judgment or decree would be an estoppal as between the original parties thereto.

Sixth. The same section provides that whenever any suit or proceeding in equity or criminal prosecution is instituted by the United States to prevent or punish a violation of any of the antitrust laws, the running of the statute of limitations in respect of each and every private right of action under said laws shall be suspended during the pendency thereof.

Seventh. Section 16 provides that any person, firm, corporation, or association shall be entitled to sue for and have injunctive relief in any court of the United States having jurisdiction over the parties against threatened loss or damage by violation of the antitrust laws, including sections 2, 3, 7, and 8 of this act. This is a new remedy given to private litigants in this bill which they are not entitled to under the Sherman Act. or other existing antitrust laws.

Eighth. Under section 11 of the bill any person injured in his business or property by any unlawful act forbidden in sections 2 and 3 of this act may complain to the Trade Commission for an order requiring the person violating any of the provisions of the preceding sections to desist therefrom; and upon refusal to so desist the order of the Trade Commission may be enforced in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction over the parties.

Ninth. Under the same section any person injured in his business or property by any unlawful act forbidden in section 7 of this act may complain to the Interstate Commerce Commission for an order requiring the person violating any of the provisions of that section to desist therefrom; and upon refusal to so desist the order of the Interstate Commerce Commission may be enforced in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction over the parties.

Tenth. Under this section any person injured in his business or property by any unlawful act forbidden in section 8 of this act may complain to the Federal Reserve Board for an order requiring the person violating any of the provisions of that section to desist therefrom; and upon refusal to so desist the order of the board may be enforced in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction over the parties.

Eleventh. Under section 15 of the act any person injured in his business or property by the violation of any of the provisions of this act may apply to the Attorney General of the United States, and the Attorney General or any district attor ney, under the authority of the Attorney General, may institute proceedings in equity to prevent and restrain such violations.

Twelfth. Section 10 of this act forbids common carriers which have common directorates from having dealings, except as therein specified, in securities, supplies, or other articles of commerce, nor shall they make or have any contracts for construction or maintenance of any kind except by competitive bidding. Any common carrier violating the provisions of this section is subject to a fine not exceeding $25,000.

Thirteenth. The same section provides that any director, agent, manager, or officer of such corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of said section shall be subject to a fine not exceeding $5,000, or confined in jail for one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.

Fourteenth. Section 14 of this bill is intended to make guilt personal, and provides that whenever a corporation shall violate any of the penal provisions of the antitrust laws, such violation shall be deemed to be also that of the individual directors, officers, or agents of such corporation who shall have authorized, ordered, or done any of the acts constituting in whole or in part such violation, and such violation shall be deemed a misdemeanor, and upon conviction therefor of any such director, officer, or agent he shall be punished by a fine of not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment for not exceeding one year, or by both, in the discretion of the court.

Fifteenth. Section 9 makes it a felony for a president, director, officer, or manager of any firm, corporation, or association engaged in commerce as a common carrier, to embezzle, steal, abstract, or willfully misapply or willfully permit to be misapplied, any of the money, funds, credits, securities, property, or assets of such firm, association, or corporation, arising or accruing from, or used in such commerce, in whole or in part, or who willfully and knowingly converts the same to his own use or the use of another. The penalty for the violation of this section is a fine of not less than $500 and confinement in the penitentiary for not less than 1 year nor more than 10 years, or by both, in the discretion of the court.

Sixteenth. Section 12 provides that any suit, action, or proceeding under the antitrust laws against a corporation may be brought not only in the judicial district whereof it is an inhabitant, but also in any judicial district wherein it may be found and transacts business; and that all process in such cases may be served in the district of which it is an inhabitant, or wherever it may be found.

The provisions of the bill relating to labor greatly restrict the power heretofore exercised by big corporations and combinations over laboring men and labor organizations, often resulting in oppression to the membership of such organizations by the improper use of injunctions, and here are some of the teeth in the labor sections of the bill.

Seventeenth. The bill prohibits a corporation from obtaining and the court from issuing injunctions to prohibit any person from terminating any relation of employment.

