The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-01-28
GRIGGS is FOR
THE BIG TRUST
4
Former Attorney General One of
the Counsel.
HILLS RAILWAY MERGER
HAS LANDED IN THE SUPREME
COURT AT LAST.
HILLS RAILWAY MERGER

Washington, Jan. 27-In the United
States supreme court today Attorney
| General Douglass of Minnesota re-
/ newed his motion for leave to file a
/ Dill of complaint on behalf Of the state
against the Northern Securities COM
pany IN the matter Of the merger of
/ tne Northern Pacific road with other
( railroads, saying he had given notice
| TO the defendants as required by the
/ court
Chief Justice Fuller announced that
! the argument upon this motion would
/ be heard later in the day, as soon as
the hearing in the case under cOnsid-
Grafton could be completed.
Mr.. w. D. Guthrie, for the Northern
securities company flied a brief with
the court outlining that company's
( position. He cOntended that the bill of
| complaint proposed to be filed on behalf
of he state Of Minnesota does not pre-
sent a controversy of a civil and judi
clal nature between a state and a citi-
zen Of another state justifiable in this
court and that no state can call
! upon this court to enforce its penal or
| police laws IN other states. Hence this
court is without jurisdiction.
State Comfy Involved.
Aae Dill dShS the court llc Hdios
to restrain by injunction a citizen of
New Jersey from doing there acts
/ which are entirely lawful according to
/ her laws and which are sanctioned by
her statutory policy, simply because
| those acts violate or eVade or tend to
circumvent the pHOlic or penal or police
laws of Minnesota, the complainant
I state. There is" he continued, mo
suggestion that the acts complained of
are not entirely lawful in the state of
New Jersey or that it is not within
| the corporate powers of the defendant
corporation as an investment company
to acquire and hold the stocks Of rail-
| way companies. The sole ground of
/ complaint is the alleged violation in
! New Jersey of certain enactments con-
/ tanned in the statutes Of Minnesota
| Hence, he contended that the injunc-
| ton prayed for would be nothing more
or less than an order compelling the
| securities company to obey in New
/ Jersey the laws of Minnesota.
He called attention TO the fact that
no relief is sought against the Great
| Northern Railway company or the
/ Northern Pacific although both are cor
| DOratiOns Of the state of Minnesota and
/ therefore within the jurisdiction of the
courts of that state
Denies Having Sued.
/ This was taken, he said, as con-
| fessiOn that neither of these corpora
/ lions had sinned against the laws or
/ the constitution of Minnesota. He
/ pointed out that as neither Of these
companies is a party to the suit no re-
/ lief could be granted against them.
Former Attorney General Griggs
I followed, also speaking for the Sc
/ curities company. He said the funda-
mental error of the state of Minnesota
| in this proceeding is in making a
! claim to the assistance of this court in
| the exercise Of its sovereignty. At best
/ the command of the state could not be
! considered effective outside the state
! The public police law of one state
could not be extended to another state.
! He never before had heard of a case
! IN which a state had called on a fed
eTal judiciary to support its own state
/ laws in matters not coming under fed
/ erai jurisdiction. Concluding the argu-
/ ment for the state of Minnesota, Mr..
/ Mum said that the law in controversy
! had been adopted to protect the state
/ against the consolidation Of railroad
/ lines which had been constructed by
state aid.
Contention of the State.
/ Attorney GeneSdi douglas OF the
/ state of Minnesota, IN his bill against
] the merger says:
This consolidation embraces about
/ l. COO miles Of vailrOad, furnishing
! nearly all the transportation facilities
available to the people Of seven diff
/ ferent states Of the Union, which seven
states embrace more than One-fifth of
! the entire area of the United States
/ and nearly one-twelfth of its pOpula-
/ ton.
while it is not a part of the duty
Of the state of Minnesota to enforce the
rights of the citizens Of any other state
and it does not seek to do so, we ask
{ this court to turn to those facts OF
/ which it has a right to take judicial
notice and it will learn that six of
these seven states through which these
I roads pass, have constitutional or stat
utory iuhibitions similar to the one
which the state of Minnesota now
! seeks to enforce in this acton. We
refer 90 this only for the purpose Of
disclosing the far-reaehing effect Of
/ this tremendous consolidation.
The bin is brought parens pariae, or
as trus zee Of all Minnesota's citizens
: The bill refers to the many millions Of
! acres granted to RAILWAYS