
fer a solution of this much discussed
and troublesome issue in q quiet. calm
and judicial way without any radical
legislation changing the governmental
policy in regard to combinations DOW
denounced by the Sherman antitrust
law.
l have already recommended as un
aid in this matter legislation which
would declare unlawful certain well
known phases Of unfair competition
In interstate trade. and l have also
advocated voluntary national incor-
poration for the larger Industrial n
%terprises, with provision for a closer
supervision by the bureau Of corpora
lions or a board appointed for the pur-
FSeSS w 40 w AAoAS AAAoAS Lei Nt4 NOl0-
pliance with the antitrust law on the
one hand and to give greater security
to the stockholders against possible
prosecutions on the other.
I believe, however, that the orderly
course Of litigation in the courts and
the regular prosecution of trusts charg-
ed with the violation of the antitrust
law is producing among business men
a clearer and clearer perception of the
line Of distinction between business
that is to be encouraged and business
that Is to be condemned, and that in
this quiet way the question Of trusts
a be settled and competition retain.
ed as an economic force to secure real
sonableness in prices and freedom and
independence in trade.
Reform of Court Procedure.
I am glad to bring to the attention
Of congress the fact that the supreme
court has radically altered the equity
rules governing the procedure on the
equity side Of oil federal courts, and
though. as these changes have not been
yet put in practice so as to enable us
to state from actual results what the
reform will accomplish, they are of
such a character that we can reason
ably prophesy that they will greatly
reduce the time and cost Of litigation
in such courts. The court has adopted
many of the shorter methods of the
present English procedure, and. while
it may take a little while for the pro-
fession to accustOm itself to these
methods, it Is certain greatly to facili-
tate litigation. The action Of the SUI
preme court has been so drastic and so
full Of appreciation Of the necessity for
a great reform in court procedure that
l have no hesitation in following up
this action with a recommendation
which l foreshadowed in my message
Of three years ago, that the sections Of
the statute governing the procedure in
the federal courts on the common law
should be so amended as to give
make rules Of procedure in common
law as they have since the beginning
of the court exercised in equity.
l do not doubt that a full considera-
ton Of the subject will enable the
court while giving effect to the sub
stant1al differences in right and RENE
dy between the system of common
law and the system Of equity so to
unite the two procedures into the form
of n civil action and to shorten the
procedure in such civil action as to
furnish a model to all the state courts
exercising concurrent jurisdiction with
the federal courts Of first instance.
Under the statute now in force the
common law procedure in each federal
court Is made to conform to the pro-
cedure in the state in which the court
is held. In these days, when we
should be making progress in court
procedure. such a conformity statute
makes the federal method too depend
ent upon the action Of state legisla-
lures. l can but think it a great Op-
portunity for congress to intrust to