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Show H' Political Wiseacres Hazard H. Guesses, but Show Wide Conflict of Opinion: WALL STREET MAY BE IN FOR A DISATPOLNTMENT - Department Lasers Agreed on Prediction That High Court Will Rap Trusts. BY RALPH M. WHITESI--. By eased Wire to The Trlbuno. "WASHINGTON, Mnrch 25. -Washing-H tern is the homo of the rumor. Ono can hear anything he wants to here on any question. There are more people to tlio H thousand at the nation's capital who know H or think they do Juat. what Is golnt; to Hj happen than any other place on the west- B era hemisphere. H Take the work of the next i Rslon, for instance. Hero aro a few things I am H Informed which arc surely going- to hap- H Congress will pass the Canadian rocl- H proclty tTcaty as it stands and adjourn, fl Congress will rip tho woolen, cotton H and steel schedules to pieces before paas- H Ing the reciprocity agreement and will H refuse to pass that agreement at all if H President TafL vetoes the new- tariff H 1 schedules: the reciprocity agreement will H , be loaded with tariff for revenue amend- j . mcnis, so that the prcsldont must agree H ! to them or veto his pet measure. 1 Congress will pass a general tariff law H on a rovenue basis. H All of these things arc going to be done H according to high authority. B As a matter of fact, tboro is just ono H ' certain thing; congress will meet in ex- 1 ti-a session April 4. Beyond this not 1 , even the leaders themselves arc certain 1 as to what will be done. Shaking Up in Senato. H J There will be tho biggest shaking up 1 1 this session In commlLt.cc arrangements In 1 the senate that has been seen In that H august body for many a day. Prnctl- cally all the important committees have H been emasculated by the retirement, vol- untnrily or otherwise, of the old iline leadei-s. There Is likely to bo a lively time In the lining of these vacancies and this may have an Influcnco on leglsla- With the normal Republican majority reduced to eight the radical insurgents hold tho balance of power In the senate. By combining with either the Democrats or (he stand-patters they will control the 1 situation. They know the game of poll- ties from soup to nuts, and may be do-pended do-pended upon to utilise their power to place themselves. So far as committees aro concerned their Influence will be most offectivo. Taking It oy and large, the j senate Is going to be a mighty Intercst- 1 ing body to watch for the next month l It is the belief of practically every ' lawyer in the department of justice that ( : "big business" will ho disappointed when ' 1 the supreme court of .the United Slates j I hnnds down Its decisions In tho ol and tobacco anti-trust cases. Everything ' U they hear from Wall street Is that "big HrJl business'-' has been advised that there j I v. will bo a decisive construction of the anti-trust law contained In the opinions and t hut the great financiers arc confl-i confl-i dent the supreme court will lay down a ' rule which will enable them to so shape their operations that they will bo free ' from any apprehensions on the score of 1 1 prosecutions under the anti-trust law. 1 1 Tho department's lawyers believe that, j in the Wall street sense, there will be no , "decisivo construction." Of that evory- body, from Attorney General Wlcker-' Wlcker-' sham down to the youngest special aa- slstant. Is fully convinced. Thoy base 1 their belief on Information and Inference. 1 While the deliberations of the court are i secret there aro ways by which lawyers in the department may honestly come I by fairly accurate information as to the Ideas of the justices. Wall Street Mistaken. That information, with inferences they arc able to draw from tho utterances of the Justices In other anti-trust citsos, makes It a certainly, In their minds, that Wall slrout In doomed to disappointment. By tho department lawyers tho decisions deci-sions aro expected to be adverse to both combinations. Some of tho attorneys hellovo the court will sond the tobacco caso back to Judgo Lacombe with directions direc-tions to bring tho United Cigar Stores cpmpany and the Imperial Tobacco company com-pany back Into tho enso. Ho dismissed the complaint as to them. Tho government govern-ment appealed from that part of his decree. The appeal tokon by tho tobacco tobac-co combination added to that of tho government brought the whole matter beforo the supremo court. Judgo Lacombe dlcmlssod the soiling agent company chiefly because Its stock 1b not absolutely controlled by the Amorlcan Tobacco company. The Imperial Im-perial company was let out of the caso because by Its agreement will) the American Tobacco company, elthor dl-roctly dl-roctly or through Its subsidiaries, 11 confines con-fines Its operations to Groat Britain. In each caso oil and tobacco the supremo su-premo court Is expected by the department depart-ment lawyers to confine Itself wholly to tho point whether tho combination entered en-tered Into a conspiracy to restrain trade or made contracts to monopolize tho trade. Those lawyers hold that there Is no reason why tho court should undertake under-take to lay down rules of general application. |