Annual Message Deals
With One Subject.
DEFENDS DECISIONS OF COURT
_
In Caseb uf Standard Oil and
Tobacco Comoanies.
ThIKS AMENDMENTS NEEDED
•» •*■*** ^nert Statutes GcM •• Far
“ Tl») Oo W t iiWMi Supp'c
»c-to< LcpistaUon—For Fod
*r*l Ca-yirat-oo Law.
'+* - S **■ u»t t — President
Ta!t • WMif, « hub »» rr*d
i« toots <rf * oi«rco» tuda>. deals
'•»' »«*f «»U. fbr aatl trust statute
te*.t of tl» U«: «{• !'» as !«; ;
u Sc! *<* iioiiM u.' Krpre
••'*** »*• Tw Ik tbe flr»t *
*~**:*t oases I stall seed to cob
*»**» i»tJ* lW tetervai Uiirrc the
' ! * wtskc and Its
i sja*f Ijc C-k t tr.>:au |»o!l
**' • The saw-set u« information :o bo
• I'B 1 -urtlrl Ok to tbr operat tot* of
3- . - tirsmiat, tbr number of ispor
***■" • -t>*eta rmLias for <uo.e»eiil by !
•bo •i^rci:»o *nd the irrasmU.k* to
of osLkOkf.o returns by tpe
*“J "•••*~*m». Bkko ft Impossible
to :x« ..ado .» one mo****- of a reason
•** • *-»*2*- a tBarotiiaa of th« topics ■
tbsi oupbt u> bo brought to tbe alee
t*o* ’b. national .osUlatsro st its ’
Gr+t regular session.
t»* am LM-Tht Supreme
Court Ot: (.ort
!s '-*? **•>* 'b* S«Kra:<- court hand 1
*-<! own dr- »k<cs m tne suit* to i
l brought hy tin- failed States to i
.-t- s the farther teAmteaatice of the
at: trort and of the Atr.cri
a: ! . timero trart. at<3 to tecure their
diwwdrtteie. The decision..- arc epoch
AM serve U» adilse the host
“• »«"* author* am ei? of the scope
ad €>-rri « ot the at.:! trust ac: of I
The do not depart to
’ i Mat aa> frcwc the previous
o' be coon Id i onvt ruing [
• S-i ajpfj c Ith Imports*! statute.
! i.» they etorfy these hapertae: deci
fk,t* by : .fir* defining the ui ready
fsdBiitted n «-p*i«aa to the li'eral ros
*•'1. tin ef toe art. By the decrees.
> furnish a useful p. credent as to
•t* proper Method of dealing with the
•»«:»t and j-roper j of Hi'gal frusta
These da- ions suggest the reed and
•*d' of add ttornvi or suppluteota!
i*»•****• to sake It easier tor the
""••its- ha.brti coc.Blurt* y to square I
«*ih tie rate of act lor aad legality
'ha* * oaily e-tabtiabed and to preserve .
rfce hsdtsf-f freedom and spur of rea
*thh»M» eaMBdMteb «t.ho-jt loss df
tea * - t'j or progress.
1 5' *i tre Rate of Decision—
'ft'/ - iff Form of Exp'csaion.
*r*t ate :a !t> first s»etk)B de
■tegat tier? oodtract.,
' t the form of trust or
/ v«S|4rsrj. ta restraint
'■'•ft* ■ rett.ne suuong the mi
.* « - wttfc lareigs n»;tct>»."
t *• ■ • cd «*«r!..re* gu’liv >-f a
-i i . rpsmr eserj per me < ho sltaU
' ' . i < a tsEj • to maacpuilte
a.t :< coesptre eith any ether j
t. 9'dtopo ;.e aiiy part Of th*
■■r rma Tiechs of the several
* ■-♦"» «r si’ti lorrift ezuotu."
' is* ar!j rase-*. «here the sttttote
v a .tucked to ecyota a transpora’.ion
*«• - • »f ! ■'•«* interstate railroad
-t - c ;f »aa t>eid ths: it aa* no
*-e ■ - .«• « Tus fka: the agreeo-eet as
st-: < «j plained of a as reascca!
a: ' tr.tr * iatr. because it ait said
tka- tie sta-ite was directed against
ait tm'ra ts asd 'i«i>.9i; i« n* tn re
»*r nt of trade whether recsoaal at
rueiaws -*» or poL It »a; plain fro*
♦he record, koaesrr. that the contracts
casBptalsed of ta those cares mould
not fea«e been deeaied retreerbir at
rrmtarm law In -uheeqoet.1 cases the
owstt said that the statute -fcoui.l tie
tr »et a reason*! ooostru* t-on and re
tried id include within its Inhibition
e-ram contractual restraints of trade
«l.Srh * dominated as incidental or as
Indirect.
