The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-10-15

the line with which his secret compact 1 was made.
 In the earlier period of this discrimi. hating practice 1t is probably true thas his | the producer obtained price Tor ms grain slightly in excess of its marke. | value at the place of shipment; but that
 result followed only during the snort t,ine ,',
 that the non-favored dealer continued ,,a na | wall, as he soon was the oniy puysa | whom the producer could reach was the | party who had bargained with the car
 rier for an unlawful rate. Thus compe., | titon in the grain business was destroyed 1 and the price actually realized py Inp
 farmer was frequently less than the prop | CT market value. A favored midoleman' | by connivance with the railroad, monop- | oiized the grain products of large area l of country, and virtually hxed the pres | of both to the producer ana the con | sumer. It was an odious condltion. Nos | does this describe the full measure ot | wrongdoing. It reached the centers CT
 trade and affected related industries with l more or less disaster. In Kansas Slty; | for example, 1t was asserted that Iocii | dealers had been excluded from partc:- | patton in the grain trade; that their eie- | vators for the storage and transshlpment
 of grain. built at great expense TOT tne demands of an important market nao | been deprived of business; and that large numbers of laborerS had lost empioy-
 ment and remained in ideness, sole,y | because of the diversion of business rom it's natural channels as the result oI sn,s ns | forbidden monopoly in the purchase ana transportation of grain. The board or trade of that city presented q complalnt l to the Interstate Commerce Commission. and that body conducted an investlgatlon which disclosed with convincing partie"- larity and detail, the facts already sum- marked. That they are true in sub stance and effect is not serl- Gqsy ghai dsDntsd in asO any about a"' the same time, held another investigation. l and reported to the Department of Jus | tice that the six largest meat-packiE! concerns, popularly known as the 'Bee1 | Trust" were in a combination with each | other and with many great railway lines. whereby they secured large secret con | sessions in rates for the transportation practically monopolize the fresh ana | cured meat industry of the unltsd | States.
 Action by Government.
 Acting upon this information. which 1 disclosed definite and provable facts, 6;l | for injunctions were immediately hieu against the principal railroads implicate1. to restrain them from giving preference | to any shipper in the rates or fac .lities | of transportation. In March last there were instituted by the Government, in | the United States Circuit Court at Ch;- | cago, six suits in equity against onenl- | ing railroad companies; and, simultane- | ously eight additional suits were begun against other railroads at Kansas City. l In each instance temporary lnlunctlons were granted, which are still in force, restraining the defendant railroads from | paying any rebates or granting any pret- | erences whatever to any shipper so that | all persons should stand on an even foot | ing in respect of transportation over the
 enJoined roads. | 1t is not practicable, of course, nor de-
 sirable, to bring injunction suits against | all the railroads in the United States. but
 1t was believed, in thus proceeding | against fourteen of the most influential
 lines and having the interlocutory de- | cree of two very eminent Federal judges
 to the effect that the facts alleged in the
 bills entitled the Government to the pow | erful remedy of injunction, that the other | carriers would thereafter conform to the | law and abstain from illegal practices. | How salutary and wholesome the effect
 has been, ask any fair minded railway | manager, who Is now enabled to ad1ust | his business freed from the stress or com
 petition with lawbreakers. or any honest | shipper upon the defendant roads. It is ! believed that, with few exceptions, slnce
 the issuing of these injunctions, the open | tariffs have been applied ahd uniform | rates charged to large and small ship
 pers alike The small grain buyers in the | West have resumed operations, the eleNl-
 tors that were closed are doing profit
 able business, and the workmen are again
 employed
 In a few cases the Department has
 been informed that certain railway otfi-
 cials who were not enJoined nave taken
 advantage of the restraint placed upon
 their competitors, and been led by cupid
 ity to seek unlawful earnings by accord 1 ing secret rates to increase their busl-
 ness at the expense Of roads under m-
 junction Several of these officials have
 been indicted already, and more will be
 if evidence of their misconduct can be
 procured And in this connection l tako
 occasion to say that the efforts or the
 Commission to stop rate-cutting and all
 similar offenses will be constantly aided
 by the Department of Justice and every
 official under it's direction. This nefar-
 tn, power of the Administration to stop
 1t,
 Another direction in which kindred ef-
 fort has been made to enforce the law
 and prevent the abuse of monopoly de-
 serves a word of comment. The cotton
 interests of the South, growers buyers
 and shippers, complained of the hard
 ships and injury suffered by them from
 the methods of the railroads in that sec
 tion in handling and transporting the cot,
 ton output. These carriers by combined
 action denied the right of routing to the
 shipperS-that is to say, the right Of the
 goods should pass. and by agreement
 with each other determined the lines
 which should move this important pro
 duct and the per centage of total ship
 ments which each line should transport
 In other words there was a pooling ar
 rangement between the railroads in re-
 spect to this traffic, in distinct violation
 of the Federal statute.
 As the result of information, secured
 with much difficulty, respecting this for
 bidden practice, a number of indictment s were obtained against the offending roads } and their principal traffic owners. At first the indicted carriers showed an in'
 tention to continue their unlawful com bination, and steps were taken by the l | Department to institute similar prosecu- 7 tions against the same and other carriers | for like misconduct al other points in the | cotton section. Since that time, however the roads have receded from their posi- | ton. They now accord to shippers thl right to route their traffic, and avow their purpose strictly to observe the law The Beef Trust.
 The remarkable advance in the price oi
 meats, coupled with the disclosures clio , tied by the Commission respecting secrS rebates enjoyed by the great packing | houses and other information obtained
 by the Department of Justice, induced | it to direct an investigation into th' methods of the so-called Beef Trust, as a rt suit of which bills were filed un
 der the Sherman antitrust law and in
 functions issued restraining each of tht | six defendant concerns from combining 5 ! or agreeing upon the prices at which they would sell their products in States othei than those where 1t Is prepared for mar
 ket and likewise restraining them iron combining and agreeing upon cartag' charges for delivering their shipments d
 destination.
 Under the rules of the Federal courts
 after the writs of injunction were is
 sued the defendants had until midsum mer to answer or demur to the Govern ! ! ments bill of complaint They chose t demur to the bill. which raises the ques
 ton whether, on the facts stated. ant