Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-08-18
70 Make / e CLAYTON
BILL MORE DRASTIC
Lawyer Says All Man facturers
Should be Forced to Sell to Any
Responsible Person.

t.
tavus A. Rogers, q lawyer of $50
Broadway, has sent a letter to Pres
ident Wilson suggesting certain
changes in the text Of the Clayton
Antitrust bill now before congress.
Mr.. Rogers suggests that Section
6 Of the bill be, so amended that an
equity judgment or decree shall con-
stitute conclusive evidence Of the
facts, instead of primg facie evidence,
as now provided, and that DEGREES in
suits by the United States now pend
ing shall be available for use as evil
dence by, private parties; that Sec
ton 3, which penalties the owner or
operator Of q mine for refusing to sell
his product to q responsible party, be
broadened to include the manufacture
er or operator In any commodity;
that the bill shall MAKE it unlawful
to terminate established trade rela-
lions between parties for the purpose
of creating or furthering q monopoly,
and that party injured by such ter
mination shall have right to legal ac-.
ton for relief.
Must Protect Small Man.
Mr.. Rogers argues that unless spe-
cihc statutory provision be made to
prevent concerns which control q con-
siderable percentage of a commodity
from refusing arbitrarily to sell to re-
sponsible parties, the small man Is at
the mercy Of "big business
Mr.. Rogers submits to President
Wilson as a concrete instance the ev-
idence In the suit of the United States
against the General Film company,
the distributing agent of the Motion
Picture trust. He points out that by
a similar attitude any concern that
controls, or nearly controls, prod.
uct, such as the American Tobacco
company, can drive small.dealer out
Of business. His effort Is to have the
Clayton bill 50 framed as to make
this impossible.
\ AS attorney for the Greater New
York Film Rental company, which is
controlled by William Fox, Mr.. Rog-
ers forced delivery Of goods which
the General Film company had refus.
ed. Mr. Rogers says In his letter:
I'm a large number Of suits now
pending undoubtedly the government
will be successful. The prosecution
of these suits has cost the govern
ment several hundred thousand dol
lars, the expense of which would
have to be incurred over again by pri-
vate individuals to get an adjudica-
ton in suits for damages under the
treble damage provision. In many
instances, II not in nearly every one,
the cost Of this litigation is SO expen.
sive as to be almost prohibitive. No
good reason can be advanced from an
economic standpoint as to why injur-
ed parties should not have the benefit
Of DEGREES that may hereafter be en-
tered in suits already brought 81
my views upon the subject are
shared by Special Assistant Attorney
General Grosvenor, who, / am inform
ed, has written q letter on the sub
ject, under date Of May IA, 1914, to
Judge Clayton, as chairman Of the ju-
dietary committee Of the house of rep.
resentatives, in which he recommends
that the word, hereafter be stricken
out Of Section 3. / assume the let
ter Is on file with Judge Clayton's
committee.
"The instrumentality which makes
monopolistic combinations 50 COM
plete and secure in their operation
and the achievement of the result
they seek is the power given to cut
on the supply Of its commodity at a
moments notice, thereby compelling
its customer or competitor to yield to
every wish and exaction OF the COM
bination formed against him and the
people generally. q
Take away from the trust the right
to arbitrarily refuse its commodity to-
responsible persons and you uproot
the very foundation on which the CON-
bination stands, and you also destroy
the most oppressive instrumentality
it employs"