The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-03-02
Supreme Court Refuses to. Dissolve Steel Corpora tion, Thus Officially Branding It as a Good" Combination With Legal ity Established
sy A.s.sIasss rrs.s


 Washington, March 1.-In a four-to-three decision the su- preme court today refused to dissolve the United States Steel Corporation and it's numerous subsidiarits comprising the so- called "steel trust"
 Tho governments long fought suit for dissolution of the iron and steel trade cornbination for alleged viola ton Of the sherman antitrust law was dismissed, with absolution for the cor poration from all existing charges.
 Placing the high courts OK" on the Steel Corporation were Chief Justice White and Associate Justices McKenna, who announced the majority opinion; lHo1mes and Van Desvanter. Justice J Day gave the dissenting opinion, which was joined by Justice Pitney and Clarke.
 Justices McReyno1ds and Brandeis took no part, the former having been Attorney General during the litigation and tho latter having expressed opin- ions regarding it before appointment to the bench.
 Primarily the decree officiany
 brands the Steel Corporation a
 "good1 corporation, with it's legal
 tty established.
 Further. the court held that mere
 industry of corporate combinations
 is not aolne sufficient cause for
 their dissolution.
 , sFAR-REACHING CONSTRUCTION The court also gave a new and far s reaching Judicial interpretation or ap- ' pIication of the sherman law, analogous to it's famous rule of req som in the Standard Oil and Tobacco ses 'tr1ls t,,iacases by declaring public in- tersst must be considered in applying the law.
 The public interest, it was held, would not be served and might be injured by disSplving the steel concern.
 Dissolution of the corporation and it's principal subsidiaries was urged in the spirited dissenting opinion. The minority declared the antitrust law was violated in it's organization; that there has been "open, notorious and continued violations of its provisions,'' and that approval of illegally born com binations would practically annul the sherman law by judicial decree"
 Agreeing mere size of corporation, pfovfding It's genesis Is legal. Is not i'm Libited, the minority vigorously dis hpproved the new sherman law ruling Fequifing judicial consideration of the public interest, Such conclusion. the 5dissenters declared, necessarily results lin practical nullification of the act it. lself.''
 l A COMPLETE VICTORY 4l The decision was a complete vic- tory for the Steel Corporation and it's lSO subsidiaries. said to compose / the worlds greatest industrial com bfnatiOn with assets of more than I 9z,OO0yO00. 900.
 S It also dismissed proceedings against as score of millionaire individual defend ants. dncluding Chairman E. IT. Gary of the Steel Corporation. Charles M. Schwab. John D. Rockefeller, the late J. P. Morgan. Andrew Carnegie, Henry c. Prick and others. Against these the government had asked injunctions against illegal acts.
 Also the decree of dismissal marked utter rout for the government in it's suit, which was begun in 1911 in the New Jersey federal court. and which has been one of the longest, most vol luminous and most costly proceedings tn.supreme court annals. The case, the records Of which fill small room. was twice argued in the high court in March, 1917, and again last October. A truce, suspendine action during the war, was agreed upon in 1918. NO FUTURE ACTION PLANNED Although todays decree leaves the gov fernnent free to bring new proceedings bgainst the corporation for specific and present practices deemed in conflict with the Antitrust law, department of justice officials tonight declared no thought to future action had been considered Pending study of the opinions, Attorney General Palmer and other department of- ficials withheld comment.
 In its appeal the government con- sstended that to sustain dismissal of it's k&uft by the New Jersey court would re- suit in licensing enormous corporations which fall just short of complete mo- nopoiy and would place the courts Setamp of approval on development of industry by combination instead of com petition
 The majority of the court took oc- casion to refer President Roosevelt's approval of the steel corporation's ac- ousition of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company. declaring that action of President Roosevelt while not mak ing that merger legal. gave Insurance tof it's legally as we know from his
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