The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-07-11
ADJOURN TOSEPT.l
IRON ORE HEARING is POSTPONED
FOR A PERIOD OF TWO
MONTHS
COUNSEL CONCLUDE ARGUMENT
Decision VIII Be Reached on Inter-
state Argument Before Resum-
ing-State Engineer to
Inspect Roads

rult emu yesterday afternoon When after
counsel for the railroads had concluded
their argument, the matter was contin-
ued untih Sept To- Chairman Mills, of
the commission, wanted to go on, but
when confronted with the protests of the
attorneys he admitted that it would be
useless to proceed before a decision OH
the interstate argument had been render
ed. He also thought that an adjourn
ment until the second week in September
would permit of a state engineer going
over the roads thoroughly and giving an
exhaustive report on the value of the
roads and the methods employed in ship
ping out ore.
In the meantime. counsel for the two
interested roads VIII prepare briefs IF
their arguments, and submit the same TO
the attorneys for the Penobscot compa-
ny, who will be allowed twenty days to
prepare and file their replies. Then ten
days will be allowed for a reply by the
attorneys for the iron ore roads, and the
hearing will be resumed Sept. 10, when
the commission will be prepared to rem
Ger its decision on the arguments sub
m:tted in the past two days
Should the commission find that the
contention Of the iron roads that their
business is almost entirely interstate, it
will thereby admit that it has no juris-
comes under this category, and as the To-
cal business of both roads amounts to
nothing, the whole matter will probably
be dropped.
Almost the entire day yesterday was
taken up with the arguments of Messrs.
Murray, kellogg and Grover, who cited
a lengthy list Of supreme court decisions,
with a view to demonstrating that the
business of the Gre roads could not be
viewed otherwise than in the light Of be-
ing purely interstate. Parallel cases were
quoted, and it was argued that all the
evidence introduced on the day previous
was conclusive as showing that the bust
ness done answered every requirement.
OF Interstate traffic.
After Messrs. Cotton, Vealey and Nc
Gonagle had been briefly examined by
Gen. Clapp Mr.. Murray summed up the
case for the roads. He divided mis- ad-
dress into three parts, the first dealing
with the character of the business done
by the reads, which, he claimed, was
purely interstate, and testimony Of the
witnesses was freely quoted in connec-
ton with large number of supreme de-
cisions. He then took up the questions
of the jurisdiction Of congress to regu-
late Interstate commerce, and showed
clearly that the state has nothing to
do with traffic Of this nature. Lastly he
dealt with the local business done by
the roads, and discussed briefly the
principles which should govern the state
regulating it.
Interstate commerce was defined as
being, in essence, the passage of mer-
chandise from one state to another by q
Journey substantially continuous. The
matters of through bills of ladlng and
Set, Df INN fAv1t
elements, but they were not essential
Neither the owner nor the shipper could
change the character of such traffic, al
though numerous attempts had been
made and decided upon by the supreme
court, as evas;ons of the fundamental
law on the subject The way bills and
bills Of lading were valuable in deter
mining the character of the traffic, but
the ultimate destination and the con-
tinuity of the journey constituted the
most ultimate test. Mr. Murray re-
viewed in detail the business done by
the ore roads, and showed that the out
eide demand was the sole excuse for the
II ads doing business. All the ore mined
was destined for points outside of Min
nesota, and 1t was known when the ore
was mined and shipped on the cars OF
the companies that the ultimate deStina-
ton was outside of the state.
Decisions covering every aspect of the
case We're cited, and Mr.. Murray con-
cluded by contending that it had been
shown that the traffic of the roads was
indisputably of an interstate nature.
MARKET MAKES THE ROADS.
The afternoon session was taken up
by the arguments OF Messrs. Kellogg
and Grover The former went into the
whole question exhaustively. He said
that the traffic was either state traffic
or interstate traffic, there was no al
tentative between the two. In discussing
his reasons for claiming that the traffic
was intrinsically interstate he said the
railroads had been made by the foreign
demand for iron ore. None of it was
treated in Minnesota, though he hoped
the time would come when it would.
The excellence of the ore mined in this
state and the consequent growing de-
nand for ii in the large iron centers Of
the East had built up the roads, the
local business done by them being in
sufficient to pay more than a fraction Of
the operating expenses. AS to the pre-
else method used in billing the ore, he
said it made no difference, as long as 1t
went out of the state The docks owned
by the railroad companies We're also in
struments of interstate commerce by rea-
son of their peculiar construction. They
had been built for the purpose of facil-
itatinG the leading of ore into vessels
which took their cargoes to points out
side of the state. Permission had been
secured of the secretary of war to con-
Struct these docks, which were useless
except for ore loading purposes. The
consent of the federal authorities had to
be secured because in them was vested
the exclusive control of the navigable
waters Of the United States
He devoted considerable time to show
ing that the business done by the COM
panies is Interstate within the meaning
Of the Interstate act passed in 1887
GROVER CLOSES ARGUMENT.
J. NJ. Grover, representing the Eastern
Railway of Minnesota was the last to
address the commission. He said that
traffic was interstate, if when delivered
to carrier it is destined to point
without the limits of a state, by a con-
tinuous carriage. This, he claimed had
been shown to be the case in the matter
of ore hauled by the Duluth, NIissabe &
Northern and the Duluth & Iron Range.
The railroad companies took the ore at
the request of the owners, hauled 1t TO
the docks, and there assorted it and
placed it in chutes, whence it was run
into vessels. The fact that they agreed
to do this made the traffic Interstate as
1t was we'll known that the vessels did
not take the ore to any point in Mime
sofa They agreed to take the ore from
the mines to the ships, knowing that 1t
was destined for a point in some other
state
As to the docks, he said they would
be nuisances if not employed to facili-
tate interstate traffic and but for this
fact, could be abated as unlawful struc-
lures.
The argument concluded, the commits
sioners intimated they were prepared
to go on with the question of the reason
ableness of the rates in general. The
attorneys protested, arguing that decis-
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