I; * - 'Mr* of rwifilr.! of tra«l« (hat
-he m. t n> rped from the operation
wf tb# Hi Utr > f-Tr it - urn chirk, at
riaaanf* taa. mould hate been called
fr-a-onaW !a the Stsaoard Oil and
Tutopeo race*. tb< refore. the court
a <-re!> adopted the tetttj of the ccm
*»«*■ lae. and «t «U-r r -i* exceptions to
-the literal a: ...i-atloo of the statute,
oaf? • »t»»r t . ed lor the !<« of hem*
i«ndr** r indirect, that of (Kina
xaaooat > and thl» erifhctit rarytas
la *h# el.at tear the actual scope and
edfe. t o: the statute Is other words,
all 'he <-a#e* ader the t tat ate which
bate tow bee* der*dcd would hare
bee: derided the MUoe way It the court
had < r #»w*ily a repied In Sts tomtrue
turn the rule at coanca law.
1* ha* her* add that the court, by
lanwdm. at tw the c—Hraction
tLe statute common law distinctions,
has emasculated It. This is obviously
untrue. Hy its judgment every con
tract and combination in restraint of
Interstate trade made with :be purpose
or necessary effect or controlling prices
by stifling competition, or of establish
ing -n whole or in part a monopoly of
such trade. Is condemned by the stat
ic The most extreme critics cannot
)L.-:anre a case that ought to be con
detuned under the statute w hich is not
brought within Its terms as thus con
strued
The suggestion is also made that the
Supreme court by its decision in the
last two cases has committed to the
court the undefined and unlimited dis
cretion to determine whether a case
of restraint of trade is within the
terms of the statute. This is wholly
untrue A :easonnb!e restraint of'
trade at common law is well under
stood and is clearly defined. It does
not rest In the discretion of the court.
It ni.>t be limited to accomplish the
purpose of a lawful main contract to
which, in order that It shall be en
forceable at all, it must be incidental.
If it exceeds the needs of that contract
it U void.
Tbe t-'st of reasonableness was
never applied by the court at com
mon-law to contracts or combinations
or conspiracies in restraint of trade
whose fiirpcse waa or whose neces
sary eT> 11 would be to stifle competl
t on. to control prices, or establish
monopolies. The courts never as
» med i wer to ray that such con
tracts or combinations or eonspira
■ ■»-• : ight be lawful if the parties to
*i * in w>re >nly moderate in the use
■ oe power thus secured and did
not exact from tbe public too great j
and exorbitant prices It is true
that many theorists, and others en
gage d in business vitiating the
s’at :e. have hoped that some such
ne could be drawn by courts; but
no court of authority has ever at
tempted it. Certainly there Is noth
■ t.g :n the decisions of the latest two
'-as* • a hich should be a dangerous
tbeo.-y of judicial discretion in en
forcing this statue can derive the
slightest sanction.
Force »rd Effectiveness of Statute a
Matter of Growth.
We have been twenty-one years
;:.ak'ER this statue effective for the
; urposes fnr which it was enacted.
Tie Knight case was discouraging
and seemed to remit to the states the
whole available power to attack and
suppress the evils o? the trusts.
Slowly, however, the errors of that
Judgment was corrected, and only in
the last three or four years has the
h< avy hand of the law been laid upon
the great illegal combinations that
have exercised such an absolute do
minion over many of our industries.
Criminal prosecutions have been
hr/.; ght and a number are pending,
bttt juries have felt averse to convict
ing f,ir jail sentences, and judges have
'.een mo*t reluctant to impose such sen
tences tin Tnen of respectable standing !
in society whose offense has been
regarded as merely statutory. Still,
as the offense becomes better under
stood and the committing of It par
•akes more of studied and deliberate
defih- re of the law. we can he cnnfi
•lent that juries will convict individ
uals and that jail sentences will he
imposed
The Remedy in Equity by Dissolution.
In the Standard Oil case the Sii !
pren.e and circuit courts found the i
combination to be a monopoly of the
nrerstate business of refining, trans
porting, and marketing petroleum and
i*s products, effected and maintained i
through thirty-seven different cor
porations. the stock of which was
held bv a New Jersey company. It !
