The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1904-03-18
KNOCKED OUT BY
SUPREME COURT
Northern Securities Combination
Declared Invalid.
HARLAN CALLS IT A TRUST
Court Holds THAT the u~r=Tn= "a
Northern Pacific and Great
Northern Companies Was ia
Violation sf Law.

Washington. March l5-In the l-n.t.
ed States supreme court Monday an
opinion was delivered in the meresr
case OF the Northern Securities C,.
versus the United States. in favor of
the governments contention that the
merger vas illegal The opinion ~
the court was handed down by Justice
Harlan. and j, upheld the decree of
the srcuit court for the district Of Min
pesoia IN every particular. -Four 81 the
justices cissented from the i've coasu-
tuting the majority
The division in the court was due
10 a difference Of opinion as tcthe right
u federal control u state CORPORATIONS.
The majority opinion proceeded on the
theory that congress has right. under
the constitution. 10 control interstate
commerce. no mstter by whom con-
Quoted. while the minority or dissent
ing opinion was based On the theory
that IN the present case the effort 10
regulate the ownership is not iater-
STATE traffic
Decision Was Expected.
An effort was made by the court a.
prevent the knowledge u the fact that
the opinion was 10 be rpnderedMOn9ay
from getting 20 the public. but never
theless Il was quite generally under
stood among uewspapermen. attorneys
and others for an hour or SO before the
converting OF court Monday thar he
decision WOULD be announced. When
therefore. the members OF the court
filed into the chamber az noon. they
were me. by an eXpectau1 crowd which
filled every seat both inside and 1ut-
side The bar Seated among the attor-
neys were Attorney General Knox
and Secretary Taft. AMI IN unusual
number OF senators and members 81 The
house
There was no surprise manifested
when promptly on the assembling ~
The court Justice Harlan began the de-
livery 81 the opinion The fact that
he had been selected for the prepare.
tiOn II The document az once Jed most
people 10 conclude that the decision
would uphold the sherman antitrust
Law and sustain the contentious Of the
government. The justice read his Opin-
ion from printed copy. which covered
80 pages. and consumed about an hour
and quarter in = delivery
Very soon after Justice Harlan con-
cluded his presentation az the case Il
became evident that ths court hal d.
vided on the questions az issue. and crs
the opinion was announced il developed
that not only had there been a very
close shave for the government. but
that one 81 the members o. the court
who cast his vote for the majority en-
tertained opinions Of his own. which
fact rendered the division Of all more
marked and interesting This was
Justice Brewer. who. while he con-
Cured in the result. announced in an
independent Or nion Of his own that he
held the view that previous antitrust
decisions had been more sweeping than
was justified
-Four Of the nine justices disssn.e 81
outright These were Chief Justice
Fuller and justices White. Peckham
End Holmes The opinions Of justices
Harlan and White We're long. while
those Of Justice Brewer and Holmes
were comparatively brief All told. the
court consumed two hours and three
quarters in disposing OF The case The
fact was noted by several persons that
the argument in the case was begun
D~cember "a. Just three months pre-
yious 10 the decision For 50 important
a case this is considered a very brief
interim between the arguments and
the decision
History Of the Case.
The case decided Monday was
brought By the United States against
the Northern Securities Co. a corpora