The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-04-12
TUESDAY, APRIL II, 1904.
A EIASCO.

The decision rendered yesterday by
the supreme court of the United States
in the case of the state of Minnesota
against the Northern Securities COM
pany is an utter and humiliating de-
feat for the counsel for the state. 1t
brings to naught all the agitation and
labors of the last three years. 1t
proves every dollar expended by the
people of the state in this proceeding
to have been wasted, except as it has
helped to sweeten life for the gentle
men who consumed it in fees and in
luxurious trips around the country.
There are not many, perhaps, of their
profession who would care to take the
money in exchange for the exhibition
of Incompetence with which it was
bought.
The supreme court remandS the case
to the state court, holding that it has
no jurisdiction. 1t says that the case
was Improperly removed from the state
court in the first place; that the stipu-
latiOn made by attorneys for the state
not to move to remand it, and their
consent that the circuit court Of the
United States had jurisdiction to try
the case, did not confer jurisdiction.
All the steps in the various proceedings
leading up to this end are clearly set
forth in the exceedingly lucid state
ments contained in our news columns
this morning.
The steps taken were these. Upon
the service of summons and complaint
originally in the state court, the North
ern Securities company removed the
case into the circuit court Of the United
States and then moved to dismiss the
service upon it on the ground that it
was foreign corporation, not subject
to the jurisdiction of the courts Of the
state. The attorneys for the state stip-
ulated that they would not move to re-
~AAeeAAA IL bAAC ANOI lI0Iu COM
pany should appear and answer 1t was
also stipulated that if the court should.
on its own motion, remand the case.
the appearance and answer of the
. Northern Securities company should be
withdrawn, and the company stand in
the same position it was when service
was made. There is where 1t stands
now, with the right to answer if it is
willing to appear, or 70 move to dis
miss the service.
1t is the case of the state that is
thrown out, because counsel for the
state filed brief in the supreme court
In which they contended that the case
was properly removed to the federal
court. The supreme court did not. pass
upon the merits of the case at all. and
therefore did not overrule Judge Loeb
rem. They overruled the state in it's
contention that the case was properly
removed, and remanded it to the state
IL
the state court, where it was when the
summons and complaint were served.
In brief, the intelligent counsel for
the state have spent two years and
$4,000 in the process Of serving a
summons and complaint That is abso
Nutely all that they have accomplished.
1t is not an intellectual mountain ex
acty that has been in-labor, but it is
a particularly ridiculous mouse that
II has brought to birth. Everything
must either be totally abandoned or
begun over again from the beginning.
If proceedings are continued, the
Northern Securities company has a
right to move to dismiss or to appear.
and answer. Should it do the latter
The state will have to take all its evil