: effect commanded the dissolution
of this combination, directed the '
transfer and pro-rata distribution by
the New Jersey company of the
stock held by It in the thirty-seven
corpemtif ns to and among its stock
holders and the corporations and in
uivid.il defendants were enjoined
from r inspiring or combining to re
store such monopoly: and all agree
ments between the subsidiary corpor
al •< rs tending to produce or bring
aboir further violations of the act
were enjoined
In the Tobacco rase, the court
found that the individual defendants,
twenty-nice in number, bad been on
caged In a successful effort to ao
quite complete dominion over the
manufacture, sale, and distribution of
tobacco in this country and abroad,
and that this had been done l>y com
binations made with a purpose and
effect to stifle competition. control
prieeg. and establish monopoly, not
or.ly in the manufacture of tobacco,
hut also of tin foil and licorice used
n its manufacture and of its products
of Hears elmrettes, and snufTs The
tobacco suit presented a far more
. Triplicated and difficult case than
the Standard Oil suit for a decree
which would eTectuate ihe will of ihe
court and end the violation of the
1 statute There was here no single
holding company as in the case of
the Standard Oil trust. The main
company was the American Tobacco
1 company, a manufacturing, soiling,
and holding company. The plan
adopted to destroy the combinalion
and restore competition involved the
redivision of the capital and plants
1 of the whole trust between some of
ibe companies constituting the trust
and new companies organized for the
purt>ofea of the decree and made
parties to It and numbering new and
! old. fourtp«n.
Situation After Readjustment.
The American Tobacco company
* old t radjusted capi'al. $92,000,000;
the Liggett and Meyers Tobarco com
p:ny (new) capital. $C7.0O0.000: the
I* Lnriiiard company (new) capital,
$47,000,000. and the R J Reynolds
Tobacco company (oldi capital. $7.
! 727.000. art- chiefly engaged in the
manufacture and sale of chewing and
smoking tobacco and cigars. The
former one tin-foil company Is di
vided into two, one of $825,000 cap
ital and the other of $400,000. The
one snuff company is divided into
three companies, one with a capital
of $15,000,000; another with a cap
ital of $8,000,000; and a third with a
capital of $8,000,000. The licorice
companies are two, one with a cap
ital of $5,758.00 and another with a
capital of $2,000,000. There is, also,
the British-American Tobacco com
pany. a British corporation, doing
business abroad with a capital of
$26,000,000, the Porto Rican Tobac
co company with a capital of
$1,800,000. and the corporation of
United Cigar Stores, with a capital
of $9,000,000. Under this arrange
ment each of the different kinds of
business will be distributed between
two or more companies, with a di
vision of the prominent brands in the
same tobacco products, so as to make
competition not only possible but
necessary. Thus the smoking tobac
co business of the country is divided
so that the present independent com
panies have 21.39 per cent., while the
American Tobacco company will have
33.08 per cent., the Liggett and
Meyers 20.05 per cent., the I^orillard
company 22.82 per cent., and the
Reynolds company 2.66 per cent. The
stock of the other thirteen companies,
both preferred and common, has been
taken from the defendant American
Tobacco company and has been dis
tributed among its stockholders. All
covenants restricting competition have
been declared null and further per
formance of them has* been enjoined.
1 lie preferred stock of the different
companies has now been given vot
ing power which was denied it under
the old organization. The ratio of
the preferred stock to the common
was as 78 to 40. This constitutes a
very decided change in the character
of the ownership and control of
each company.
In ti e original suit ‘here were twen
ty-nine defendants who were charged
with being the conspirators through
whom the illegal combination acquired
and exercised its unlawful dominion.
I'nder the decree these defendants
will hold amounts of stock in the va
rious distributee companies ranging
irom 41 per cent, as a maximum to
per cent, as a minimum, except
in the case of one small company, the
Porto Hican Tobacco company, in
which they will hold 45 per cent. The
twenty-nine individual defendants are
enjoined for three years from buying
any stock except from each other,
and the group is thus prevented from
extending its control during that pe
riod. All parties to the suit, and the
new companies who are made parties,
are enjoined perpetually from in any
way effecting any combination be
tween any of the companies in viola
tion of the statute by way of resump
tion of the old trust. Each of the
fourteen companies is enjoined from
acquiring stock In any of the others.
Ail these companies are enjoined from
having common directors or officers,
or common buying or selling agents,
or common offices, or lending money
to each other.
