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VOLUME 7, NUMBER 31
II
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11
The Common. COMMENT ON THE FINE
ISSUED WEEKLY.
William .T. Hjiyan Ohajimm W. J3iivan
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THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Nob.
Mr. Rockefeller Is of the opinion that Judge
Landis rather "foozled his put."
Now will the suit against the powder trust
"be held up on the ground Of senatorial courtesy?
Miss Ida Tarbell will he' pardoned if she
steps forward and lays claim to a vindication.
Let us hope that the discovery of diamonds
in Arkansas will not lead to another Jameson
raid.
Governor Comer of Alabama is now listed
among the Improved Order of Executive Backbones.
Pittsburg now claims a population of 600,
000, without counting a few undesirable millionaires.
"We gather from the Boston newspapers that
"old home week" in the Hub was done brown
Just like the beans.
The Kansas City man who drank carholic
acid, thinking it was whisky, explains that the
mistake was a natural one.
It 1b not a revival of "state rights" to say
that a corporation doing business under the laws
of a state shall obey those laws.
"While a legal attack upon the tobacco trust
may achieve good results there is a better way
to sting that octopus to death.
The indications are that Mr. Rockefeller
is just tiow taking a little more than his usual
interest in Standard Oil affairs.
It is gradually dawning upon the man
agers of railroads that they really must obey
tho laws, just like common folks.
The indications are that Mr. Rockefeller
is dissembling IiIb thoughts while addressing
hifi Sunday school class these days.
The thread trust has raised ' prices from
seventy-five to one hundred per cent. Now
wouldn't that fray your buttonholes?
Thomas W. Lawson will feel much better
when he sees the Standard Oil crowd getting
that $29,240,000 out of its "system."
Upon receiving notice that th,o Taft sup
porters had no desire to, eliminate Senator FoV
dker .fi'Qin, politics, the senator politely thanked'
ihem for nothing and proceeded .to throw the
switch. i " '
New York Herald: The plea made by the
Standard Oil company of Indiana that it had
injured no competitors because there were none
recalls tho case of tho prisoner on trial for
"killing his parents and who appealed for mercy
on the ground that he was an orphan. If that
fine of twenty-nine millions could be collected
in casli there would be great disturbances in
the money' market. There are some litigious
steps to be taken before Uncle Sam can gather
that sum into the treasury.
New York Tribune: Tho fine imposed on tho
Standard Oil company of Indiana breaks all
records for penalizations of that sort If
great corporations were as eager and industrious
in observing the statutes in letter and in spirit
as they often seem to be in skirting and strain
i. g them there would bo little occasion for those
corporations to complain that they are being
unfairly treated by juries and little fear of- their
facing a monumental cash forfeiture like that
now hanging over the Standard Oil company
of Indiana. Caution, fair-mindedness and a de
termination to err on the side of safety in cor
poration management will be found, like hon
esty, to pay decidedly in the long run.
Chicago Daily News: Great accumulations
of capital are no longer immune from punish
ment when penalties are so adjusted to their
resources as to constitute punishment indeed.
The fine levied by Judge Landis will have a
valuable and far-reaching effect in demonstrat
ing the supremacy of the law over powerful and
defiant aggregations of lawless wealth. It is
not an appeal to the "mob," hut a sane appli
cation of the principles of justice.
- '
Kew York World; It is not so long .since
eminent apologists of the Standard Oil were as
suring the public that if it had ever accepted
rebates in its struggling infancy the naughty
practice had long been abandoned. Judge
Landis' action should prove a ' sharp rebuke
to much incendiary talk that has lately been
heard about the use of the federal courts as
a shield for corporate oppression. Mr. Rocke
feller, at least, will not today share that delusion.
Baltimore Sun: The Elkins law was enacted
partly for the protection of the railroads from
the demands or importunities of those who
sought to obtain favors from it. It seems to
have failed in this respect as well as in others.
Perhaps tho next step will be the prosecution
of railroads which are alleged to have discrim
inated in favor of the Standard Oil Company of
Indiana. If the supreme court should sustain
the decision of Judge Landis we may confi
dently expect an advance in the price of oil.
The oil trust will not pay fines out of its coffers
when it can force the people to open their
pocketbooks.
