The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-22
What They Want to Know
Now Is McReynolds' Atti-
tude Toward Trusts
LITTLE INTIMATION
OF PROBABLE COURSE
Understood That He Is Not Entirely
Satisfied With Way Standard Oil
Has Complied With Courts
Dissolution Order
By G. e. STEWART

| Washington, March 21.-fSpeoial) )-The
question of tariff reform has been dis
counted far In advance by those whom it
will affect They have seen the hand
writing on the wall for several years and
have been making the most Of the oppor-
| tunities left them, and the slight respite
they gained by the failure of the Taft ad-
ministration to carry out the programme
| 1t promised before 1t was given the reins
Of government.
| 1t is no longer dreaded; the country IL
prepared for It. The important thing in
| the Wilson administration to the sin
| terests" is not SO much what will be done
| with the tariff--they are ready for the
tariff dose-but what is going to be the
attitude of the administration toward the
trusts. What kind of trust buster is Nc
Reynolds going to prove? Is he going
to hunt in the open with brass band ac-
compartment or is he going cunning Tor
the trespassers on the antitrust laws with
a pair of gum shoes on.
No Stranger to Interests
| Mr.. McReynolds is no stranger to the
interests. He took an active part in
1
| the Tobacco trust and other cases. being
appointed a special attorney for the gov
ernment. His ability as a lawyer is well
known, but it is not so well known just
how active he is going TO become in
probing into the affairs of the big cor
porations of the United States and holding
up their acts in the light of publicity
wherever he may believe there is reason
for doing so
| 1t is already limited that he is not al
together satisfied with the manner in
which the Standard Oil company has con-
Quoted its affairs since it was ordered
| dissolved by the United States supreme
court, and that he is considering even
now the feasibility of bringing action
against them for contempt because they
have not obeyed the mandates OF the de-
cree handed down in their case Further
| 1t is stated that he is inclined to reopen
the Tobacco cases much for the same
| reasons
| The enormous advance in the price of
| STANDARD Oil' since the government won
| its suit and the company was ordered dis
solved and certain other alleged acts of
the company have made the dissolution
OF the Standard Or more of a joke in the
| public mind than an actual reality How
| ever earnestly the Standard Oil officials
| may have been, and may be now, in at
| tempting to carry out the orders of the
court they have failed to impress the
| public with a sincerity of purpose and it
| is believed that unless they can prove good
| faith to the new Attorney General it will
| be among one of his first acts to institute
contempt proceedings against them.
The Tobacco Decree
| 1t is matter of record that the new
Attorney General while acting for the
government in the Tobacco cases never
did approve of the plan finally agreed
| upon by the then Attorney General Wick
ersham, and the Tobacco trust Mr.. Nc
Reynolds at that time and has since
voiced his disapproval of the Decree and
being aware of this fact. it is but natural
| that those most vitally interested in
| american Tobacco are just a little bit
| anxious to know what his attitude will
\ be now since he has assumed the respon-
| sibiity that goes with the position of
! chief trust buster to Uncle Sam. At any
| rate it is safe to say that the acts of
| both the Standard Oil people and the
American Tobacco people will be kept
carefully under the eye of the Attorney
General, and if they want to avoid trouble
1t would be well for them to show a lively
disposition to follow to the letter the in
4 tent and purpose of the orders of the
| supreme court in their cases
| So far the Attorney General declines to
discuss these two cases. He admits, how
ever, that recommenda ations have been
made to him to bring action against both,
but that he has not yet had the time TO
go into the matter thoroughly.
The Pacific Case
| Mr.. McReynolds gave his full approval
| to the plan of dissolution agreed upon
| by former Attorney General Wickersham
and the Hartman interests in the case of
F.! Union Pacific, Southern Pacific and Cen
| tral Pacific railroads. This was one OF
| tho last acts of the former Attorney Gen.
| eral, and 1t was thought that this i'm
portant matter involving one of the great
est railroad systems of the country was
| finally settled. but unfortunately at the
| last moment the California railroad COM
mission interposed objections and obtained
an Injunction against The carrying out OF
| the plan and now the entire matter must
be threshed out or a new plan accept
able to the California commission evolved.
| The syndicate for the underwriting of
1.-THE securities of the deal organized by
| Kuhn. Loeb & Co. of New York expired
| last SATURDAY. night, and the officials of
these several roads must again take up
the task of separating their holdings in
a manner that will meet the approval Of
| the Attorney General and others interest
| al with as little loss to their stockholders
as possible.
Left Much to Be Done
Attorney General Wic.Sersham was fair
q ,t..1e e,kx-nk to-. L.