Size of New Companies.
Objection was made by certain In
dependent tobacco companies that this
settlement was unjust because it left
companies with very large capita! in
active business, and that the settle
ment that would be effective to put ail
on an equality would be a division of
tlie capital and plant of the trust into
small factions in amount more nearly
equal to that of each of the independ
ent companies. This contention re
sults from a misunderstanding of the
anti-trust law and its purpose. It is
not intended thereby to prevent the
accumulation of large capital in busi
ness enterprises in which such a com
bination can secure reduced cost of
production, sale and distribution. It
is directed against such an aggrega
tion of capital only when its purpose
ts that of stifling competition, enhanc
ing or controlling prices and estab
lishing a monopoly, if we shall have
by the decree defeated these purposes
and restored competition between the
large units into which the capital and
plant have been divided. wje shall have
accomplished the useful purpose of
the statute.
Confiscation Not the Purpose of the
Statute.
It is not the purpose of the statute
to confiscate the property and capital
of the offending trusts. Methods of
punishment by fine or imprisonment
of the individual offenders., by fine of
the corporation, or by forfeiture of Its
goods in transportation, are provided,
hut the proceeding in equity Is a spe
cific remedy to stop the operation of
the trust by injunction and prevent
the future use of the plant and capital
in violation of the statute.
Effectiveness of Decree.
I venture to say that not in the his
tory of American law has a decree
more effective for such a purpose
been entered by a court than that
| against the Tobacco trust. As Circuit
Judge Noyes said in his judgment ap
proving the decree:
“The extent to which it has been
necessary to tear apart this combina
' tiou and force it into new forms with
the attendant burdens ought to dem
onstrate that the federal anti-trust
’ statute is a drastic statute which ac
complishes effective results; which so
long as it stands on the statute books
must be obeyed and which cannot
be disobeyed without Incurring far
reaching penalties. And. on the oth
er hand, the successful reconstruction
j of this organization should teach that
| the effect of enforcing this statute is
aot to destroy, but to reconstruct; not
to demolish but to re-create in ac
cordance with the conditions which
the congress has declared shall exist
among the people of the United
States.”
Common-Stock Ownership.
It has been assumed that the pres
ent pro-rata and common ownership
in all these companies by former
stockholders of the trust would Insure
a continuance of the same old single
control of all the companies Into
which the trust has by decree been
disintegrated. This Is erroneous and
Is based upon the assumed lnefflcacy
and innocuousness of judicial injunc
tions. The companies are enjoined
from co-operation or combination;
they have different managers, direc
tors, purchasing and sales agents If
all or any of the numerous stockhold
ers. reaching into the thousands, at
tempt to secure concerted action of
the companies with a view to the con
trol of the market, their number is so
large that such an attempt could not
well be concealed and its prime mov
ers and all its participants would be
at once subject to contempt proceed
ings and imprisonment of a summary
character. The immediate result of
the present situation will necessarily
be activity by all the companies un
der different managers, and then com
petition must follow, or there will
be activity by one company and stag
nation by another. Only a short time
will inevitably lead to r change In
ownership of the stock, as all oppor
tunity for continued co-operation must
disappear. Those critics who speak
of this disintegration in the trust as
a mere change of garments have not
given consideration to the inevitable
working of the decree and understand
little the personal danger of attempt
ing to evade or set at naught the sol
emn injunction of a court whose ob
ject is made plain by the decree and
whose inhibitions are set forth with a
detail and comprehensiveness unex
ampled in the history of equity juris
prudence.
The effect of these two decisions has
led to decrees dissolving: the combina
tion of manufacturers of electric lamps,
a southern wholesale grocers' associa
tion, an interlocutory decree against
the powder trust with directions by
the circuit court compelling dissolu
tion, and other combinations of a sim
ilar history are now negotiating with
(he department of justice looking to a
disintegration by decree and reorgan
ization in accordance with law. It
seems possible to bring about these re
organizations without general business
disturbance.
Movement for Repeal of the Anti-Trust
Law. -*
But now that the anti-trust act is
sec-n to be effective for the accomplish
ment of the purpose of its enactment,
we are met by a cry from many differ
ent quarters for its repeal. It is said
to be obstructive of business progress,
to be an attempt to restore old-fasb
ioned methods of destructive competi
tion between small units, and to make
impossible those useful combinations
of capital and the reduction of the cost
of production that are essential to con
tinued prosperity and normal growth.
