Grand Rapids herald., 1892-11-30
WON BY THE RAILWAYS.



Ths Trans Missouri Freight Association
Is Legal.
Topeka, Kas., Nov. 29.-Railroads
won sweeping legal victory Ia the
United States circuit court here today.
The attorney general OF the United
States had the pins knocked completely
from under him IN HE night on railroad
associations. Judge Rainer handed
down lengthy and Exhaustive opinion
vindicating the right Of the roads 10
form organizations and associations for
the regulation of business aud the pre-
vention of the Generalization IN rates.
he holds that by the organization of
such associations the roads do not
necessarily monopolize, nor attempt 10
monop0lize, nor comDlne. nor conspire
TO grasp any part of the trade or COM
merce among the several states. By the
organization of such associations they
DO not in any way relinquish any Of
their rights or franchises as individual
corporations, and even if they did that
the Sherman antitrust law does not IN
any sense apply to common carriers.
Suit was begun some time ago by At
Trans-Missouri Freight association. TO
which all the roads, members thereof
were made parties, with the view OF
having the association declared illegal
and an order for Its dissolution Is
sued. 1t was regarded as . test case to
try the legality of railroad associations
on principle, and therefore the victory
secured by the roads is considered all
the more important.
The allegations in the bill filed were
that the Trans Missouri Freight asso.
citation and the railroad company had
combined to maintain certain agree
ment, entered into more than year
before the passage of the antitrust act;
whereby an organization was formed
in the restraint of trade and commerce
among the states, and that by and un-
der 1t the defendants monopolized, or
attempted to monopolize q portion of
the trade and commerce among the
several states. There were many other
charges in the bill. but summed up
they all amounted to the allegation
that the association constituted q gi-
gantic trust, which was contrary to the
act under which said suit was brought,
as we'll as to public policy. The brief
and arguments In the case for the assO-
ciation and railroads were prepared by
George r. Peck. attorney for the Santa
Fe road. Mr.. Peck set out to maintain
vital principles. The first of these was
that the act of July 2, 1890, commonly
called the antitrust act, does not in
clude and was not intended to include
combinations or agreements between
railroad companies. His second
promise was that the agreement
of the defendants was neither q
contract combination in the form of
trust or otherwise, or conspiracy In
restraint Of trade or commerce between
the states; nor by virtue of it did the
defendants monopolize or attempt to
monopolize any part of the trade or
commerce among the several states.
The agreement, therefore, could in no
sense be regarded as . violation Of the
action In question.
Judge Rainer upheld both of these
contentious. His decision 10 90 thor
oughly In favor of the roads that they
could not ask or desire any thing furth-
er on the subject. and coming at the
present time when renewed efforts are
being put forth to reorganize some of
the dissolved associations, it will DO an
incentive to the roads to 60 on and
carry out their program without fear
of legal interference or prohibition.