Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-10-10

vice president and cOunSel 1Or tne LEI
aware and Hudson Railroad Company
has sent to President Roosevelt a let
ter demanding that the federal govern
ment proceed against the miners or
ganization in the courts on the ground
that it is conspiracy to prevent inter-
state commerce. Wilcox, it is said, on
authority, represents all the coal Oper-
ators, in this action, and was selected
as their spokesman.
The letter follows:
New York, Oct. 8.
To President Of the United States
Sir: Upon June 7th. last
I had the honor to address letter to
yourself, calling attention to the char
acter of the United Mines Workers of
American. The illegality of that or
ganlzation Is fully established by the
authority to which then referred and
its methods have since been again con-
demned by the circuit courts OF the
United States, Omitted States VS.. Web
er; United States VS.. Haggerty) In
1T is hardly open to serious question
that the ultimate purpose of the union
is not legal" Some question has, how
ever. been made whether the national
government has the power to take ac-
tion against it on that account, and, j,
therefore desire respectfully to submit
some considerations which seem estab-
lished that it has such power. The
statute, generally known as the Sher-
man act, provides that every contract,
combination in the form OF a trust or
otherwise or a cons piracy in INstraint
OF trade or commerce among the sew
|eral states or with foreign nations is
hereby declared to be illegal. Com
merce among states begins when the
objects therof begin to move to their
place Of destination and ends when
they are sold. The question, there
fore, 10 whether the mine workers COM
| aation constitutes a restraint upon
such commerce. The view that it does
not is based upon the contention that
tion of coal within the state and not
shipments of coal from one state to
another. 1t is submitted this distinc-
tion is without foundation in law or
facts. The authority in support OF this
view upon which reliance is principally
placed Is in the case of the United
States vs.. D. c. knight Company. In
that case several sugar refineries in
Pennsylvania had been united in one
organization. The court held that this
conslididationS Of interests did not come
within the statutes because it affected
merely the process manufacture and
had no necessary effect upon shipment
OF manufactured pSoduct out OF the
state. 1t will be sNaen that the facts
were widely different from those in
volved in the present case.
The coal of the country is the most
important subject of it's interstate com
merce. The Mine Workers Association
consists of combination of persons
employed in the production of coal in
many states of the union. Its objects in
effect are to control the terms upon
which this subject of interstate COM
merce may be produced at all. either
for the state or interstate shipments
Its direct and necessary effect is tha,
no coal shall be shipped anywhere with
in the country unless it SO permits. This
combination, therefore, not merely re-
strains but destroys interstate COM
merce by preventing the existence OF
the subject matter of such commerce
of general public interest and impor-
tance. No more effective or radical re-
straint of interstate commerce could be
imagined. The Delaware & Hudson
company was chartered by the state OF
New York on April 23, 1923, for the
purpose, as expressed in it's charter, OF
furnishing to the state of New York a
supply of coal found in Pennsylvania
AS a result of the mine workers. or
ganization this interstate commerce and
this corporation has been and for the
tlme being is in a great part destroyed.
obviously a combination which has this
direct effect upon the established inter-
state business is in every sense re-
straint thereon. Accordingly, since the
Knight case, it has been settled that
combinations which have the effect OF
restraining shipments out of the state
are within the proposition of the stat
ute. In the Addyston Pipe Company
VS.. the United States there was COM
bination of manufacturers within GER
tain states which restrained shipments
in competition with each other. The
court said: "The direct and immediate
result of the combination was, there
fore, necessarily restraint upon state
commerce in respect of articles manu-
transfactured by any parties to compete
with it to be transported beyond the
states in which they were made. IN
the Chesapeake & Ohio Fuel Company
VS.. the United States there was
a combination of all miners
of coal with certain territory
to sell all their product 70
one corporation and the product was In
the natural course of business shipped
to other states. These combinations
were theld unlawful for the reason that
they restrained the movement OF prod
ucts of manufacture out of the state
save upon terms dictated by parties 20
the combination. If the fact that
combination has that direct and neces-
sary effect brings 1t within the statute
its form is of no Importance Tor the
statute says that every such complna-
ton is illegal. As already said, the mine