The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1914-06-12
THE DOOM OF UNEQUAL
LAWS.

A short while ago, The CITIZEN had
an editorial in which it deprecated the
attempt made to exempt labor and
farmers combinations from any culpa.
bility from any part that they might
take in the future in violation of the
Antitrust provisions of the Sherman
Law. The President is opposed to such
a proposition, and yet in spite of all this
the House of Representatives passed an
amendment recently, which exempted
all labor and farmer organizations.
In this connection the New York
"World," which by the way, is print
ing much good Democratic reading now
a-days, makes the following observations,
taking as theme the recent decisions
of the Supreme Court of the United
States:
"Two decisions in
the trust cases ppealed from Missouri
and Kentucky have been widely mi sin
terpreted. In the Missouri case he
court had to deal with a State law i'm
ed specifically at combinations and mo
nopolies in commodities, making no ex
ceptions. In the Kentucky case, the
State law in very plain terms ex
empted tobacco-growers from its penal
ties. The Missouri law was held to be
constitutional and the Kentucky law I'M
constitutional.
'rhese judgments have direct bear
ing upon the legislation now pending in
Congress by which it is intended to give
labor unions immunity for acts which
committed by others are penalized. The
proposed Federal exemption of labor is
like the attempted exemption of the
tobacco growers in Kentucky, and if en-
acted into law there can be no doubt
but that it will meet with speedy Judi
cial notification. In the Missouri law
there is no attempt to prohibit anything
but conspiracy in the manufacture and
sale Of goods. It was assailed on the
ground that it should have, been more
comprehensive, including the labor un-
ions, but the court properly held that
the Legislature by forbidding certain
forms Of combination had acted clearly
within its rights, and was not bound to
deal exclusively with the subject.
both of these decisions follow we'll
known precedents Law need not be
allembracing but they must be equal
In their application. They need not
cover every abuse, but they must not
discriminate.
"The national Anti Trust Law pro
vldes that every person who shall make
any contract or engage in any combina-
ton or conspiracy in restraint of trade
shall be deemed guilty of INSIDE
meanor. 1t covers the whole ground.
financial, commercial and industrial.
Everybody is included. Nobody is ex-
cluded.
ga bill which has passed the House
OF Representatives at Washington and
now awaits the action of the Senate
plainly amends this law, not to make it
resemble the Missouri law, which does
not include all persons, but to bring it
into line with the Kentucky law, now
wiped out, which undertook to relieve
favored class Of the penalties which
were prescribed for others.
privilege never appears more often
sively than in the laws against crime.
10 tax one man for the benefit of an
other man is robbery. To approve in
one man deeds which in another are
held to merit fine and imprisonment is
worse than robbery; it is despotism.
sThe Missouri and Kentucky decis
ions, properly understood, doom that
kind of law, as in free countries it
always has been doomed.