Eighteenth. Or from ceasing to perform work or labor. Nineteenth. Or from recommending, advising, or persuading others by peaceful means so to do.

Twentieth. Or from attending any place where any such person or persons may lawfully be for the purpose of peacefully obtaining or communicating information or from peacefully persuading any person to work or to abstain from work.

Twenty-first. Or from ceasing to patronize or to employ anybody who is a party to such dispute, or from recommending, advising, or persuading others by peaceful means so to do.

Twenty-second. Or from paying or giving to or withholding from any person engaged in such dispute any strike benefits or other moneys or things of value.

Twenty-third. Or from peacefully assembling in a lawful manner and for lawful purposes.

Twenty-fourth. Or from doing any act or thing which might lawfully be done in the absence of such dispute by any party thereto.

Twenty-fifth. Nor shall any acts specified in this paragraph be considered or held to be violations of any laws of the United States.

Twenty-sixth. Section 22 provides that in cases of contempt in Federal courts that if the offense with which the accused is charged constitutes a criminal offense under the laws of the United States or under the laws of any State in which the act was committed the party accused shall be entitled to a trial by jury.

Such is the bill submitted in this conference report. Its several provisions in their every import are directed against monopoly and means used in acquiring a monopoly. They are comprehensive, numerous, diverse, and far-reaching in scope. Be not deceived, be not deceived. The bitter and unrelenting opposition to this bill comes not on account of provisions left out, but on account of provisions remaining in the bill, and a large share of this opposition is on account of that provision which exempts labor, agricultural and horticultural organizations from the Sherman law, and to those provisions relating to injunctions and contempts, which give to labor a bill of rights, which free labor, and which take away from the great and powerful combinations and corporations of this country the power to use the courts of the United States in enforcing unconscionable injunctive proceedings against those organizations and the members thereof. [Applause on the Democratic side.]

64966-14180

о

SPEECH

OF

HON. J. C. FLOYD

OF ARKANSAS

IN SUPPORT OF THE CLAYTON ANTITRUST BILL AN ADMINISTRATION MEASURE

IN THE

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 23, 1914

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1914

SPEECH

OF

HON. J. C. FLOYD,

OF ARKANSAS.

The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union had under consideration the bill (H. R. 15657) to supplement existing laws against unlawful restraints and monopolies, and for other purposes. Mr. FLOYD of Arkansas. Mr. Chairman, I desire to discuss some of the more important provisions of this trust legislation. In doing so I desire to go more into detail than has been done by those who have preced d me concerning certain provisions of the bill and the reasons therefor.

Before going into a discussion of the merits of the different propositions embodied in this proposed legislation I want to call attention briefly to some of the criticisms made against the bill. My colleague on the committee, Mr. VOLSTEAD, the senior member of the Judiciary Committee on the minority side, who filed a minority report, intimated last night in his speech, if he did not say it, that this bill had in some way been framed in secret. I desire to say that no bill that was ever brought into this House has been more openly considered, both by the committee and by the country at large and by everyone who desired to con sider it, than has this bill. It is true that the Judiciary Committee assigned the work of framing the bill to a subcommittee composed of the chairman [Mr. CLAYTON], the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. CARLIN], and myself. We worked for hours, for days, and for weeks formulating the provisions of this measure when no one else was present, but whenever we formulated a proposition we brought it into the spotlight, laid it not only before the members of the committee but before the country. This legislation was in response to the message of the President delivered January 20, 1914.

Mr. MANN. Will the gentleman yield for a question?
Mr. FLOYD of Arkansas. Certainly.

Mr. MANN. Will the gentleman give us the names again of the subcommittee?

Mr. FLOYD of Arkansas. Chairman CLAYTON, the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. CARLIN], and myself.

Mr. MANN. There was no minority member on that subcommittee?

Mr. FLOYD of Arkansas. No; there was not. When the tentative bills were first prepared they were printed and notice was issued through the press to the country, inviting criticism, and people interested in the legislation came from all parts of the country and all sections of the country and criticized various provisions in the bills and suggested amendments. We had public hearings for weeks. I want to say that many of these criticisms proved valuable to the committee; many suggestions made were finally incorporated in the bill as it was finally submitted to the House.