The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-06-04
Attorney General Would Have
Sliding Scale of Taxation.
Tobacco and Oil Trust Dissolu-
tiOns Not Satisfactory.
INDEPENDENTS NOT HELPED
President and Cabinet Consider
emergency Measure"
Get at Trusts Through Internal
Revenue Channel.

Washington, June Attorney Gen
eral McReynolds today declared tna'
he had always regarded the tlnal oe-
cree intended to dissolve the trust as
an obvious subterfuge and mlscal
riape of Justice and If there were any
proper and just way by whlch ne
a,,,id c,,r the evil, he would do 1t AS
an Immediate step, he Is cOhsIuSi O5 ms ms
Droposing to congress gTauuateu %
i.o ~ - On tobacco manufacturers
The attorney general says Wiliie ~
he'd not finally decided upon nv =
cation of the tobacco SITUATION Win "
1,iavv to possible further antitrust pr
ecution he likewise nao lIot '1 1900 IF
conclusion as to whether tne ueoi &C
,5ieso1ution which he regards as 1haue-
rn,ate can be reopened- Inc aIlorheS
qeI1e,a1 indicated he was firmly con-
%2inced the decree was incomnensur a. a. {
with the demands of the occdsloi- ~
declared today there could pc no Iea
5issoIution of a trust by dlstr1putloh
of it's stock among IAe
holders ,., situation
the attorney general said ne was CIV
ing serious consideration TO the
suits of the government CON- -
;nvestigation of the working OF Ihe
Tjeso1,Ition decree, but had not yet ue-
cided whether action would be TAKEN
washington June Attorney Cen
eral McReynolds has a plan 70 Gun
some of the alleged evils OF the
bacco trust which ne DelIeEes o+
s,1nrenae courts dissolution did not
reach. 1t is to tax the output or TO
bacco factories on a slldlng scale III
such a way that the big manu- actur G et
will nav more and more as thelr out-
mt increases. 1t is said that the at
+ornev general has talked his plan over
with Mr.. Wilson and the CABINET anu
will submit it to Chairman simmons
of the senate finance comnlItee;
While such a plan of taxauon couiu
not be called a tariff for revenue ohiy
measure Mr.. McReynoldS CONTENDS
that If is an emergency measure de-
vised to meet the pleas OF Independent
tobacco manufacturers that Ine dlSsO-
luton of the so-called trust mas not
relieved them of a situation WHICH
+bav saw. threatens to place them in
as much danger as they were from the
trust before it dissolved MT: NC
REYNOLDS never has agreed with tne
dissolution of the So-called monopoly
and is said to feel that many of the
evils charged against it are continuing
under other forms. In addition TO cor
recting alleged inequalities by such a
method of internal revenue taXdtloh
the attorney general is still consloer-
ing the adVisa bility of beginning an IN
vestigation to determine whether the
decree dissoIving the tobacco trust is
being violated.
Most of the attorneys of the depart
ment of Justice agree that the govern
ment could not reopen the dissolution
case and future moves must be supple
mentary 1t is pointed out that the
United States court in entering the de-
cree of dissolution declined to grant
former Attorney General wicker
sham's request that the government
be permitted to reopen the decree at
any time within the next five years, in
case it developed that the plan of dis
solution had not accomplished the pur-
pose of the Sherman law
Mr.. McReynolds today resumed con-
sideration of the Standard Oil situa-
ton, comforting with Charles B. Nor
rison and Oliver E. Fagan, his special
assistants, who have devoted months
to an investigation OF oil conditions,
with their report before him. it will
now devolve upon the attorney general
to decide whether there is prima facie
evidence of violations of the decree of
dissolution to justify the government
IN attacking the oil interests by con-
tempt of court or criminal proceedings.