The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-06-03

Decision UNFOLDING State Quarantine
Laws-TerminaI Rates


WASHINGTON, June 2-The United
States Supreme court to-day declared the
right of a state of the union TO pass laws
excluding bodies of people from going into
a city community which is quaran-
tined. The case in which this decision was
given was one which was brought against
the Louisiana board of health by the own
ers of the Brittania, French steamer,
which sought to land 400 Italians in New
Orleans in 1878. The city then was infested
with yellow fever, and a quarantine was
in force against it and the board of health
enforced the state law authorizing exclu-
sion from a quarantined municipality, re-
fusing to allow the immigrants to land.
The owners or the steamer took the case to
the s&te courts, where the decision was
against them. There was an appeal to the
United States Supreme Court, and it was
prosecuted on the ground that the law is a
violation of the interstate commerce law,
and also in contravention of the treaty of
1903 with France. The opinion of the Su-
preme Court was handed down by Justice
White and sustained the state law on the
ground that until Congress takes the quar-
antine power from the states each state is
entitled to make and enforce its own quar-
antine regulations. Justices Harlan and
Brown unite in a dissenting opinion.
The court decided the case of the inter-
state-commerce commission VS.. the Chica-
go, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Compa-
ny and others, involving the right of the
commission to reduce the terminal rate
made by the rallrOaQS IN chicago on cars
containing live stock. The opinion was pre-
sented by Justice White and affirmed the
decision of the Circuit Court of Appeals for
the Seventh circuit, which refused to carry
into effect the order of the commission re-
ducing the rate from 81 to 81 per car.
In delivering this opinion Justice White
gave a detailed history Of the relationship
of railroads to the stockyards In Chicago.
He said that clearly, under the sixth sec
ton of the Interstate law, the
railroads had "A right to separate their
charges on the point of the reasonable
the statement on the rehearing which we
are considering be taken as a finding and
given the force previously stated, then it
follows that the rates from the points in
the territory to which the reduction APP
piled were just and reasonable, and as to
those points the orders should not have
been rendered, and there is no finding es
tablishing the points to which the reduc-
ton applied which would enable us to sepa-
rate the reasonable from the unreasonable.
1t results that the findings do not af-
ford the basis of even unsustaining the
order in part. Being then constrained to
the conclusion that the order of the COM
mission was not sustained by the facts upon
which it was predicted, we cannot enter
into an investigation of the facts, even If it
enable US to do so in order that new and
substantive findings Of fact may be evolved
upon which the order of the commission
may be sustained. 1t follows that the de-
cree of the Circuit Court or Appeals refus-
ing to command compliance with the order
of the commission was right and must,
therefore be affirmed" He added that the
opinion was not intended to operate so as
to prevent future proceedings TO correct
any unreasonableness of rate.
The Supreme Court to-day adjourned
finally for the present term. The court will
convene again on Oct. Is next