Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 24.pdf/231

This page needs to be proofread.

202

The Green Bag '

pended on the circumstance of unfair competi tion and not on whether or not a monopoly was brought about. It is very probable that a large part of the popular condemnation of monopolies in this country has arisen from methods of un fair competition pursued in achieving the mono poly, and it may very well be that a more strin gent regulation of methods of competition would be effective in bringing about a proper condition of business activity. . . . "It seems, therefore, as if upon the last analy sis that monopoly, in spite of all the epithets which have been hurled upon it, is in itself a perfectly lawful thing, and that the only objec tion which the law really has is to certain methods of bringing about a monopoly, and the objection is not to the monopoly but to the methods. "The conclusion, therefore, seems to be that monopoly is an evil, but a necessary evil; that the restraint on trade producing a monopoly may be divided into those which are lawful and those which are unlawful, and consequently that the law only condemns a monopoly when it condemns the restraint of trade which brings it about, and thus only condemns a monopoly indirectly by condemning the restraint." "The Standard Oil and American Tobacco Cases." By Harold Evans. 60 Univ. of Pa. Law Review 311 (Feb.). "In two particulars the court has extended the Act so as to render illegal contracts and acts which both at common law and under the prior decisions would have been valid, — i.e., in hold ing (1) that contracts and combinations which, apart from their surrounding circumstances, do not restrict competition or obstruct trade to such an extent as to fall within the Act, may come within its prohibitions if done with an intent not reasonably to further one's own in terests but to injure others, and (2) that the statute applies to mere acquisitions of property and other acts when done with a wrongful intent, though no combination or contract is involved." "What's the Matter with Business? — The Views of Prof. James Laurence Laughlin." By Francis E. Leupp. Outlook, v. 100, p. 267 (Feb. 3). "Clear judgment and a genius for managing large affairs are not characteristics so common as to pass unnoticed. Ought a man possessing these traits to be required to keep them out of sight, where they can be of no service to the public, merely because their practical use may place some less well-endowed person at an inequality. Is this equal justice between man? Is it prog ress? Is it, indeed, in any sense the 'free com petition' for which we hear so loud a demand?" "IsThere Common Ground on which Thought ful Men Can Meet on the Trust Question?" By Peter S. Grosscup. North American Review, v. 105, p. 291 (March). "The day of power to so manipulate the cororation that, as a form of wielding capital, it may, in the hands of those who so choose, become a deceit and a snare, while still remaining the reservoir into which the bulk

of the workable capital of the country pours, must come to an end. But how begin this process? Lead off, my answer is, by the national incorporation of every enter prise the bulk of whose raw material is drawn from states other than the company's domicile and the bulk of whose finished product is sold in states other than the company's domicile, thereby bringing their business into interstate commerce. Then construct this national cor poration on lines respecting capitalization, the payment of dividends only when earned, sim plicity in arrangement of securities, and the like, that as a 'form of holding property' the corpora tion will have become a real trust, in the old sense of that word 'trust,' for the benefit and security of its stockholders." Negotiable Instruments. "International Bills of Exchange." By Prof. Francis M. Burdick. 6 Illinois Law Review 421 (Feb.). "The examples already given show that the continental law of exchange still differs very widely from the English — so widely that there is little probability of complete unification at present. However, the delegates from Britain as well as our delegate, will attend the second Conference, to be held in 1912, with a wellgrounded hope that the uniform Law, as a re sult of the consideration to be given it by each government, may be so modified as to bring it more nearly into accord with English law." Partnership. See Voluntary Associations. Penology. "Report of the Commissioners of Prisons." 37 Law Magazine Gf Review 175 (Feb.). "The small increase in the convict population is attributed partly to the improved means of identification, which, by facilitating the estab lishing previous convictions, increases the chance of persons receiving sentences of penal servitude. This argument, however, is not quite consistent with the fact before stated — that there was a decrease in the number of persons sentenced to penal servitude during the year." „ "The Man in the Cage." By Julian Leavitt. American Magazine, v. 73, p. 533 (March). Written to show the brutality fostered by the prison system. Flogging, the punishment of the straightjacket, and cuffing-up as practised in the penitentiary at Marquette, Mich., before the legislative investigation, are described. "This prison is no worse than a hundred others that might be named. It is not an exception, it is a type. . . . Within the last five or ten years there have been a dozen similar revelations in other states — in Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Georgia, Texas, Kansas. All of these were as bad as Michigan, Kansas was even worse." See Criminal Law. Principal and Agent. "Implied Powers of Agent for Sale of Land." By Floyd R. Mechem. 10 Michigan Law Review, 259 (Feb.). "It will be borne in mind that the question here to be considered is not in what form or in