The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-04-02
Supreme Court Dec sion in the
Brown Case.
HOW IT IS VIEWED LOCALLY
WILL CAUSE A sTRICTER oBsERv-
ANoE OF THE LAW.
1t is of Great Interest and Import
ance TO business Men as Wen as
Railroad Oficiais-The Decision
Carefully Reviewed.

cussing the effect Of the decision OF the
supreme court of the United States in
the Brown case, which was published
/ in The Herald few days ago.
The decision is most important
one, and it's primary effect will be to
secure a stricter observance of the
interstate commerce law, which has
! been lodged in many ways.
The last issue of the Railway Age
discusses the matter editorially, and
the views therein set forth are accept
ed by local railroad men. The article
] is of interest to merchants as well as
1 railroaders and reads as follows:
4 The opinion Of the United States SUI
preme cour, in the Brown lnterstate
commerce case, in which the court, py
a majority of five to four, upholds the
validity of the legislation Wnlch COM
pels witnesses to testify whether thelr
testimony will have tendency 10 N
criminate themselves or not, is q hh9 =
ter of the first Importance 10 the rall-
ways as well as to the people OF the
country That the railway companies
in the long run, however, VIII nave any
cause TO regret the decision, we GO not
believe.
The interstate commerce law mas
faults enough, but there IS no lauil II.
those of its provisions which ann, anu
aim truly, to stop unjust dlscrlmlha
tions and to maintain stability OF
rates. 1t is no idle profession when
the Joint traffic agreement, or the
agreement of any other association,
claims to have for its object the en-
forcement of the interstate commerce
law. The traffic associations and the
interstate commerce law are in truth
striving for the same ends, ana they
conflict only when the interstate COM
merce act is self-contradictory and IN
cludes provisions which are not in
harmony with the general tenor OF the
act. Whatever tends to make the de-
moralization of rates more difficult and
to prevent the concession of secret ad-
vantages to favored shippers is
blessing to the railways. Whatever
assists the interstate commerce law
or the commission to further these
ends, even though it may be forced on
the railways against their will and in
spite of their opposition, is for their
good. In so far as this decision, by
making detection and conviction easier,
may act as a deterrent to railway
managers and traffic officials from the
granting of secret concessions to ship
pers, it will be a beneficial thing for
the railways as a whole.
1t is no better or more wholesome for.
a railway company-or for a railway
man in his official capacity-tol break
the law than it is for an individual to
do so. Whatever assists in compelling
compliance with the law. whether the
law be good or bad, is for the general
welfare and railway men can afford,
less perhaps than any other class in
the community, to put themselves in
the position of deploring any decision
of the supreme court which has for
its sole object the upholding ST the
law and the making attractions there
of more easy of punishment. None
but criminal has cause to rejoice that
law cannot be enforced.
In the particular case in point, more
over. whenever a railway man violates
the law by giving a secret rebate or
advantage, at the same time that he
breaks the law he also breaks faith
with his fellows. Tt is not a calamity
to the railways that railway men
should be restrained from being dis
honest to their friends. any more than
it can be a calamity that they should
not be allowed to be law-b breakers
AS a decision in law the case is very
interesting and it is probable that it
is in opposition to the expectation of
the majority of the lawyers of the
country. The immunity of witness
from the necessity of giving testimony
which might tend to incriminate him
self is a principle which has it's roots
very deep in the human love of in
dividual liberty and when the court
hampers with il, or to speak more &C
curately, sets precedent for excep-
tions to it. it is touching on funda-
mental principle of law which has to
be handled delicately. The decision
was affirmed by a majority of one, and
undoubtedly the controlling influence
with the majority of the court was the
principle which they enunciate in their
opinion, viz, that instead of seeking
for excuses for holding acts of the leg
islative power to be void by reason
of their conflict with the constitution
or with certain supposed fundamental
principles of civil liberty, the effort
should be to reconcile them if possible
and not to hold the law invalid" The
court, as on former occasions, has been
guided as much by the larger consid-
erations of public policy as by the
scrupuious Interpretation of nice points
of constitutional law. These aspects of
the decision, however are chiefly inter
esting to the student of law and So
cial science, and the railway mans
main interest in them is his interest
as citizen.
In so far as railway men have a spe-
cial interest in the decision which is
not shared by all citizens, it is only to
the extent that they will hereafter be
more likely to be punished if they turn
criminals. Those who do not commit
offenses against the law need have no
peculiar concern with the matter The
railway companies might logically have
preferred the decision to go the other
way, for then the power of the inter
state commerce commission would have
been practically destroyed; further leg
islation on new lines would have been
rendered necessary, and therein would
probably have arisen the opportunity
for obtaining such other notifications
of the existing laws-as in the matter
Of pools, etc.-as the railways require.
Setting the consideration of these pos
sibilities aside. however. and looking
only at the actual effect of the deci-
sion upon the situation as it now ex-
lists, there is no reason on the part of
the railways for dismay 1t ought to
make violation of the law more diff
cult and less frequent, and in doing
so it will tend to maintain rates and
to strengthen rather than embarrass
the operation of the traffic associations
THE WESTERN ROADS.