Connecticut western news., 1903-04-16
MERGER DISSOLVED.
GOVERNMENT WINS AGAINST NORTH.
 ERIN SECURITIES COMPANY.

"reat hahrOad Combination Is De
 cIarsd by United States Circuit
 Court of Appeals to He Illegal.
 Railroads Will Carry Case Higher.
 The United States circuit court, sit ting at St: Paul, Minn., on Thursday handed down a decision in the suit of the United States against the Northern Securities company enjoining the con- pany from voting the stock of the Northern Pacific or Great Northern railway companies, but allowing the return of such stock as had been deliv- cred to that holding company.
 The opinion was unanimous, all four judges concurring; but the opinion was written by Judge Thayer. The sub- stance of the order is in the decree, which is as follows:
 "A decree in favor of the United States will accordingly be entered to the following effect: Adjudging that the stock of the Northern Pacific and Great Northern Railway companies, now held by the Securities company, was acquired in virtue of a combina- tion among the defendants in restraint of trade and commerce among the sev- eral states, such as the antitrust act denounces as illegal
 "Enjoining the Securities company from acquiring or attempting to ac- quire further stock of either of said companies; also enjoining it from vot- ing such stock at any meeting of the stockholders of either of said railroad companies or exercising or attempting to exercise any control. direction or supervision of influence over the acts or said companies, or either of them by virtue of it's holding such stock.
 "Enjoining the Northern Pacific and Great Northern companies respectively, their officers, directors and agents, from permitting such stock to be voted by Northern Securities company or any of its agents or attorneys on its behalf at any corporate election for directors or officers of either of said companies and likewise enjoining them from paying any dividends to the Securities compa- ny on account of said stock or permit ting or suffering the Securities compa- ny to exercise any control whatsoever over the corporate acts of said com panies or to direct the policy of either.
 And finally permitting the Securities company to return and transfer this stock to the stockholders of the North ern Pacific and Great Northern compa- nies any and all shares of stock of those companies which it may have re- ceived from such stockholders in ex- change for its own stock or to make such transfer and assignment to such person or persons as are now the hold CTS and owners of it's own stock origi- nally issued in exchange for the stock of said companies" ...
 The Northern Securities company will appeal the case to the United States supreme court. f Stocks broke violently on Wall street on Monday. and losses extending from to points were sustained In all the leading railroad issues. The demoralization in security values was the direct result of the decision in the Northern Securities case.
 Wall street figured that if the laws as interpreted by the recent court de- cision were put into operation the de eision would attack the fundamentals on which practically all the great rail way systems of the United States have been built up. The stock market, therefore. bore the brunt of the de- cision, which, when it was announced on Thursday last, was impartially un- derstood except by the banking houses concerned.
 The long holiday which security mar kets had observed since Thursday last gave the financial world sufficient time to study what the decision really meant. During this time careful diag- nosis of the sweeping decision revealed the important and far reaching effects it possessed. The unfavorable impress sion held by investors and the finan- cial world generally was fully reflect ed in the avalanche of selling orders which deluged the stock market on Monday and which threatened at times to throw the market into a slow panic.