The Washington herald., 1914-06-26
Leave the Sherman law Alone.


The Clayton antitrust BILL which has already
passed the House Of Representative, was largely
characterized by an effort to so define emphasize and
supplement existing statutes against unlawful re-
straints and monopoes that these statutes would be
made clearer and stronger and would serve the pur-
pose OF protecting trade and commerce better than
they now do. The Senate Committee on Interstate
Commerce has decided to incorporate in the Federal
trade commission BILL which it has agreed to report
provision for the regulation of trade practices in
order to prevent unfair competition; and it is pro-
posed in the Senate with the approval of President
Wilson, we understand it to substitute this amend
ment for practically the whole of the Clayton bill
it came from the House The Senate proposal is to
have a commission OF FIVE persons appointed by the
President, who shall, without regard to any of the
specific restrictions and definitions referred to in the
Clayton bill determine on purely general grounds
what is unfair competition" in any instance where
this is alleged. The commission IS to have plenary
power to investigate all such complaints and, if it
finally finds the competition is unfair" in any case
then to order to be stopped If it is not stopped
then the commission is empowered to petition the
United States Court for an injunction compelling its
order to be obeyed.
We bound to say that the Senate proposal
seems to be equitable and practicable than that
which originated in the House 1t was considered by
the best lawyers in the House and was even the op
ion OF the Attorney General if we are correctly in
formed that the result of the Clayton BILL if enacted
into law would be to place decided impediments in
the working of the Sherman law, rather than to
clear away obstacles that have been already found
lying in its path The terms of the Sherman law are
broad simple and inclusive. This is the great merit
of the law from the point of view of prosecuting
of
particular practice within the purvew of the statute
An agreement or combination anything else that
tends to restrain trade or commerce in any manner
or degree whatsoever, is illegal under the Sherman
law. To attempt to specify in terms of supple
mentary statute just what is legal and just what is
not legal under the Sherman law IS obviously to re-
strict the operation of the law and is not a good
thing from the point of view of those who are de-
slrous of waglng warfare upon trusts and monopoes
Aside from this defect, which is plain on its face
even to layman, the Clayton bill is extremely OBJ
noxous to the business interests. II would interfere
in grevous way with existing practices in business
and commerce that have been in common use for a
time when the memory of man runneth not to the
contrary; and effort to enforce such meddlesome
would needlessly harass the smallest bus
ness man in the country well as the greatest The
merit of the amendment offered in the Senate which
bears the name OF Senator NewlandS, that il
away all these involved definitions and restrictions
and leaves the sole ground of action under the anti
trust law an unfair competition whenever it is found
that this exists. In principle regulation of this sort
is the that which already exists under the
Sherman law.
But the Newlands amendment seems to US itself
very objectionable other grounds and while it is
better than the bill fathered by Representative Clay
ton it is nevertheless, that can only cause
bother and trouble to soreiy distressed business
concerns. 1t may be said that it only involves the
enforcement in somewhat larger way of the methods
already in practice by the Bureau of Corporations
but any more detailed and exhaustive prying into
business by the than already exists would
be unbearable nuisance. The pith of the whole
proceeding in any instance would be to establish what
result this would have to come before the United
States courts just it does now; and what the New
lands amendment proposes is to establish great
Intermediary body with power to send for persons
and papers and into everybodys private affairs
all for the purpose of informing this body as to some
thing in the vague and general domain of unfair
competition" which must finally come before the
courts for an independent and final adjudication .
The this subject is turned over and con-
sidered the it will be discovered that the Sher-
man law had better be left just where stands with
out amendment or application and that any at
tempt to the debatable ground under it will
only make this ground wider.