Evening star., 1926-04-18
NEW ANTITRUST POLICY
AIDS PUBLIC AND TRADE
Curative Measures Cast Aside by Depart
ment OF Justice in Drive to
Prevent Violations.
By HAROLD B. ROGERS.

n mas recently taken ITeSn
turn and now appears
actively to be operating on the basis
Of the old adage. that IAN ounce of
prevention is worth A pound of cure.
The cure. however. has not been
cast aside by the Department Of JUS
ttce in keeping its weather eve peeled
to prevent possible violations Of the
Federal antitrust laws. Many old
cases still remain on the docket and
are to be pressed against alleged old
offenders.
But the present policy, as disclosed
by recent court proceedings, appears
to be to spring the trap while freshly
Matched combinations are still wet
from the she'll"
Quick Action Is Key.
In the words OF that bronze faced,
square jawed Col. William j. Dono-
van, who holds a congressional medal
of honor for valor in France. and is
now in charge Of the Governments s
antitrust campaign, the declaration
of war is like this:
Instead Of waiting until these
mergers and combinations are woven
into the warp and woof of our eco
nomic and industrial fabric, and then
attempting to take them out by tear
ing the whole cloth. we hope to put
O stop to illegal business combines
by preventing the weaving in the
6rst place. We plan to prevent their
consummation If possible. We want
to get them into the courts before
their stock has been distributed
among the people"
Criticism of the departments activ-
tiles, however. has not been spared
in the past, nor will it be spared in
the future. Indications late last week
pointed to attack shortly upon the
administration policies by Senator
King, Democrat, of Utah and others.
Senator King holds that Attorneys
General have been remiss in their
prosecutions of the Federal antitrust
laws, especially the Sherman act In
addition to his one pending bill to
put more teeth into this law OF 1890.
Senator King plans this week to in
troduce a second bill aimed at what
he considers 'giantism" in American
life today.
Offsets Old Charges.
Meantime the administra ton is con-
fident that it's revivified antitrust
section of the Department of Justice
IN delivering blows at recently pro-
posed combinations has had the ef-
feet also of offsetting charges that
the Coolidge regime is pandering to
'biE business" and hobnobbing with
Wall Street, to the detriment of the
little fellow on Main street or out
on the farm. At the same time the
administration. 1t is known, is not out
to hurt legitimate business, but TO
help it.
The two most recent and consplcu-
Gus instances of success attending the
Governments efforts under the new
policy were in the consent DEGREES
entered in Federal courts since March
4 in the cases of the Ward Food
Products Corporation in Maryland
and the National Food Products Cor
pora ton in New York.
AS evidence of the early action OF
the Government, records show that
the Ward incorporation papers were
dated January 80 this year, that the
Government case was filed about a
week later. February s. and that
decree of dissolution was entered at
Baltimore April 8.
The year 1925 Will, according to the
best indications at present, be
'banner year" for large combina-
tions-with the Government on guard.
Facing certain restrictions in the way
of judicial decisions and legal inhi-
bitions. the Government is investigat-
ing. and preparing to act. What will
happen?
Policy Divides Opinions.
How far the Government should
go in it's prosecution of big business
combines is matter of wide differ
ence of opinion among different
schools of thought. Down through
the development of antitrust laws
and the Governments activity against
combination there has been in some
quarters a we'll developed strain of
reasoning against such Federal in
mr. he hand fhATN
has been a school. which has vigor-
pus proponents in Congress today, be-
lieving that the actual existence Of
large combinations is wrong and
should be prevented by law.
The Supreme Court. In handing
down long line of decisions, has
developed the general Interpretation
of law, according to experts who have
been following the subject closely.
that combinations are illegal when
they exercise an "unrea sonable" re
straint of trade. To prove case OF
Violation Of the Sherman act under
present law, experts say, It is neceS-
eary to show positive public detri-
ment."
Not all cases carried to the Su-
preme Court by the Department of
Justice against large concerns have
been won-for instance. the suit
against IIo 0nIJcu NbdbCo RNSVA
Corporation, which was lost in
1920. In this case records show
that no action was filed until about
10 years after the formation of the
corporation. In refusing a decree in
the steel case. the Supreme Court
laid down restrictions and interpre
lations OF the antitrust law, which
operate sharply today in any pro-
teeding brought by the Government.
Public Benefits Seen.
Under the campaign which the
Government now is prosecuting
against mergers in their inception
Col. Donovan feels that good results
will accrue both to the public at
large and to the combinations which
6re found by the courts to be legal.
BY stopping at the source new
combina tions. especially those deal
Ing illegally with the necessities of
life. Col. Donovan believes the public
will be protected.
Early judicial determination. he
thinks. is deserved by proposed or
Alnizations. If they are found to be
hroper by the courts their securities
60 out to the public without the fear
that they may be attacked by the
Government. thus creating conf
dence. If the court finds the pro-
bosed merger illegal the stock does
hot go out and become almost in
extricably disseminated.
If merger is legal and proper,
officials of the department feel 1t
has a right to be freed by the court
from the apprehension and insecu-
rity, which otherwise might come
from years of suSptcion that it was
in the twilight zone"
The policy of the Department of
Justice, as laid down by Col. Dono-
van generally lis to confine its ac-
tivities to cases involving serious
s,inlaf finns of the law and to avoid