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Show H THE SARRHVEAN MERGER. H lleury Clews, in a special letter on the business outlook, com- B merits on the Harriman merger decision, saying: H "The decision of the Circuit Court that the Union Pacific's con- H trol of the Southern Pacific by stock ownership does not contravene K the Sherman anti-trust act is a development of distinct importance. j It removes a barrier that has existed for some time, preventing tho B open, concerted operation of non-competitive lines of transportation. Coming at this time when court rulings have been so uniformly B against formal co-operation among our great industrial and railroad H combinations, it will exert a steadying influence on the mind of the H investor, as it is direct evidence that the courts may be depended H upou to protect property interests as faithfully as they do public fl" interests. m "The sharp advance in the stock market price level that accom- H panicd the decision received somewhat of a check, however', as a re- M sulL of the week's additional and conclusive evidence of the disposi- H tion on the part of tho Administration to continue to probe the cur- H rent methods of our largo industrial corporations. And there is cvi- Hl dently substantial ground for the belief that until after the Presi- H dential election of next year both of the great political parties may v be depended upon to make as great a spectacular display as possible H in tho direction of appealing to popular prejudice by attacking trusts in less dignified language of continuing a "trust-busting" HT campaign. Bach political party is jealous of the other in this con- M ncction, and the one in office is hardly likely to leave any stone un- H turned that will permit important advantage to be taken by a com- B pctitor in the approaching political campaing. Thus, we have still H in sight a period of unscttlement. Thero has this week, for instance, fl been the action of the federal .grand jury in filing criminal indict- B ments in the case of officials and corporations (including Steel Cor- B poration subsidiaries) in connection with tho wire price agreement MMjT " ' of some years ago; and this follows similar information connected H "-Tqth investigations of the Steel Corporation's cement activities." |