The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1913-11-13
JAIL FOR TRUST
MAKERS PROPOSED
5Y JOHN sNuRE.

so1 BY JOHN SNURE.
Washington. Nov. 1I.-This is what
congress is going to have to decide in
the coming regular session beginning
in December:
Is the prison penalty for violation
made mandatory? 49, %9&6 ~
Is the law to say that men who de-
liberately violate the criminal features
OF the antitrust act shall be sent to
jail?. 5% WV 80 W1s@ 800
This Is the biggest question that con-
fronts h congress Of the United States
today n IL Is right up against an
swering II. It has been side-stepped
n evaded for years, but the public
now Is demanding that evasion lease
and that something definite be done
about IL. "t..s II n
Connected with this question, are
many others which are closely akin
to II. They involve the proposition
as to how the government Is going to
deal with its great industrial corpora
tons and great railroad and carrier
corporations, with it's trusts and COM
bihations and monopolies. They In
volve the problem OF enforced COM
petition or regulated monopoly or a
regulated competition midway between
the W. extremes. a..r"
Teeth There, But Don't Bite.
The fact is, as every good lawyer
knows, the Sherman law has teeth. 1t
a sharp teeth, at that. But they
have seldom been used. Nor Is there
n reason to believe they will be used
in h future any more than they have
beer in the past unless congress pro-
ceeds to compel h application of the
prison sentence to offenders, or some
penalty which will make formation or
trusts n combinations in restraint OF
trade too dangerous and hazardous to
engage In.
In any event, congress is going to be
called on this winter to decide what to
do about 1t. In both House and Senate
there will be strong demand for legisla-
ton which will require the prison SEN
tence to be imposed when a man Is
found guilty OF violating the criminal
parts Of he Sherman law. n which
will leave no discretion to the court.
Senator Norris Idea.
Not a few men in congress believe
there Is a lot OF nonsense in the talk
about the difficulty OF amending h
Sherman law so as to break up h
trusts, combinations and monopolies,
They say the real difficulty 10 in the
unwillingness OF congress to take the
n step which they hold to be neces-
sary--to say the jail sentence must be
imposed.
Some idea of the feeling among
thoughtful men in the Legislative
branch may be gathered from this
statement of Senator George w. Nor
ris, Of Nebraska:
I'VE must amend the law so It will
be made improbable for men to form
trusts and combinations in restraint OF
trade. The jail sentence must be made
mandatory for violation OF the criminal
part Of the law. Moreover, I believe
the law should provide that. when II
Is shown q concern IL In restraint OF
trade or an attempted monopoly or
monopoly, the court should be required
to and out how much that concern has
exacted from the public, A receiver
should be named. the property taken
in charge by him. and there should be
paid into the federal treasury twice
the amount which was extracted from
the public by the trust or combination.
This would, in some cases, amount to
c~onfscation. But 1t would put a stop
to violations OF the lew." .
The proposal Of Senator Norris for a
penalty, additional to h prison pen
atty, which would result in making the
unlawful concern lose all its profits and
the much more because of its viola
ton Of the law Is a novel one. Senator
Norris intends to bring it before the
Senate when trust legislation comes up
in the regular session.
Bills Are Pending.
Congressman Thetus w. Sims. OF
IenneSS66, lOnR a JuuB6 III HIS % w.
one Of the foremost members OF the
House committee on interstate COM
merce, said:
THE prison sentence must be made
mandatory If violations of the Sher-
man law are to be stopped"
This Is the opinion of numerous
others in congress. 1t Is the opinion
of numerous officials in the depart
ment of justice who have seen he In
effectiveness Of the Sherman law as 1t
has been enforced. Bills are pending
in both houses to provide for h prison
penalty alone.
Jail Sentences Fail.
Theoretically. 1t is easily possible to
throw a trust magnate in jail" Men
talk glibly of IL. The law provides for
IL. The supreme court says the law
Is constitutional in It's criminal fea-
lures. "a
But in practice the man who breaks
the antitrust statutes are not sent to
1ail. They escape either without pun
ishment or get fines, which to most
men in the classification business
amount to nothing. ,
1t is now nearly a quarter OF a cen
fury since the Sherman law was enact
ed. In that time, there has not been
a single Jail sentence imposed under
II by q court which a passed the
muster of the supreme court. Such