The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-11-23
RESTS WITH THE
SUPREME COURT
Decision of Interstate Com
merCe Commission Not AC-
copied as Final.
INVOLVES NEW RATE LAW
TEST CASE BEING ARRANGED IN
ILLINOIS.

Chicago Nov. 22-The supreme court
of the United States is to be asked TO
Dass upon the question whether rail
road company can issue transportation
i'm exchange for advertising in news
papers A test case is to be made in
Illinois, or rather an opportunity be
given to the interstate commerce COM
mission to have the courts pass upon
their ruling that nothing but money can
be lawfully received or accepted in pay
ment for transportation.
Shortly after the new rate law went
into effect the question came before
the commission, and that body decided
that only money could be accepted.
The justice of this ruling was not seen
by the legal department Of the MOnOn
railroad, and George KretZingeT. the
general COUNSEL and e. g. Field, the
general s1llicitor, wrote to the inter
state commerce commission and gave
their construction of the law, backed by
decisions of the courts.
Contract In Good Faith.
They said they had carefully consid-
cred the law before the PRONUNCIATION
of the rule, and under their construc-
ton of the law had entered into con-
tracts in good faith with publishers for
the publication of time cards, etc, and
for the payment of such services in
transport at the rate fixed by the
MOnon's duly published tariff, which in
every instance was the exact equivalent
of the agreed price for publication.
Money not Mentioned.
The law. they said. nowhere provides
that payment for transportation shall
be in money. and it must therefore fol-
low that the freedom OF contract as be-
tween railroad and an Individual is
practically the same as between other
citizens. If this be true, they went on
TO say, il is difficult to understand,
when one does a service for a railway
corporation under d contract made in
good faith and for an agreed consider
alton. admittedly fam why parties may
not mutually Stipulate for the payment
in anything but money. To hold other
wise, they urged, is to deny the free
dom of contract to a particular class.
The rule as universally stated and up
held by the court is:
Opinion of the Courts.
What the parties agreed shall con-
stitute the payment, the law will adj
Judge to be payment. 1t is competent
for parties TO designate by their con-
tracts how and in what manner pay
ment may be made. Tt is by no means
true that payment can only be made
in money: on the contrary, it may be
made in property or in services"
The inhibition, they added, against
charging a greater or less or different
COMPENSATION relates alone to a diff
ference in the established rate" and
not to the mapuer Of making payment.
The evil which the act is intended to
remedy. IL was urged, is that n rate
published should not mean one thing to
one man and another thing to another,
and the law is intended to make it
plain that the published rate in fact as
well as form shall mean the same thing
To all men. 1t would be immaterial,
therefore in the accomplishment of this
end whether the rate should be paid
in money or in actual, services per-
formed, if the services were the equiv
aIent of the money. The rule as pro-
pounded by the commission, they said,
would mean anomaly in the law, in that
corpora tons could do indirectly what
Trey are prohibited from doing directly.
AS an illustration they said:
Result Is the Same.
1--WE contract for a given advertise
ment for six months at 500, which is
1gTfnMln Ddlu. L he DuDilSlltE tOiituI-
rentiy Herewith buys four 1,000-mile
books. the price being 800, and the
price 1ust received for the advertise
x1nent he turns back to the company for
his mileage books. Whether, therefore,
the transaction is cOnsummated in one
way or the other, the result is precisely
The same"
II is not believed, the attorneys said,
that the commission intended either to
-fcrl0~ -lf4f
scribe the particular manner of per-
forming contracts; but on the contrary
that the sole purpose of the commission
is to scrutiniZe contracts and to see
that they are not merely devices or
subterfuges TO evade the law.
Will Continue Making Contracts.
The Interstate commerce commission /
did not reply to the letter OF Mr.. Kret- /
Finger and Mr.. Field, which was dated /
Oct. l. and President McDOel of the
Mouon road has issued orders TO the
passenger department to continue MAX
ing contracts with publishers of news
papers and to issue transportation in
payment for equivalent advertising
AS the interstate commerce commits
sion having made ruling on the SUD-
iect will likely adhere to it. the Monon
railroad will sooner or later be notified
10 appear. and this will be the first step
toward a construction by the supreme
court of the United States of the COM
missions Interpretation of the new rail
way rate bill. As the publisher who
accepts transportation is also liable I'M
der the law. one who accepts transpOr-
tation from the MonOn may be also
cited to appear in order that both par
lies 10 the contract may have the ques-
tion of their amenability passed upon
at the same time