In the recent decisions the Supreme
court makes cleaiMhat there is noth
ing in the statute which condemns
combinations of capital or mere big
I ness of plant organized to secure
economy in production and a reduc
tion of its cost. It is only when the
purpose or necessary effect of the or
ganization and maintenance of the
combination or the aggregation of im
mense size are the stifling of competi
tion, actual and potential, and the en
hancing of prices and establishing a
monopoly, that the statute is violated.
Mere size is no sin against the law
The merging of two or more business
plants necessarily eliminates competi
tion between the units thus combined,
but this elimination is in contravention
of the statute only when the combina
tion is made for purpose of ending this
particular competition in order to se
cure control of, and enhance, prices
and create a monopoly.
Lack of Definiteness in the Statute.
The complaint is made of the statute
that it is not sufficiently definite in
its description of that which is forbid
den, to enable business men to avoid
its violation. The suggestion is, that
we may have a combination of two
corporations, which may run on for
years, and that subsequently the attor
ney general may conclude that it was
a violation of the statute, and that
which was supposed by the combiners
to' be Innocent then turns out to be a
• combination in violation of the stat
ute. The answer to this hypothetical
case is that when men attempt to
amass stupendous capital as will en
able -them to suppress competition,
control prices and establish a monop
oly they know the purpose of their
acts. Men do not do such a thing
without having it clearly In mind. If
what they do is merely for the purpose
of reducing the cost of production,
without the thought of suppressing
competition by use of the bigness of
the plant they are creating, then they
cannot be convicted at the time the
union is made, nor can they be con
victed later, unless it happen that later
on they conclude to suppress competi
tion and take the usual methods for
dcing so, and thus establish for them
selves a monopoly. They can, in such
a case, hardly complain if the motive
which subsequently is disclosed is at
tributed by the court to the original
combination.
New Remedies Suggested.
Much is said of the repeal of this
statute and of constructive legislation
intended to accomplish the purpose
and blaze a clear path for honest mer
chants and business men to follow. It
may be that such a plan will be
evolved, but I submit that the discus
sions which have been brought out in
recent days by the fear of the con
tinued execution of the anti-trust law
have produced nothing but glittering
generalities and have offered no line
of distinction or rule of action as
definite and as clear as that which the
Supreme court Itself lays down in en
forcing the statute.
Supplemental Legislation Needed—Not
Repeal or Amendment.
I see no objection—and indeed I can
see decided advantages—In the enact
ment of a law which shall describe and
denounce methods of competition,
which are unfair and are badges of the
ur.lawful purpose denounced in the
anti trust law. The attempt and pur
pose to suppress a competitor by un
derselling him at a price so unprofit
able as to drive him out of business,
or the making of exclusive contracts
with customers under which they are
required to give up association with
other manufacturers, and numerous
kindred methods for stifling competi
tion and effecting monopoly, should be
described with sufficient accuracy in a
criminal statute on the one hand to
enable the government to shorten its
task by prosecuting single misde
meanors instead of an entire con
spiracy, and, on the other hand, to
serve the purpose of pointing out
more in detail to the business com
munity what must he avoided.
Federal Incorporation Recommended.
In a special message to congress
on January 7, 1910, 1 ventured to
point out the disturbance to business
that would probably attend the disso
lution of these offending trusts. 1
said:
But such an investigation and pos
sible prosecution of corporations
whose prosperity or destruction affects
the comfort not only of stockholders
but of millions of wage earners, em
ployes. and associated tradesmen must
necessarily tend to disturb the con
fidence of the business community,
to dry up the now flowing sources of
capital from its places of hoarding,
and produce a halt in our present
prosperity that will cause suffering
and strained circumstances among
the innocence many for the faults of
the guilty few. The question which
I wish in this message to bring clear
ly to the consideration and discus
sion of congress is whether, in order
to avoid such a possible business
danger, something cannot be done by
which these business combinations
may be offered a means, without great
financial disturbance, of changing the
character, organization, and extent of
their business into one within the
lines of the law under federal control
and supervision, securing compliance
with the anti-trust statute.
“Generally, in the industrial com
binations called 'Trusts,' the prin
cipal business is the sale of goods in
many states and in foreign markets:
in other words, the interstate and for
eign business far exceeds the busi
ness done in any one state. This
fact will justify the federal govern
ment In granting a federal charter
to such a combination to make and
sell in interstate and foreign com
merce the products of useful manu
facture under such limitations as will
secure a compliance with the anti
trust law. It is possible so to frame
a statute that while it offers protec
tion to a federal company against
harmful, vexatious, and unnecessary
invasion by the states, it shall sub
ject It to reasonable taxation and
control by the states with respect to
its purely local business.
