New-York tribune., 1920-10-22
By E. N. Brown


oha"mdm Of the board of the Pere
mo'quette Roilacoy Company and
the st. Louis C San Francisco
Ro''aooy Company
!, 1t says in the Good Book tbs+ "of
we making of many books there is no
end. 1t does seem that in this country
particularly in the last ten wears in
me making of laws there has been
practlcaily no end. This has been true
oUun t' Oh the individual state legisla-
oI;lSo ana OIL congress, pretty much
With the springing up of new polit-
lca factions and with the develop-
ment and magnifying of class distinc-
lions; the idea that all ills could be
eureo oy legislation grew rapidly. With
ehe discovery of alleged irrerularitv
IN the affairs of the municipality. the
state or the nation, and of the busi-
ness enterprises of those political di
VISIONS, seems to have come the idea
.hat new law should be passed to fit
the particular and most recentlv dis
covered lrregu1arity.
The result of this idea and this prac-
tlce mas been a multiplicity of laws,
many OF which never have been en-
forced, while others that have been
made more or less effective have not
accomplished the purpose for which
'hey were designed, and have injured
rather than helped the situation.
IN all this orgy of lawmaking the
large industrial corporations and the
railroads have been the principal tar
gets. Probably the biggest piece of
legislation that ever has been passed
by Congress calculated to regulate
both of these two highly important
groups of business activity was the
Sherman antitrust law. It's chief OBJ
Ject was supposed to have been to pre-
vent large corporations from creating
monopolies and thereby sitting compe-
tition.
Many famous legal proceeding has
been begun by the Federal government
under this law and carried to the
United States Supreme Court In the
case of several large consultations
that high tribunal has decided in favor
of the government and ordered So
called dissolution, which in reality was
largely technical Among the indus
trial corporations against which such
proceedings have been brought and
which have been "dissolved' there
might be mentioned the Standard Oil
Company and the American Tobacco
Company Among the railroads the
Northern Securities Company and the
New Haven Railroad stand out promi-
neNtly.
Dissolution Forced
1t was held by the Supreme Court
that all these companies were organ
lied and were proceeding in violation
of the Sherman act With that meas
ure on the statute books, the courts,
from the lowest trial court to the high
est in the land, really had no alterna-
tive but to render the dissolution de-
csion if the evidence supported the
contentious Of the government.
No antitrust suit against the United
States Steel Corporation has ever sue
ceeded.
The questions now naturally arise:
Was the Sherman act wise piece Of
legislation? Has it helped to develop
the great business undertakings Of this
country? Has it helped the people at
large, or has it tended, on the other
hand, to restrict business and to pre-
vent the railroads and large industrial
companies from doing their best? 1t
may be stated that, with the exception
of those who entertain radical anti
trust ideas, the answer to these queries
would generally be against the Sher-
man law. As matter Of fact, within
the last few years more than one prom
lnent representative of the government
has recommended its repeal.
Under the terms Of that act railroads
could not consolidate if their lines