The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1920-06-12
JUDGE HOWE EXPLAINS
PROFITEERING LAWS
institutes Grand jury In Federal Court
--citeo Some Of Important
Provisions.

Wllluaor June 9.--At the opening I
Of the United Sta es District court,
new In session at Windsor Judge Har
land b Howe. who is now presiding
at a session here, in charging the
grand Jury instructed them a. follows |
IN regard TO proGteerins
In order to Raoure an adequate sup
ply and an eqaIabc distribution of
tho necessar.e9 Of life, on the 22nd
day of October, 1919, congress passed
a law against heard ng, monopulizing,
or speculatlng in foods, feeds, fuel,
wearing apparel. fertilizer, TOOLS ma
chinery and equipment required for
the production of foods, feeds and
fuel.
Tpls law makea II unlawful, among
other things, for any person TO will.
fully hoard or monopolize such neces
Sites to make any unjust or unreas-
enable rate or charge in handling or
dealing In or with such necessaries
or TO conspire, combine, agree, or ar.
range with any other person to re
strict their distribution or to exact
excessive prices for such goods. The
penalty may be a fine not exceeding
$4,000 or Imprisonment for not more
than two years, or both.
The most important part OF The stat
ute is tho provision agaisnt making
any unjust or unreasonable rate or
charge in handling in or dealing in or
with such goods. The word "willful.
ly" as used in the statute is defined
TO mean willingly purposely, selling
such goods at unjust or unreasonable
prices, as eontradistlnguished from
"inavertently' or accidentally" The
words rate" or charge" are defined
to mean the price at which said
goods are scld Whether the prices
which are charged are unjust or I'M
reasonable are questions of fact for
you to decide, acting as reasonable
men and taking into consideration
what price The person making the
sale paid for the goods in the market;
whether they were brought in the or
binary course CT trade at the market
price at shat time; the length of time
the goods had been carried in stock;
the expense of carrying on the
business; what fair and reasonable
profit on the goods would be, and all
the other facts and circumstances in
and about the transaction, but not
how much the market price has adj
yanced from the time the goods were
purchased TO the time they are sod.
Another very important provision
Of the statute is that il Is made unlaw
full for person 10 conspire, combine,
agree or arrange with another person
TO exact excessive prices for neces.
sarfes. Under this provision, il two
Tor more persons agree or arrange to.
lgether to exact excessive prices for
Inecessaries. this is Il breach of the
law, although The agreement or ar
arrangement Is unsuccessful and no ex.
eessive prices are actually exacted
or received Congress made this law
very sweeping in its terms, and 1t was
intended to meet such offenders on
the very threshold of their preparation
to exact excessive pr ees fer the
necessaries Of life. TO Illustrate
Two or more persons agrea or arrange
together TO exact excessive prices.
They have committed he olfense. they
have done just what congress has
prohibited, although they never carry
iout their agreement or arrangement.
Such conspiracy, combination, agree
meht or arrangement may be proved
! by the proof OF facts from which you
can fairy and reasonably infer the
existence OF such conspiracy, combi
nation, agreement or arrangement
AS such agreements or arrangements
/ arc usually secret and Difficult. to dis
cover, the law Is tina, it is MT neces-
sary 10 prove by direct evidence that
the parties actually came together
and agreed or arranged that they
would exact excessive prices for
lnoce5saries. This can be proved by
the proof Of facts from which you can
fairly and reasonably infer that they
had common object 10 exact such
prices or by the proof of facts from
which you can fairly and reasonably
infer chat the acts of each person
were done in pursuance of such a
common purpose and calculated to ef
feet that purpose. 1t should be made
10 appear that the parties steadily
pursued the same object by common
means all leading to the same result.
Concurrence CT action Is sufficient to
enable you TO presume concurrence
of sentiment and intention. and from
this you can find the fact that the
agreement or arrangement existed. II
You find that the parties pursued the
same object by the same means with
the inten ion of accomplishing the
obiects which they were pursuing, you
can draw the conclusion that they
consp'red, combined, agreed or ar.
ranged together TO effect tina. object
A good question to ask yourselves Is
did the parties have the common pur.
pose to exact excessive prices fol-
lnece3saries, and aid they pursue chat
purpose by common means, whether
acting separately or together?
You should diligently inquire into
al alleged vlolat ons OF this law. as
it is the Only protec ion the public has
T..