“Corporations organized under this
act should be prohibited from ac
quiring and holding stock in other
corporations (except for special rea
sons. upon approval by the proper
federal authority), thus avoiding the
creation under national auspices of the
holding company with subordinate
corporations in different states, which
has been such an effective agency in
the creation of the great trusts and
monopolies.
“If the prohibition of the anti-trust
act against combinations in restraint
of trade is to be effectively enforced.
It is essential that the national gov
ernment shall provide for the creation
of national corporations to carry on a
legitimate business throughout the
United States. The conflicting laws of
the different states of the Union with ’
respect to foreign corporations makes
it difficult, if not impossible, for one i
corporation to comply with their re
quirements so as to carry on business
in a number of different states.”
I renew the recommendation of the ;
enactment of a general law providing j
for the voluntary formation cf cor- '
porations to engage in trade and com
merce among the states and with for
eign nations. Every argument which
was then advanced for such a law,
and every explanation which was at
that time offered to possible objec
tions, have been confirmed by our ex- ;
perience since the enforcement of
the anti-trust statute has resulted in
the actual dissolution of active com
mercial organizations.
It is even more manifest now than
it was then that the denunciation of
conspiracies in restraint of trade
should not and does not mean the de
nial of organizations large enough to
be intrusted with our interstate and
foreign trade. It has been made more
clear now than It was then that a
purely negative statute like the anti
trust law may well be supplemented
by specific provisions for the build
ing up and regulation of legitimate
national and foreign commerce.
Government Administrative Experts ;
Needed to Aid Courts in Trust
Dissolutions.
The drafting of the decrees in the j
dissolution of the present trusts, with
a view to their reorganization into
legitimate corporations, has made it
especially apparent that the courts
are not provided with the administra
tive machinery to make the neces
j sary inquiries preparatory to re
organization. or to pursue such in
quiries. and they should be empow
ered to invoke the aid of the bureau
of corporations in determining the
suitable reorganization of the disin
tegratlng parts. The circuit court
and the attorney general were great
ly aided in framing the decree in the
tobacco trust dissolution by an ex
pert from the bureau of corporations.
Federal Corporation Commission Pro
posed.
1 do not set forth in detail the terms
and sections of a statute which might
supply the constructive legislation per
mitting and aiding the formation ol
combinations of capital into federal
corporations. They should be subject
to rigid rules as to their organization
and procedure, including effective pub
j licity. and to the closest supervision as
I to the issue of stock and bonds by an
i executive bureau „r commission in the
j department of commerce and labor, to
which in times of doubt they might
well submit their proposed plans for
future business. It must be distinctly
, understood that incorporation under a
federal law could not exempt the com
pany thus formed and its incorporators
and managers from prosecution under
the anti-trust law for subsequent ille
gal conduct, but the publicity of its
| procedure and the opportunity for fre
quent consultation with the bureau or
commission in charge of the incorpora
tion as to the legitimate purpose of its
transactions would offer It as great se
curity against successful prosecutions
for violations of the law as would be
practical or wise.
Such a bureau or commission might
well be invested also with the duty al
ready referred to, of aiding courts in
the dissolution and recreation of trusts
within the law. It should be an execu
tive tribunal of the dignity and power
of the comptroller of the currency or
the interstate commerce commission,
which now exercise supervisory power
over Important classes of corporations
under federal regulation.
The drafting of such a federal Incor
poration law n-ould offer ample oppor
tunity to prevent many manifest evils
in corporate management today, in
cluding irresponsibility of control in
the hands of the few- who are not the
real ow-ners.
Incorporation Voluntary.
I recommend that the federal char
ters thus to be granted shall be volun
tary. at least until experience justifies
mandatory provisions. The benefit to
be derived from the operation of great
businesses under the protection of
such a charter would attract all who
are anxious to keep within the lines
of the law. Other large combinations
that fail to take advantage of the fed
eral incorporation will not have a
right to complain If their failure is
ascribed to unwillingness to submit
their transactions to the careful scru
tiny, competent supervision and pub
licity attendant upon the enjoyment
of such a charter.
Supplemental Legislation Needed.
