The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-30
CARRIERS LOSE.
Judge Dana of the Shawnee
District Court
Decides in Favor of the State
journal.
A LENGTHY OPINION.
And One Declared by AuthOri-
ties to Be
One Of the Ablest, Clearest DOcu-
| LENGTHY OPINION.
One Of the AbIest, Clearest DOcu-
ments From the Bench.


case of certain carriers of the State
Journal against Frank P. MacLennan,
proprietor.
In legal parlance the judge sus-
tanned the defendants demurrer to t%e
petition and set aside the restraining
order, which was granted by the court
early in the month restraining the de-
| fendant, Frank P. MacLennan, from
charging the carriers one cent per
copy for the seventh, or Sunday,
paper, added to the six issues.
In plain English, the carriers were
beaten anG must pay the one cent per
| copy for the Sunday paper. if they
| desire to continue as carriers.
The State Journal has no particular
comment to make.
The decision speaks for itself, is
sweeping and is declared by competent
authorities to be an able, clear and
carefully prepared document.
| It is the opinion of the editor of this
paper that the best thing that could
| have happened to the carriers in this
case has now happened; that is, they
| have lost their case. Their contention
that they could dictate the price at
which we shall charge for the goods
we have to sell is ridiculous.
The best friends the carriers have,
/ if they would know it, are the people
who are running the State Journal.
! We would not advise any carrier to
dispose of his route, but if any carrier
/ desires to do so, there are many ready
to take any of the routes that may
| be offered and to carry the paper on
the present plan of giving the carrier
! 30 per cent. of the 10 cents charged
for the seven papers delivered to the
subscribers.
The attorneys for Mr.. MacLennan
were Thomas f. Doran and L. S.
Ferry. The attorneys for the carriers
were W. II. Rossington, Chas. Blood
/ smith, James A. Troutman and Rob
+ ert Stone.
After the judge had concluded the
reading OF the opinion, Troutman &
/ Stone offered some amendments to
their original petition, but the court,
after hearing them, still sustained the
demurrer.
It is hoped now that the carriers,
for their own interests, will get out
and hustle for new subscribers.
They have lost a months time, but
! there is still the future. The State
| Journal is ready and willing to assist
any reasonable carrier in swelling his
/ list and thereby increasing his profit
The carriers are, as rule, a fine lot
! of young men, but they were misled by
lawyers who are enemies of the State
/ Journal, who are trying to stop the
| State Journals progress and who are
continually fomenting trouble in this
office These four lawyers engage them
selves almost continually in prosecuting
libel suits against the state Journal,
which gives the carriers a chance as
students to earn part of their way
through college, get a lot of good exer-
else and learn business ways.
The opinion. in full. follows:
The Opinion.
In the District Court of Shawnee
County. Kansas.
J. A. Mcclure ct al, Plaintiffs,
VS.. No. 23,498.
Frank P. MacLennan, Defendant.
Plaintiffs claim: That for more than
fifteen years plaintiffs and their as
signors, called carriers, have delivered
the daily issue of the Topeka State
| Journal, Sundays excepted, to its reg
4 uIar subscribers in this city. upon
routes assigned to them or their as
signors by defendant with the exclu-
sive privilege to solicit subscribers,
| deliver papers and collect on said re-
the subscriber fixed by defendant, who
sold the papers to the carriers at a
certain price, that the carriers nave
done the personal soliciting for addi-
tionaI subscribers, made their own
collections when they saw fit. settled
with defendant at stated intervals and
paid him for all papers sold and de-
livered to them; that said routes have
become valuable and that it has been
customary for tire carriers to sell their
routes to others for considera bic sums
of money; and that by reason of the
premises plaintiffs have acquired val
liable property rights in said routes
and esta bIished contractual relations
with defendant whereby they are en-
titled to the exclusive right to pur-
chase papers for their respective
routes of defendant at the same rate
as formerly. SO long as the price to
subscribers remains the same, and not
deliver but six papers to each sub
scrfber as formerly; that defendant
has begun and threatens to continue
to print seven papers per week and
to charge the carriers the same price
ner paper as heretofore, at the same
time maintaining the same price to
the subscriber for seven papers as
heretofore charged for six, and re-
uuiring the carriers to deliver seven
pa apers per week instead of six; that
defendant threatens. unless plaintiffs
accede to his terms to refuse TO sell
ia them. but to sell to others to be
delivered upon their routes without
compensating them for damages
They ask for an injunction and for
a mandatory injunction winch Is
, equivalent to specific performance
. Defendant has demurred to the peti-
ton on all the statutory grounds and
: thereby admits for the purposes OF
: the demurrer, the allegations of the
petition.