Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1892-05-12

one elevator in the state. Judge Nor
gan likewise said the act was good and
of binding force. J. f. MCGEE, repre-
senting the Minneapolis elevator inter-
ests, took an appeal to the state supreme
court and the case was argued in Fargo
i'll January. The syllabus Of the court
contains the essential points Of the de-
cision and is as follows:
"Chapter 1876 of the session laws of
1891 considered and sections 4 and II
thereof held to be constitutional in so
far as they define public warehouses
and in so far as they prescribe maxi
mum rates of charges for elevating and
storing grain in the public warehouses
as they are defined in section of the
act. Following Mum VS.. Illinois, 66
III. SO, "a Rep. go; Budd VS.. People,
IL Sup. Ct. Rep. 1853.
Held further, that the record does
not raise the question of the adequacy
of the rate of charges fixed by section
II Of the act, and hence the case is not
one which calls for decision of the
point whether the court would in any
way assume to review a rate of charges
established by the legislature where it
was shown that such rate was ruinously
small or non-compensatOry.
The case was argued solely on the
one point that the legislature had not
the power to fix rates Of compensation
that elevator proprietors should charge
for their services; that by so doing a
conflict was had with the XIVth amend
ment Of the federal constitution, in
that property was taken without due
process of law" The question of the
compensation as fixed being inadequate
was not presented and the decision is
solely OH the ground that the law max
ing body possess this power. The de-
cision is based and follows the two
decisions of the federal supreme court
in what is known as the Chicago ele-
vator cases, decided in 1871, and the
Buffalo elevator cases, decided about a
month ago. The Chicago case arose
under statute which in all essential
features is the same as that of North
Dakota, whereby the large terminal
elevators in Chicago were by constitu-
tional enactment and later by statute
declared to be public warehouses and
as such entitled to receive but a stated
maximum rate of compensation. The
Illinois supreme court decided the law
good and on writ of error the case was
removed to Washington where the
judgment was affirmed. The Buffalo
case was of the same general nature
and the law was held valid by the court
of appeals of that state and later by
the federal supreme court.
Our supreme court has followed
these high decisions and declare our
statute valid for the reasons set forth
by the highest tribunal of the nation.
Chief Justice Corliss cencurs in the
Judgment here announced, but specially
on the ground that state courts duty
is to follow the federal courts in a
question purely federal. In concur
ring opinion written by himself he says
that in his judgment the doctrine an
nounced in the Mum and Budd cases
is unsound and that he believes that
the dissenting opinions written by JUS
tees of the federal supreme court en-
body the true conception of the spirit
of the laws. Itmay be remarked that
in both the Mum and Budd cases the
decision of the United States supreme
court was arrived at by bare majority
only. In the last case decided, the
Budd case, Justice Brewer writes a
very vigorous dissent.
It is now the settled law of the land