The opportunity thus suggested for
federal incorporation, it seems to me,
is suitable constructive legislation
needed to facilitate the squaring or
great industrial enterprises to the rule
of action laid down by the anti-trust
law. This statute is construed by
the Supreme court must continue to
be the line of distinction for legiti
mate business. It must be enforced,
unless we are to banish individualism
from all business and reduce it to one
coihmon system of regulation or con
trol of prices like that which now pre
vails with respect to public utilities,
and which when applied to all busi
ness would be a long step tow-ard state
socialism.
Importance of the Anti-Trust Act.
The anti-trust act is the expression
of the elTort of a freedom-loving peo
ple to preserve equality of opportun
ity. It is the result of the confident
determination of such a people to
maintain their future growth by pre
serving uncontrolled and unrestricted
the enterprise of the individual, bis
ingenuity, his intelligence and his in
dependent courage.
For twenty years or more this stat
ute has been upon the statute book.
All knew' of its general purpose and
approved. Many of its violators were
cynical over its assumed impotence.
It seemed impossible of enforce
ment. Slowly the mills of the courts
ground, and only gradually did the ma
jesty of the law assert itself. Many
of its statesmen-authors died before it
became a living force, and they and
others saw the evil grow which they
had hoped to destroy. Now, its effi
cacy is seen; now its power is heavy;
now its object is near achievement.
Now we hear the call for its repeal on
the plea that it interferes with busi
ness prosperity, and we are advised in
most general terms how, by some
other statute and in some other way.
the evil we are just stamping out can
be cured, if we only abandon this work
of twenty years and try another ex
periment for another term of years.
It is said that the act has not done
good. Can this be said in the face of
the effect of the Northern Securities
decree?
That decree was in no way so dras
tic or inhibitive in detail as either the
Standard Oil decree or the tobacco de
cree; but did it not stop for all time
the then powerful movement toward
the control of all the railroads of the
country in a single hand?
Such a one-man power cotHd not
have been a healthful instance In the
republic, even though exercised under
the general supervision of an inter
state commission.
IJO we aesire 10 mane suuu luiurcaa
combinations and monopolies lawful?
When all energies are directed, rot
toward the reduction of the cost tit
production for the public benefit by a
healthful competition, but toward new
ways and means for making perma
nent in a few hands the absolute con
trol of the conditions and prices pre
vailing in the whole field of industry,
then individual enterprise and effort
will be paralyzed and the spirit of
commercial freedom will be dead.
WM. H. TAFT.
6trjlM
''• Wire I eottld have Uou^bt tte *lt*
•( < '*• jnkgo fur 14 CO .n Mt-xicaa
i taam bear « u oM chip I Dad
» r»—~~ *■■' l*> a ixrfunk on re (or
II ce«* » K«< "
At
C*r it
Her* I* faocfc woods town) —
fair Gwendolyn. we are alone
Mrat«f of Aadienco—Sot yet.
;f • tfce end of tkin net- l‘n
Unlikely to Pass.
"Can't you settle this bill today.
| sir*" asked the tailor of the delinquent
| senator
“No, Shears; it wouldn’t be parlia
I rncntary. I’ve merely glanced over it.
j you know, and I can’t pass a bill until
after Its Ihlrd reading.”—Judge.
—
Monkeys.
There is a Chinese proverb which
Mys a monkey may occupy a throne.
A monkey may also pay for a cham
pagne dinner.
Where We Are Strong.
We may be derelict in safeguarding
human life, but no people on earth
can equal the moral fervor with which
we hunt for the responsible man aft
er the event.—New York Evening
Post.
Useful Railroad Device.
Connecting a binged step with the
air-brake system, an Englishman has
invented a device to prevent a train
starting while a passenger is alighting
from or boarding a car.
A Neat Device.
“The governments which have re
bellions on their hands ought to es
tablish a toboggan system in their ar
mies."
“What good would that do?”
“It would make it easy for them to
shoot the insurgents down.”
Concordance Due to Monks.
Nearly every bible today bas a con
cordance at the back. The first con
cordance was prepared by French
monks in the year 1247.
Apologetic.
Hospitable Carter (after borrowing
a match from stranger to whom he
has offered a lift)—“Y'see. I b'aint al
lowed t’ ’ave no matches when I be
cartin' blarstin’ powder fur them old
quarries up along."—Punch.
Both Lose.
When an election bet Is paid by the
loser trundling the winner in a wheel
barrow one is never sure which party
to the wager deserves the greatest
sympathy.—Cincinnati Times-Star.
Fitted for the Battle.