Columbus (Ohio) Sun: The sentence of Fed
eral Judge Landis of Chicago against the Stand
ard Oil Company of Indiana, convicted of re
ceiving rebates from railroads, imposing fines
aggregating $29,240,000, unprecedei ted and un
paralleled as it Is, must create a prpfound sen
sation throughout the civilized world. It will
doubtless receive the plaudits of the extremist
and the unthinking. But the ultimate judg
ment of the great mass of workers in the busi
ness world must necessarily be that it smacks
of passion and prejudice. Its very ex
'.travagance destroys the respect which a rea
sonable sentence would have carried with it,
and is calculated to arouse and foster unrest
and disquietude throughout the entire realm of
business.
t
St. Louis Republic: The most obvious com
mentron the bumper fine imposed by Judge
Landis on the Standard Oil Company of Indiana
is that if the company deserves this maximum
penalty of the law, then there are some of its
"officials or agents who deserve to be in the pen
itentiary. The highest fine necessary to restrain
this or any other corporation from violating the
law against rebating is' not too high, even if it
puts the concorn out of business. The practico
has bankrupted many -worthy and enterprising
men who, however capa'ble and industrious, have
found-ittinipossibloito .do business in competi
tion with predaceous concerns which obtain or
extort forbidden favors from the transportation
companies by secret means Once it is
known that tho anti-trust laws and anti-rebating
laws are to be enforced it 'will be more just
to stockholders to punish infractions with tho
criminal penalties therefor provided.
0
Philadelphia Ledger: If the Chicago and
Alton and the Standard Oil company entered in
to a criminal conspiracy their officials should
bo put in jail; but the Standard, however rich
and powerful it may be, is entitled to just as
careful consideration from the courts as if it
were poor and bankrupt, notwithstanding the
fact that any punishment whatever inflicted upon
it at this time, even to the utter confiscation
of all its property, would meet with a shout of
"popular" approval.
Chicago Inter Ocean: The fine of $29,
240,000, imposed by Judge Landis is tho
heaviest money penalty ever inflicted upon an
offender. If sustained by the higher courts on
appeal it simply wipes out the Standard' Oil
Company of Indiana and passes on to the pun
ishment of the real defendant, the Standard
Oil Company of New Jersey. It is the extreme
penalty of the law for the offenses proved. How
ever, the case was plainly one in which, if the
law was to be upheld and punishment for its
violation made deterrent, it seemed necessary
to resort to extreme penalties.
Pittsburg Gazette-Ttimes: While in the
case of the Standard Oil company at Chicago it
would have been ridiculous to ask or expect
Judge Landis to temper justice with mercy, it is
equally ridiculous that "he should have gone
about his duty vindictively. The fine of $29,
240,000 Is beyond all reason. A fine is in
tended to serve a three-fold purpose. It should
be exemplary, and thus serve as a warning to
the defendant and to all others engaged in simi
lar offending. It should be of sufficient- amount
to operate as a punishnient, as in that way only
can the defendant be impressed with the ser
iousness of his offense. It should fit the crime.
....
....
Cleveland Leader: Purged of all doubts
and possible extravagances, the fact that the
Standard Oil company finds itself face to face
with a, fine sufficient to stagger any corporation
must" have a sobering and cleansing effect upon
the world of big business and "high finance."
The main thing is that no corporation, no com
mercial or industrial organization, can hope to
be great and strong and masterful enough to
escape just punishment for Jts lawbreaking and
its offenses against natural justice.
....
....
Chicago Tribune: Judge Landis has done
his part. In the course of time the supreme
court will review his work, and ought to find
it good. The public will be much surprised if
it shall reverse the finding of the jury that the
Standard Oil company has violated the Elkins
law not once but many times. Such acts should
entail exemplary punishment.
m-
Buffalo Courier: Vhe effects of the con
viction and sentence should be beneficial. The
example will hardly pass unheeded by other con
scienceless combinations. Presumably the next
move in behalf of the government will be against
the railroad company that gave the rebates and
therefore ,is apparently as guilty as the Stani
ard Oil concern, although not so conspicuous an
objejet of public denunciation and reproach.
....
....
New York Times: The imposing of a fine
ofs$29, 240,000 upon the .Standard Oil Company
of Indiana by Judge Landis is a matter of pro
found psychologic interest. Undoubtedly it is
of judicial and legal interest as well. But we
think the first inquiry will be, what could have
been going on in the mind of the court when
it was making up to inflict this astounding pen
alty? It can not be assumed that Judge Landis
wished to make the law ridiculous by applying
it in all its unconscionable rigor. The judicial
mind is, not supposed to oporate in that way.
The theo.ry . that, the ill-repute of the Standard
Oil corporation as an octopus, its defiant atti
tude toward, restraining laws; or its behavior
as defendant, in the court., stirred the judge to
a pitch of 'vindictive passion that liipmpted the
imposing of this huge fine is equally untenable.
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