The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-02-19
INTER OCEAN WINS
In Its Suit Against the AssOci-
ated Press.

Springfield, ILL.,, Feb. 19.-Tn the APP
peal Of the Inter- Ocean Publishing COM
pany against the Associated Press, the
supreme court today rendered an opin-
ion reversing the decree entered by the
Cook county circuit court and the APP
pellate court for the first district and
remanding the cause to the circuit
court with directions to enter a decree
as prayed for in the original bill filed
by the Inter Ocean Publishing company
to restrain the Associated Press from
suspending or expelling the petitioner
from its membership and from refusing
to furnish it news according to its con-
tract. This bill set up the lact that the
Associated Press had been able to con-
troll the business of buying and accum-
ulat1nS news in Chicago and selling the
same and had thus created for itself
an exclusive monopoly and to preserve
such monopoly had declared the Sun
Printing and Publishing company
rival or competitor in business and an
tagonistfc to it and sought to prohibit
it's members from buying news there
from under pain of suspension or ex-
pulsion. 1t was also alleged that the
appellee had compelled some of its
members by threats to cease buying the
special news of the Sun Printing and
Publishing association Under its con-
tracts with its members including the
appellant
The appellee filed an answer to the
bill and a hearing was had, the circuit
court dismissing the bill for want of
equity and on appeal to the appellate
court this decree was affirmed The Su~
preme court now reverseS this decree
and remandS the cause. The opinion
written by Justice Phillips holds that
the manner in which the corporation
has used it's franchise has charged it's
business with a public interest
It has devoted its property to a pub
lie use and has in effecI granted to the
public such an interest in its use that
1T must submit to be controlled by the
public for the common good to the ex-
tent Of the interest it has thus created
in the public in its private property.
The sole purpose forW hich news was
gathered was that the same should be
sold and all newspaper publishers desir-
ing to purchase such news for publica-
ton are entitled to purchase the same
without discrimination against them
THE clause of the contract which
sought to restrict the appellant from
obtaining news from other sources than
from appellee is an attempt at re-
striction upon trade and business
among the citizens of a common coun-
try Competition can never be held
hostile to public interests and efforts
to prevent competition by contract or
otherwise can never be looked upon
with favor by the courts"
The court finds that the bylaw of
the appellee corporation which seeks to
prevent its members from publishing
its special or other news or receiving
such news from any person declared
by it hostile is not required for cor
porate purposes nor included within the
purpose of the creation Of the corpo-
ration. To enforce this bylaw and
contracts made under it would enable
the appellee to designate the character
of news to be published and whether
true or false there could be no check
on it by publishing news from other
sources. Appellee would be powerful
in the creation of a. monopoly in it's
favor and could dictate the character
of news it would furnish and could
prejudice the interests of the public.
Such a power was never contemplated
in its creation and is hostile to pubic
interests. The clear effect of this by
law is to create monopoly, which
renders it void"