“Well, boy, what do you know? Can
you write a business letter? Can you
do sums?”
"Please, sir,” said the applicant for
a job. "we didn’t go in very much for
those studies at our school. But I’m
fine on beadwork or clay modeling.
Inequality Necessary.
If everybody were like everybody
else, the world would be as dull as the
dead and as unbearable as the grave
graveyard.
Your* for uni
formity.
Yours for great
est leavening
power.
Yours for never
failing results.
Y<
Y,
for purity,
i for economy.
Yours for every
thing that goes to
make up a strictly
high grade, ever
dependable baking
powder.
I That is Calumet. Try 1
f it once and note the im
provement in your bak
ing. See how much more
economical over the high
priced trust brands, how
much better than the cheap
and big-can kinds.
Calumet is highest in quality
—moderate iu cost.
Received Highest Award
World’. Pore Food
Expedition.
The Best Farm and Home
Locations
are in the Southeast United States along:
the lines of the Southern Railway. Mobile
& Ohio R. K.., and Georgia Southern &
Florida Ry,
LANO S10 All ACRE and up can be obtained in
numerous desirable localities, supporting
flood churches, schools, stores, and improved
highways.
ALFALFA GROWS abundantly in nearly all parts
of the Southeast. Many acres are produc
ing 4 to 6 tons per season, the crop selling
locally at from $14 to %Z2 per ton.
LIVE STOCK ANO DAIRYING pay big returns, and
either !3 conducted at smaller cost than in
any other section of the country. Luxuri
ant pasturage and forage crops the whole
year ’round are the reasons for this, beef
and perk are produced at 3 to 4 cents per pound.
APPLES. VEGETABLES. FRUIT. ANO COTTON are to
day some of the best paying crops of the
South. The Virginia, Carolinas, Tennessee,
and Georgia apples are fast coming into
universal demand, and bringing prices that
net growers large profits. All of these re
sults are obtained on land costing less per
acre than the returns of one six year old
apple tree.
CLIMATE UNSURPASSED—Everyday in the year
one can work in his fields. These long
seasons allow raising two and three crops
from the same soil each year.
NOMESEEKERS EXCURSIONS Twice a month.
Write for rates and full particulars today.
SPECIAL LITERATURE regarding agricultural,
mineral, and geographical conditions, in
cluding free subscription to the Southern
Field, will be sent you. Address,
CHAS. S. CHASE, Western Apt.,
Room 207 Chomlcol Bid., SI Louis, Mo.
44 Bu. to the Acre
is a hoary yield, but that’s what John Kennedy of
Edmonton, Alberta, Western Canada, pot from 4(1
acres of Spring Wheat, in 1010 He ports
from other districts in that prm -
ince showed other eicc*
lent results—such as
000 bushels of wheat
from 120 a cres, or 33 1-H
bu. per acre. 25.30 and 40
bushel yields were num
erous. As high as 132
bushels of oats to th<*
acre wen*threshed from r
Alberta, fields in lulu.
The Silver Cup
at the decent Spokane
warded to the
Fair was awarded to the
Alberta Government for I
itsexnioil01 grains,grass*" ana
vegetables. Reports of excellent
yields for 1W10 cotue also fri«u
Saskatchewan and Manitoba in
Western Canada.
Free homestead* of 160
acres, and adjoiuing pre
empt Ions of 160 acres (at
S3 per acre) are to be bad
ill t tie choicest districts.
Schools convenient, cli
mate excellent, soli the
very best, railways close at
hand, building luuitier
cheap, fuel eas* to get and
reasonable in price, water
easily procured, mixed
farming a success. ^
Write as to best place for set
tlement, settlers’ low railway
rates, descriptive i Unstinted
** 1.ast Best West” (sent fret* on
application) and other Informa
tion. to Hnp’t of Immigration.
Ottawa, Can., or to the Canadian
Government Agent. (56)
W. V. BENNETT
Room 4 Be* Bldg. Oiulia, Nod.
Plc»ae-rlf to the agent nearest you
The Wretchedness
of Constipation
Can quickly be overcome by
CARTER’S LITTLE
LIVER PILLS.
Furely vegetable
—act surely and
gently on
liver. Cure
Biliousness,
Head
ache,
Dizzi
ely and
i the A
ure
CARTER'S
kittle
IVER
PILLS.
ness, and indigestion. They do their duty.
SMALL PILL, SMALL DOSE, SMALL PRICE.
Genuine must bear Signature
