New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-02-04
FIGHT ANTITRUST BILLS
Corporation Lawyers Try to
Pull Seven Sisters" Teeth.
ATTACK personal GUILT
Counsel to Steel Trust Says
Clause Would Implicate
Innocent Directors.
10y Tolegrarh TO The Tribunc ]

Trenton. n. j.. Feb. ST amendments
advocated by corporation lawyers who ap-
peared before the Judiciary committee OF
the Senate here to-day are adopted there is
little doubt but that "Thc Seven Sisters.
as the Wilson antitrust bills are known.
will have their teeth effectively removed.
The principal suggestions were made by
Richard V. Lindabury. of counsel to the
United States Steel Corporation. who APP
peared before the committee. not a coun-
sci for any particular aggregation of
capital hut just representing corpora
lions generally.
The corporations pleaded before the
committee to-day that they had not had
time 10 prepare their cases and asked that
further hearings be granted. The com
mittee decided to conduct a further hear
ing Wednesday afternoon Of this week.
At that time the Judiciary Committee of
the House will sit with the Senate Com
mittee so that hearings before the House
committee will be unnecessary and the
bills may be rushed to a speedy passage
The first Of the Wilson measures re-
ferred 10 by Mr.. Lndabury was Senate
43. defining a trust. The bill, taken liter
ally, he said would prevent agreements
between employees and employers. such as
wage agreements. lie suggested the in
corporation of the word independent
before Corporations. firms or persons,
as the remedy for this defect.
Section . Of Bill 46. which contains the
persona guilt provision urged by Gov
ernor Wilson, was particularly disagree
able 10 Mr.. Lndabury He argued that
perfectly innocent director Of a cor
pOratiOn should not be made 10 suffer
for some act Of an executive committee
lie suggested the use Of the word know
ingly" and the elimination of the words
directly or indirectly" in the personal
guilt sections as a means Of safeguarding
the directors who might unconsciousy
approve a contract the effect Of which
was restraint of trade.
In Bill 50 Mr. Lindabury found a mem
ace TO corporation pension funds. He ex-
planned that many OF the larger corpora
tions carried pension funds which were
invested i'm securities of other concerns
If this act was adopted" Mr.. Lindabury
said. "the Steel Corporation would be
compelled TO invest its pension fund in
come in government bonds, and therefore
the income would be reduced about one
half"
Samuel X. Robbins, counsel TO the Vic
tor Talking Machine Company. attacked
Paragraph 4 in the hill defining trusts
and enumerating forbidden purposes. lie
explained that his corporation had, with
what he regarded as Justification. fixed a
standard price to the retailer and the con-
sumner of its product. This. Mr.. Robbins
said, served an admirable purpose to both
the company and the public The section
TO which ne referred would prevent this
standardizing Of price. He suggested a
proviso that would legalize the action Of
his company.
Mr.. Lindabury said such a proviso
would legalZe the very actions of the
American Tobacco Company which the
United States Supreme Court had de-
clared illegal