The daily sentinel., 1913-03-22
IS TRUST PROBLEM
ALREADY SOLVED?
1ayenneT Says That the Higher
Court Must Sustain Cash
Register Decision.
OFFICIALS MUST Be JAILED
tBy CLYDE H. TAYENNER, NJ. C.l

by CLYDE H. TkVENNER, NJ. C.l
Special to The Sentinel
Washington, March 22.-Has the
rust problem been solved without
nyone knowing it
There are not few members of
ongress who think go. Those who
re convinced that the above is true
ssert that when Federal Judge Hol-
.ster, of Ohio. recently sentenced 20
officials of the cash register trust to
sentences in jail, sustaining the view
long taken BY Democrats that guilt
is personal" he solved the trust prob
lem for all time.
Now that sufficient time has
elapsed for students Of the trust ques-
tion to consider the effect OF the iudg-
ment of the Ohio court. the concen-
sus OF opinion among lawmakers at
the national capital is that the jail
sentences Will do more to cause mill
lionaire trust magnates TO respect the
Sherman antitrust law than any
thing that has occurred since trusts
and monopolies have come into ex-
istence.
1t has been demonstrated that jail
sentences are the only things trust
magnates have any respect for. They
are willing to build up giant mono-
poles in the necessaries of life in vio-
alton of the Sherman law. if their
My punishment In the remote event
+ their prosecution and conviction,
is to be dissolution" the details of
which the supreme court will allow
their attorneys to attend, to the end
hat their stocks will double in value
Trust magnates care nothing about
n rA Ct
business basis. The trust heads
have not objection to occasionally
paying a $1,000 or $4,000 fine for
the privilege of making millions in
cornered markets and in monopolies
of the necessaries OF life.
Afraid Only of a Cell.
But trust magnates are afraid OF
cell, and If they can be convinced
that If they violate the antitrust
law they Will go to Jail, like the poor
go to Jail when they violate a law,
no one doubts that the Sherman law
would be obeyed and the problem of
Illegal trusts solved.
The Sherman law provides for Jail
sentences for trust magnates Just as
other laws provide for Jail sentences
for other kinds of robbery, but for 90
years and more the federal courts
have not been impressed by the fact.
This is why so many persons have
come to be suspicious of the courts,
and to sincerely believe that the poor
do not receive the same kind of JUS
tice that is meted out to the rich; it
explains, too, the-secent remarkable
growth of socialism, and the agita-
ton for the recall OF judges.
Are Still at Large.
In this connection it is important
to note that although the 20 cash
register heads We're found guilty and
We're sentenced to Jail, they are not
in Jail. and are not likely to be for
two years. or perhaps longer The
case will be fought through the SUI
preme court, and as n general rule
two years are consumed. 1t is said
that the men under sentence expect
to escape Jail. and will pour out their
millions in an effort to find some loop
hole of technicality by which to es-
cape the ignominy Of being branded
convict.
If the Judgment of the court is
ultimately carried out, 1t is obvious
that it will do more toward causing
Illegal trust magnates to respect the
law, and at the same time more to
strengthen the waning confidence of
the masses in the federal courts than
anything that has happened in years.
But if the supreme court does not
uphold Judge Hollister. then the
trust problem has not been solved,
but is as far from solution as ever.