The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-06-04
Question Considered by
Cabinet and Depart
ment of Justice.
FINAL ATTITUDE
NOT DETERMINED
Probably Will Depend on Result
of Investigation to Find Out if
Courts DEGREES Dismember-
ing Standard Oil and To-
bacco Companies Are
Being Carried Out.

Washington. June 3.-Whether de-
crees of the United States courts dis
membering the Standard Oil and To-
bacco Trusts" are being carried out
was considered to-day by the Wilson
administration, with view OF possible
institution OF the most important anti
trust moves yet contempla ted by the
President and Attorney General Nc
Reynolds. In the Standard OIL case,
the Attorney General received from
Charles B. Morrison and oliver f. Pa
gan. his special assistant. a report Of
the result OF their investigation of
conditions in the oil industry. and be-
gan consideration OF the question whe-
ther the facts disclosed will Justify the
Department OF Justice in beginning
contempt of court or criminal proceed
ings against oil interests on charges of
violations of the dissolution decree
Tonight this question was unsettled.
Tobacco CaRe Considered.
In the tobacco case practically the
entire meeting of the Cabinet was de-
voted to considering whether surface
conditions in the tobacco trade war
rant the Attorney-General in beginning
an investigation similar to that Just
finished in the Standard OIL case to de-
tion is being carried out, and whether
all semblance OF n tobacco trust" has
disappeared. The Attorney General
after the meeting. was non-committal
as to whether the inquiry will be un-
dertaken.
Consideration of the workings of the
DEGREES in the two big caees-the to-
bacco at the Cabinet meeting and the
standard Oil at the Department OF JUS
tlce-took place to-day apparently by
coincidence. Around the rule of rea-
SON principles first enunciated by the
Onlted states Supreme Court in these
cases has been built practically all of
the antitrust litigation since The
opinions have been the guiding stars
lor the Attorney-General so far as the
sherman antitrust law is concerned
Workings of Decree.
Dir. McReynolds, who. as special as-
sistant TO the Attorney General. orig
inally prosecuted the tobacco trust"
has been studying the workings OF the
decree ever since he entered the Cabi-
net. 1t is known that he disagreed
with former AttorneyGeneral Wicker
sham az to the adequacy of the adopted
plan OF disintegration. 1t has been
understood that his objections centred
around the pro rata distribution among
shareholders Of the trust" of stock
OF the fourteen corporations into which
the American Tobacco Company was
disintegrated. He was quoted at the
time as saying the plan deserved IAN
expeditions commitment to the SCRAP
heap"
The report made to the Attorney
General by Messrs Morrison and Pagan
in the oil case is the result OF several
months investigation. They have
studied conditions in various localities
and paid particular attention to the
soaring prices of oil
In preliminary report made TO for
mer Attorney-General Wickersham
just before he retired from Office, these
attorneys declared that their then par
ttal investigation raised serious doubt
as to whether the Standard Oil trust
had been actually dissolved
They found that unfair competition
had been eliminated. and the last few
months OF their investigation has heen
largely devoted to ascertaining wheth-
er the control and management of the
disintegrated parts OF the trusts" and
the control of the prices of oil still are
directed by the same concentrated in
terests as previously