Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-03-23
CAN NOT COMBINE.
Supreme Court Hits Railway
Combinations Hard.
AHTI.rRUsr LAW Is APPLICABLE,

Argue the Ancient Questions Involved in
the Tari6-Senate Adopts the Commit
tee Amendments to the Anelo-American
Arbitration Treaty.
washington. March 23.-In the decis-
Ion of the supreme court against the
railways in the Trans Missouri Freight
association case Judge Peckham, who
delivered the courts opinion, reviewed
the history Of the case and stated the
conclusions OF the cort. He said that
the bill had originally been filed by the
government for the purpose of securing
the setting aside of the agreement OPP
Grating in the southwest, which author
lied the association to fix rates Of
transportation to which the various
The bill was filed under the law known
as the Sherman antitrust act Of 1890.
The defendants had in their answer de-
MED the governments allegations in
respect especially to the point of i'm
proper intent and upon these showings
the case proceeded to a hearing.
Case Comes Within the Law.
The court below decided that the
Sherman act did not apply to railroads
and therefore refused to sustain the
government. 1t was also held by the
lower court that even if the act did ap-
ply the agreement was not one looking
to the unreasonable restraint" of trade.
Taking up the acse on its merits. JUS
tice Peckham said the court had reached
the conclusion that the Sherman act
does cover the question of railroad
transportation and that the agreement
between the various roads is within the
prohibition Of the present act. Hence
the decision of the lower court, which
was favorable to the contention of the
railway companies, was reversed and
the case remanded.
Sherman Act Not Limited.
Replying to the objection that there
is no language in the antitrust act
which is sufficiently plain to indicate a
purpose to repeal the provisions of the
Interstate commerce act which permit
the agreement" the opinion AYERS that
the interstate commerce act does not
authorize an agreement Of this nature.
There is. therefore. no appeal in the
case" it says, " and both statutes may
stand as neither is inconsistent with the
other" The opinion takes up the asser-
ton that the Sherman act was aimed at
only such combinations as the Standard
Oil company, the beef trust and the
whisky trust. and says they were not
the only associations controlling great
combinations of capital which had
caused complaint at the time the law
was enacted, but that there were
many and loud complaints from some
portions of the public regarding the
railroads and the prices they were
charging for the service they rendered"
Covers All Sorts Of Combines.
Summing I'D on the point Of ap-
plicability to railroads the court says:
While the statute prohibits all COM
binations in the form of trusts or other
wise the Limitation is not confined to
that alone. All combinations which are
in restraint Of trade or commerce are
prohibited whether in the form Of trusts
or in any form whatever. We think
after a careful examination that the
act covers and was intended to cover
common carriers by rail. We
conclude that the antitrust act applies
to railroads and that it renders illegal
all agreements which are in restraint
of trade or commerce"
Effect Will BE Far-Reaching.
The opinion says that the effect of the
associations agreement was to re-
strain trade, no matter what the in
tent" Justices Field, Gray. Shiras and
White dissented, Justice White deliver
ing the dissenting opinion. The law
officers of the go0ernment consider that
the effect of the decision will be far
reaching. They think it will result in
requiring that all traffic agreements be
submitted to the interstate commerce
commission. They also express the be-
lief that 1t means a reversal Of the
opinion delivered in the circuit court
of appeals for the second circuit last
week in the case of the Joint Traffic
association, the opinion in that instance
being favorable to the railroad COM
bination.
BEGIN THRESHING OLD STRAW.
House Orators Open Up the Ten Days Dc.
bate on the Tariff.
Washington, March 23.-The first day
of the tariff debate in the house was
rather tame from both a Specfa cular a nd