The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-07-18
The Government May Take
Further Steps to Pro-
mote Competition
INTRICATE LEGAL
5 QUESTIONS INVOLVED
The Attorney General Gives Serious
Thought to Proposed Bill Which
Makes Possible Remedy to Cure
Alleged Non-C Competitive Evils

Washington, July 17.-Attorney General
McReynolds is still considering the disso-
lutions of the Standard Oil and Tobacco
trusts to determine whether further steps
should be taken by the federal government
to promote real and free competition,
which it is alleged does not exist in these
J industries under present conditions. not
withstanding decrees of dissolution
In the Tobacco case the Attorney GEN
eraf is giving serious consideration,
though. to the bill introduced by Senator
Cummins directing the department of jus
tice to appeal to the supreme court from
the decree of dissolution entered by the
circuit court for the southern district of
New York November 16, 1911, and also au-
thorizing Independent tobacco manufac-
turers and others to intervene in the case
TO object to the decree.
f. II. Levy, who represented independ-
ents when they unsuccessfully sought to
intervene before the final entry of the
decree, has filed with the department a
digest of the situation and an argument in
favor of the legality of the proposed law.
This now is under consideration, and the
Attorney General is expected to give his
opinion TO Ine Senate on 1uul-
ciary to which the Cummins bill was re-
ferred.
Intricate Legal Questions
Some intricate legal questions, officials
OF the department of justice point out are
involved In the measure. The government
under the present statute had 60 days in
which to appeal to the supreme court
from the New York federal courts decree
dissolving the tobacco trust, but former
Attorney General Wickersham agreed to
the decree and did not appeal. 1t has
heen suggested that since the government
did not avail itself of the right to appeal
within the time limit, the tobacco interests
were entitled to regard the decree as a
final determination of the issues.
However, the Attorney General, who re-
CARDS the decree as a '1nere subterfuge,'
is giving the Cumrnins bill consideration
as a possible way 10 cure alleged nom
competitive evils,
In the Standard Oil case the Attorney
General is continuing his study OF the re-
port OF Charles y, Morrison and oliver y.
Pagan government attorneys. who invcs-
ligated whether the dissolution decree is
being violated
Unfair Methods Eliminated
The oil interests contend they are COM
pning with the decree. While the gov
ernment's bill IN the oil case and the su-
prefne courts decision We're sweeping in
character, the Attorney General, before
taking any further action in the courts
must decide whether the decree properly
Interpreted the supreme courts de-
clsion which was designed to compel COM
petition Unfair competition methods are
said 10 have been eliminated and the ques-
tion is are the disntegrated companies
competing or are they fixing the high
price of oil?
While the supreme court decided both
cases. the decree in neither case reached
the highest tribunal. Attorney General
McRynolds' principal complaint against
the DEGREES revoves about the pro rata
distribution of stock among the same
= stockholders who controlled the original
combinations. He pointed out today that
the supreme court in the Union Pacific
antitrust case decided that such distri-
button was not a real dissolution of a
trust under the Sherman law.