Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 116, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 May 1911 — HARD BLOW DEALT TO STANDARD OIL COMPANY. [ARTICLE]

HARD BLOW DEALT TO STANDARD OIL COMPANY.

Held to Be Monopoly In Restraint of Trade and Dissolution Ordered by v Supreme Court.

Washington, May 15. —The Standard Oil company of New Jersey and its nineteen subsidiary corporations were declared today by the supreme court of tbe United States to be a conspiracy and combination in restraint of trade. It also was held to be monopolizing interstate commerce in violation of the Sherman anti-trust law. The dissolution of tbe combination was ordered to take place within six months. Thus ended the tremendous struggle on the part of the government to put down by authority of law a combination which it claimed was a menace to the industrial and economic advancement of the entire country. At tbe same time the court interpreted the Sherman anti-trust law so as to limit its application to acts of “undue” restraint of trade and “not every” restraint of trade. It was in this point that the only discordant note was heard in the court Justice Harlan dissented, claiming that cases already decided by the court had determined once for all that the word “undue” or “unreasonable”, or similar words, were not in the statuter He declared that the reasoning of tbe court in arriving at its finding was in effect legislation which belonged ’n every instance to congress and not to tbe courts. Ever since the decree in this case in the lower court, the United States circuit court for the eastern district of Missouri, was announced‘hope has been expressed by tbe “business world” that the law would be modified so as not to interfere what was designated as honest business. Tonight that section of tbe opinion calling for the use of the rule of reason in applying tbe law Is regarded in many quarters as an answer to the prayers of the “business world.” The opinion of the court was announced by Chief Justice White. In printed form it contained more than 20,000 words. For nearly an hour the chief justioe discussed tbe case from the bench, going over most of the points in the printed opinion, but not once referring to it in order to refresh his memory. Before him sat a distinguished audience of the most famous men of the country. Senators and representatives left their respective chambers in the capltol to listen to tbe epoch-making decision of the court. Most eager to hear were At* torney General Wickersbam and Frank B. Kellogg, special counsel of the government who bad conducted the great fight against the Standard Oil company. None of tbe brilliant array of counsel for the corporations or Individual defendants were present in tbe court during the reading of tbe opinion. The effect on general business Is hard to determine and what the Standard Oil Co. will do to carry out the order of the court* is also uncertain. There seems to be an impression that tbe first effect will be detrimental to general business interests. It Is possible, however, that the Standard Oil Co. can equitably divide Its business among the stockholders of original concerns and cause no stagnation to general business.: It may mean a material Increase In the selling price of Standard products and yet there may be no material change in this respect