The new North-west., 1896-04-03
AGAINST JAMES j. HILL
SUPREME COURT DECIDES THE
GREAT NORTHERN CASE.
Higher Chnr.:e for Il Short Than ~
Ions: Haul liz Also Against
the Law. ., ~ -

Brown delivered an opinion in the SUI
prelne court today in the case of Thos.
Pearsall VS. the Great Northern Rail
way Company and Louisville & Nash
vile Railway Company VS.. the common
wealth of Kentucky, as to rights of par
allel and competing railway lines to
consolidate, holding III the case Of the
Great Northern that it could not under
Its charter and in opposition to the act
consolidated with the Northern Pacific,
as was souEhl co be accomplished.
The case of Pearsall VS.. the Great
Northern company came to the supreme
court from the United States circuit
court for the district of Minnesota. 1t
was a bill in equity filed by Pearsall as
stockholder in the Great Northern
against the laws Of tho territory and
state of Minnesota, to enjuin it from
entering into agreement with the
Northern Pacific Railway Company un-
der which the property and franchises
Of the Northern Pacific Railway Com
pany were to be purchased. It appears
that the Great Northern was originally
incorporated under the name Of the
original charter granted the company
the right to connect with any railway
running in the same general direction
and to consolidate it's stock or fran
chise with that of any other railway
and the question presented to the su-
preme court was whether the company
could De deprived Of this right BY a
subsequent act of the legislature inhih-
Iting the consolidate ted lease or pur-
chase by any railway of the stock, prop
erty or franchise Of any parallel or
competing line. the legisla ture having
passed such a law in 1874. The court
answered the question in tho atfirma-
tive. The court says it was competent
for the legislature to limit the charter
and to "declare that the power it had
conferred upon the Minneapolis 4 st.
Cloud company to consolidate its in
terests with other similar corpora
tiOns should not be exercised so FAR as
applicable to parallel competing lines,
inasmuch as it is for the interest of the
people that there should be competition
between parallel roads,
"The legislature it continues has
the right to assume in this connection
that neither road would reduce it's tariff
to destructive or Improbable figure
OF to a point where either road would
become valuless to its stockholders and
the act in question is to prevent such
a combination between the two as
would constitute a monopoly"
Continuing. the court, through jus
tice Brown, said: "Whether the con-
solidation Of competing lines will nnces-
sarily result in an increase Of rates
or whether such consolidation has gen
tod in .Irt, L.
public is beside the question.
Whether it has that effect or not It
certainly puts it in the power of the
consolidated corporations TO give it
that effect-in short, puts the public
at the mercy of the corpora tons
."There is and has been for the past
300 years, both in foreign countries and
this country, a popular prejudice
against monopolies in general, which
has found expression in innumprable
acts of legislation. We can not say
that such prejudice is not we'll found
ed. 1t is a matter of which the legisla-
ture is entitled to pass Judgment. There
are, moreover, thought to be other
dangers to the moral sense of the COM
munity incident to such great aggrega-
tionS Of wealth, which, though indirect,
are even more insiduous in their intlu-
ence and such as have awakened feel
ings of hostility which have not failed
to find expression in legislative acts
"The consolidation of those two
great corporations would said the
court, ''unavoidably result in giving the
Great Northern a monopoly of all traf
fc in the northern half Of the state Of
Minnesota as we'll as all transconti-
mental traffic north of the line of the
Union Pacific, against which public
regulations would be but feeble pro-
tection.''
1.-The act of the legislature of 1874"
he concluded, Undoubtedly reflected the
general sentiment Of the public that
their best security is in competition" !"
The decision of the court was there
fore reversed and the case remanded.
Justice Shiras in the supreme court
today handed down decision in the
long and short haul case, appealed from
the decision Of the circuit court of ap-
peals Of the Fifth circuit. The appeal
was taken by the railroads. The title
of the case was the interstate commerce
commission VS.. the Cincinnati, New Or
leans G. Pacific Railway Company. The
decision of the court below was in the
main confirmed, the opinion holding
that in case of shipment from one state
to another on through bills Of lading
the railways could not exempt parties
and give them special rates.
The ca Sc involved the construction Of
the fourth section of the intersta te com
merce act, known as the long. and short
haul section. The dispute concerning
this matter is one that has been con-
tinuously arising in various parts of the