OCR Text |
Show OIL OCTOPUS IS NOT TO SURRENDER Standard Company, Convicted Con-victed of Violating ElKins Law, Will Appeal Every Technicality of the Law. CHICAGO, April 5. Despite overwhelming; over-whelming; proof of its violation of the Elkins law, as shown by the verdict of guilty returned against it in the United States District court, the Standard Stand-ard Oil Company has by no means given up. No legal technicality is to be overlooked try its attorneys, and the case will be kept in the courts as long as possible. Within a few days Judge K. M. Landis will be asked to fix the time when he can hear arguments on a motion mo-tion for a new trial, notice of which was served on the court immediately after the jury bad returned its verdict. If this motion is overruled, the defense will present a motion in arrest of judgment. On this question District Attorney Sims and his special assistant, James H. Wilkerson, will be called upon to reply. The argument of the defense will be that, in accepting the six-cent rate, the Standard Oil company committed com-mitted only one violation of the Elkins act, and that the contention of the Government that each car of oil shipped constituted an additional offense of-fense is not good. To this ' the Government will reply that, as only one offense can be punished pun-ished by no more than $20,000, and that the amount derived by the Standard Stand-ard Oil company in the counts charged in the indictments was $223,000, the fine is by no means commensurate with the crime. "If $20,000 is the most the Government Govern-ment can fine a violator of this law," said an Assistant District Attorney, "it will have little effect in stamping put evils it was enacted to remedy. In this ease we took shipments of cars only in 1903, but that represented only a fraction of the number shipped by the Standard from its refinery at Whiting Whit-ing to St. Louis under the secret rate. I venture the total rebate, for that is what it virtually was, could not have been less than $500,000. And this is only one case." Should Judge Landis sustain' this motion in arrest of judgment, the defendant de-fendant company undoubtedly will pay the fine and prepare for a similar line of battle in the seven remaining indictments. in-dictments. If the motion is denied, the case will be appealed either to the Court of Appeals or to the United States Supreme court. |