The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-07-20
Government Ready to Prosecute
Harvester and Steel Com bines.
For Violating Injunctions of the
Federal Courts
INDIVIDUALS ESCAPE.
Suits Will Be Filed Against
Number of Railroads.
They Are Said to Be Mixed Up
With the Trusts.

Washington. July 2O.-FinaI action
has been taken by the department of
! justice providing for the institution of
suits at once against the harvester
| trust and the steel trust at Chicago
for disregarding the injunction OBJ
! tanned against the railroad which
! granted rebates to those great corpo-
rations under the guise of excessive
divisions of through freight rates to
the Missouri river.
There is a nice legal question in
volved which will have to be fought
out in court, because the owners of
terminal railroads. operated for the
exclusive benefit of the two big trusts,
insist they have perfect right to
make any kind of a division of freight
rates as common carriers.
| The government holds these termi-
nal railroads owned by the steel and
harvester trusts are nothing more nor
less than a device for the purpose of
procuring Illegal rebates, and that
| they are to be prosecuted as such.
| The papers have been approved
here and are to be filed in Chicago. .
VIII Not Prosecute Individuals
| Following out the line OF action di-
rected by the president IN regard to
prosecution of individual officers of
the International Harvester company
and the United States Steel corpora
ton, nor of any individual officer or
employe of the Santa Fe. Burlington.
Belt line, and half a dozen other rail-
roads which gave an unfair division
in through rates in the nature of re-
bates.
Special Attorney Purdy, who re-
| turned two days ago from Kansas
| City. where he instituted proceedings
against the Santa Fe road in the coal
rebate cases. has prepared the papers
for the suits against the roads inter
ested in the terminal line rebates, and
he is to have special charge of all this
work under the general supervision of
Attorney General Moody. H.
The suits about to be filed include
! both eastern and western railroads
| there being two sets of offenses, one
east of Chicago for the benefit of the
! steel company and the other from Chi
cago to the Missouri river, in which
| the beneficiary was the Harvester
| trust.
Injunctions were secured against
these roads before Judge Phillips of
/ Kansas City and Judge Grosscup at
Chicago, and contempt cases will be
time. 4zt-s s-,.-,- f--
Question Is a Specific One. =
! In their, original decision the interstate
| commerce commission held that while
| 1t might be objectiona bic for a heavy
| shipper to, be interested largely in the
| road over which his trafie went there
| was no reason why a terminal road or
| any other line should not make joint
rates with other railroads. '1
The question to be decided by the
courts is not whether the terminal
! roads have the right to prorate with the
| trunk lines, but whether the division
! of a through rate has not been ar
ranged in such way as to grant an
undue proportion to the terminal road
| and thereby constitute an Illegal and
fraudulent rebate to corporations which
own those terminal railroads.
| The interstate commerce law itself
| forbids the granting of any difference
| in the charges made between shippers
by any special rate, rebate, drawback
"or other Device The Elkins law also
forbids any practice on the part of a
! common carrier whereby any such
| property shall by any device whatever
| be transported at a less rate than that
| named in the tariffs, or whereby any
| other advancement or discrimination
| is practiced."
Roads Owned by Trusts.
1t is admitted on all sides that the
| International Harvester company owns
the capital stock of the Chicago, West
Pullman and Southern railroad and the
Illinois Northern railroad, which are
mere terminal lines connecting the
works of the trust with the roads rum
ming west and south of Chicago.
Similarly it is admitted that the Chi
cago, Lake Shore and Eastern railway
is owned by the United States Stee
corporation and is nothing more than 2
terminal road by which switching facili-
ties are provided in and around the
works of the trust in Chicago, Joliet
and milwaukee,.
In the hearings before the interstate
commission last year it was demon
! Strated that fair average charge for
switching by the Illinois Northern rail-
; road would be $3.50 per car, whereas
, practically all the lines running from
Chicago to the Missouri river have
given the harvester company, through
: It's terminal railroads, a division of rate
which amounts to about $12, so that
the trust, in effect, gets a preference
of $3.50 over what any other shipper
of that same carload would be obliged
! to pay.
Profits Overlap Expenses Ten Times
| Similarly it was established before
J the commission that the Lake Shore
! & Eastern railroad had been allowed
a division of through freight rates
amounting to 70 cents a ton of coke
: brought to Chicago from Connellsville
while the actual cost of the switching
charges from Indiana Harbor to tht
steel works at South Chicago probably
will not exceed one-tenth of that sum
Only a few years ago the Illinois
Northern railroad was content tt
switch its cars for a maximum charge
of $3.50, and it is asserted that {
preference to the steel trust had beer
sufficient every year to pay the inter
:; est on millions of dollars in capitalize
! ton, because in the latter case there
: had been a heavy rebate on coal, coke
and ore, and another excessive ratt
7 division on the entire finished produc
Q of the western mills. saq - ,~4s, q,
This litigation to be instituted a
: Chicago and Kansas City will not bl
: settled in day or two The two bis
' trusts will carry the case, If necessary
5 to the United States supreme court
e and it may be years before the fina
o decision is reached.
Won Sternberg Retires to His Estate
Berlin, July 20.-Baron Speck Won Stern
dor "a he Irs,i