Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1886-10-27
INTER STATE COMMERCE.
RULING OF THE ILLINOIS SUPREME
COURT REVERSED.

An Important Decision Rendered in the
Case of the Wabash, st. Louis & Pacific
Railway Us. the People of IIIinois-The
Decision in Favor of the Railroad-Im-
portsnt Questions Involved.
WASHINGTON CITY, Oct 27-The SUI
preme court rendered its decision Monday in
the case of the Wabash, St Louis & Pacific
Railroad company, plaintiffs in error, against
the people of the state of Illinois. The de-
cision was in favor of the railroad The case
WAS argued before the summer vacation by
Attorney General Hunt for the state and
MessrS. Cloudy and Green for the railroad.
Many important questions were involved, the
chief one being how far regulation Of COM
mon carriers by states may 60 In reversing
the decision OF the Illinois supreme court the
judges were not unanimous, a strong major
ity upholding it, The specific allegation was
that the railroad company charged Elder s.
Mckinney IS cents per 100 pounds for trans
porting goods from Peoria to New Yory city,
and the same day charged Isaac Bailey and
F O. Swannell 2s cents per 100 pounds for
the same class of goods from Gilman, Ills,
To New York, Gilman being eighty nine
miles nearer than Peoria to New York. The
discrimination, it WAS alleged, was in viola
ton of the law of Illinois, which prohibits
any charge for the transportation of pa ssen-
gers or freight within the state of Illinois pro-
portionally greater than would be charged
for the transportation of passengers sor like
classes OF freights lover greater distance of
the same road" The gist of the decision is
contained in the conclusion, as follows:
When IT Is attempted to apply to transpor-
tatlon through an entire series of states a
principal of this kind. and each one Of the
states or of half-dozen states shall attempt to
establish lis own rates of transportation, its
own methods to prevent discrimination in
rates or to permit it. the deleterious intu-
ence upon the freedom of commerce among
the states and upon the transportation Of
goods through those states can not be over
estimated That this species of regulation is
one which must be, if established Mt all, of a
general and national character, and can not
he safely and wisely RENTED to local rules
and local regulations, we think it clear from
what has already been said; an1 if it be reg
ulation of commerce, as we think we have
demonstrated it is, and as the Illinois courts
comedies it to be, it must be of that national
character and the regulation can only appro-
prlately he by general rules and principles
which demand that it should be done by the
congress of the United States under the COM
merce clause of the constitution.
The Judgment of the supreme court of Hi
noiS, which was adverse to the railroad, is
reversed and the case is remanded to that
court for further proceedings in conformity
With the above opinion. Opinion by Justice
Miller. Justice Bradley deliuered dissent
ing opinion III which Chief Justice Waite and
Justice Gray concurred. In this deliverance
it is conceded that congress might, If it saw
fit regulate the matter under consideration,
but, not having done so, it is held that the
state does not lose its power to regulate
the charges of its own railroads in its own
territory simply because the goods or persons
transported have been brought from or are
destined to point beyond the state borders