Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-12-04

etated the need for treating WIN gus.
severity offenders OF this kihu' MS
ouinion runs In part ms foloWs'
,arhe governments evidence 10 esr
,ahl,sh the defendants guilt was clear
Conclusive. and undisputed. The case
Was n Migrant one. The transactions
which took place under this iilegai
contract were very large the amounts
of rebates returned were cohslderaple'
and the amount of the rebate ltsell "dS
large. amounting to more thall one
fifth of the entire tarift charge Tor lhe
TRANSFORMATION of merchandise from
this civ Ia Detroit. 1t is not much TO
saw. In my opinion, that ii this business
was carried on for a considerable time
on that basis--that If, II this dlscrim-
ination In favor of this particular SNIP
per was made with an is instead OF %
cent rate and the tariff rate was nam
tanned as against their competltors-
the result might be and not impropapiy
would be that their competitors Moulu
he driven out OF business, This crime
Ia one which In its nature is deliber-
ate and premeditated. ] think over =
fortnight elapsed between the date or
palmer's letter requesting the reduced
rate and the answer OF the rallroa1
company deciding to grant u, ana theh
for months afterwards THIS business
was carried on and these claims Tor
rebates submitted month after month
and checks IN payment OF them drawn
month after month. such violation
of the law, IN my opinion, In It's essen
tial nature. Is very much more helm
Gus act than the ordinary common,
vulgar crimes which come before crlm-
inal courts constantly for punishment
and which arise from sudden passion
or temptation. This crime In this case
was committed by men of education
and OF large business experience. whose
standing in the community WAS such
that they might have been expected to
set an example of obedience TO law upon
the maintenance OF which alone III this
country the security OF their property
depends II was committed on behalt
of a great railroad corporation, which.
like other railroad corporations, has
received gratutously from the state
large and valuable privileges for the
publlc's convenience and it's own, which
performs quasi public functions ana
which Is charged with the highest OBJ
liRntion IN the transaction OF It's busi-
ness to treat the citizens OF this coun-
try alike. and not to carry on its husi'
ness with unjust determinations be-
tween different citizens or different
classes OF citizens. This crime III us
nature IL one usually done with score
cy, and proof OF which 1t Is very dim
cult TO obtain. The Interstate com
meroe act was past In 1887, nearly. 20
years ago. Ever since that
time complaints OF the granting
of rebates by railroads has been
common, urgent and insistent, and a.
though the Congress has repeatedly
passed legislation endeavoring 60 put a
stop TO this evil, the difficulty of OBJ
tanning proof upon which to bring
prosecution In these cases rs so great
that this Is the first case that has
ever been brought In this court and.
as I am Informed. this case and one
recently brought IN Philadelphia are
the only cases that have ever been
brought In the eastern part of this
country. In fact, but few cases OF
this kind have ever been brought In
this country east or west. Now. un-
der these circumstances. ! am forced
| to the conclusion, In case In which
| the proof Is 80 clear and the facts are