The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-09-16
THOSE COMPROMISES,
Judge Lovstt Has Something to SAY
Assent Them.
A CLEAR STATEMENT OF THE CASE.
state Had No Assurance Of Ninu,oo
Any Of the Suits
BOTH PARTIES SAVE EXPENSE
a. Nearly Every Suit would Have
Involved Federal Questions ana
. Lengthy Litigation.
BOTH PARTIES SAVE EXPENSE

e''o AAAsSeauStueutS uOOut tue com
promise made with the State Of the suit
lied against his company for alleged VIC
iation OF the railroad commission tariffs
and he having been asked to give a histor,
OF the cases from his standpoint, he deliy
cred himself as follows:
Yes, l have observed the efforts Of pop,,.
lists and others to make political capita
out Of a mares nest With these polit.
ical schemes am not concerned, but
nave been interested and, indeed, aston
ished at the talent for exaggeration and
scope of imagination displayed in some
quarters In discussing this matter. Not
only has the number Of alleged cases been
aDsurdly exaggerated, but It is assumed
that there was but one side to the cases
ana That all the State had to do was to
iiie suit and judgments would then BIO a
mere matter Of form. Slight knowledge Of
the facts will show how groundless that
assumption is. and that these cases. like
most others. have two sides.
AT least 90 per cent Of the alleged cases
grew out OF the compression Of cotton at
Houston instead Of in the interior. I'm
der the commissions compress regulations
cotton can not be compressed at destination
or within seventy miles thereof This
absolutely prohibits the compression OF
cotton at Houston and Is calculated to de-
stroy Houston as cotton market Under
these regulations no cotton man In Hous-
ton can concentrate and compress his cot
ton at his own town and compress while
that privilege. These lines are identified
with Houston. are friendly to her interests
and desire her commercial interests pre-
served. To overcome. In measure. the
apparent injustice OF these regulations
the Houston cotton men, with the concur
renee of the companies, adopted the prac-
tice OF taking bills of lading out for much
Of their cotton to New Orleans In order
to be able to concentrate and compress 1t
where their presses and facilities We're To-
Gated, since the compress regulations did
not apply to interstate shipments. There
was no secret about this It was done open
ly and above board, butt developed that
In the actual handling Of the business the
identity OF the shipments in many in
stances was not presertsd as distinctly as
was contemplated In order TO establish
their character beyond any sort of ques-
ton as Interstate commerce, and therefore
beyond the Jurisdiction of the Texas COM
mission. Still we contended-and still con-
tend--that the difference was merely in
form; that substantially and in effect the
cotton was interstate commerce and and Its
character as such was not lost merely
through the form of billing and handling
it, that all the cotton was bought for i'm
mediate export, and by the persons who
shipped 1t. and that Its stoppase and COM
preston in Houston was merely incidental
to it's transportation to foreign markets;
and that, being substantially and In effect
interstate commerce, the commissions reg
ulations did not apply to 1t.
Now, let any lawyer say that this con-
tention does not present at least an ex-
tremely close question, and IL we'll taken,
as we think many lawyers viii admit, 1t
follows that not a bale was subject to the
regulations. but was wholly>
beyond their jurisdiction. But the com
mission and attorney general commended
that the cotton was not Interstate COM
merce, but was subject to the compress
regulations. Here. practically. the whole
controversy arose. for, as said before, be-
lieye SO per cent Of the so-called cases grew
out of this compressing question; and after
all. what did it amount to? Simply this:
The roads paid for COMPRISING cotton at
Houston, which the commission claims was
unlawful, while, if they had paid for the
same COMPRISING In the interior. 1t would
have been perfectly lawful: and this for
the reason that the compress regulations
authorized the payment OF COMPRISING
when done in the interior and not when
done in Houston. The result was precise
ly the same to the shipper and TO the car
rier, since the rate to the shipper was the
same and the revenue to tho railroad com
panies was the same, whether the com
pressing was done in the interior or at
Houston, and therefore there was only. at
most technical violation of the commits
sion's compress regulations. But the com
mission and attorney general claimed that
payment of COMPRISING, except In the In
terror or otherwise than as authorized by
the commission, was, in the meaning OF
the statute, discrimination" or re
bate" We denied this. but they adhered
to their view and prepared for litigation.
We felt we were right and our first dispo-
sitlon was to fight. That we had very
strong grounds on which to fight no lawyer
win deny, and that we would have been
successful in the courts of last resort many
will admit.
Every cesc would have involved a Fed
ernl question: That is. whether the ship
ments were State or interstate commerce;
and on this question all could have been
taken ultimately to the United States SUI
prems court That this would have been
very expensive to the State, as yell as to
The roads can not be denied The COM
panies. having acted In good faith aud be-
liey,ng they were right. no reasonable ex-
pense would have been spared 70 defeat
the cases. Local lawyers OF established
as strong advocates would have
been employed wherever suits were filed.
In addition to the regular corps OF attor-
neys. and whoever thinks that the State
ws,ld have had "rske-off'' knows moth
irg about the facts OF the eases or the JUS
lice on the side OF the railroad companies.
Hut ali this meant much expense and
wears OF vexatious litigation, and revival
n preiudice perhaps. which happily has
Keen diving out Then. too, there were
Few cases where some articles In some
Instances were carried at less than the
uublished rates to meet what were believed
q ~ similar practices on rival lines, and
h those cases some penalties might have
heen In time recovered. SO. on the whole.
a ~, ao>r,ad bat in order especially to