Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1907-08-09
FEDERAL JUDGE IMPOSES HIGHEST
POSSIBLE PENALTY ON THE
ROCKEFELLER CONCERN.
WILL PROSECUTE FURTHER
Court Orders Calling of Grand Jury and
This Time Relating Railroads
May Be Caught.
SUMMARY OF GREAT OPINION.

nal jurisprudence was imposed this
morning by Judge Kenesaw Mountain
Lands in the United States district
court upon the Standard Oil company
of Indiana. The amount was 500 ,24O,-
| 900. the maximum sentence upon each
of the 1862 counts of the indictments on
which that company was recently con
victed of accepting rebates from the
Chicago & Alton and other railroads.
The judge also recommended that call
be issued by a special grand jury which
is to consider the other party to the
rebating operation of which the Stand
ard Oil company was found guilty and
it is therefore probable that within Il
short time proceedings will be com
| menced against the Chicago & Alton
Railway company for the alleged COM
mission of similar offenses.
Courtroom Is damned.
The reading of the opinion by Judge
Lands aroused almost as much interest
as the presence of John ID. Rockefeller
and other officials of the Standard Oil
company upon the witness stand The
courtroom was crowded to its utmost
capacity and the United States deputy
marshals were finally compelled to refuse
admission to all late Corners.
The government was represented in
the courtroom by United States Distritc
| the courtroom by United States District
Attorney WILKINSON. The only attorneys
of the Standard Oil company present in
the courtroom were Attorneys Eddy
and Martin neither of whom bore a
prominent part in the actual trial OF the
case Attorney Miller the leading coun-
sci for the Standard Oil company, was
in Europe and his chief assistant Moritz
Rosenthal was in New York. Only
few of the lesser officials of the Stand
ard Oil company were i'll the courtroom.
Judge Lands commenced reading his
decision at 10 o'clock and consumed APP
| proXimately one hour before he an
nounced the penalty.
Summary of Decision.
Judge Lands, in his decision, said it
was proven in the trial the defendant,
| q CORPORATION of Indians, operates an oil
| refinery at Whiting, Ind, that the Chi
cago q Alton Railway company, Il cor
| poration of Illinois, operates line of
railway from Chicago to East st. Louis,
| ILL.,, and that the Chicago Terminal
| Transfer railway operates Il switching
road from Whiting across the state line
| into Illinois, ntersecting the Alton road
|
distance from Chicago and that there
are three companies operating terminl
roads from East st. Louis, ILL.,, across
the Mississippi river to st. Louis, Mo.
Charges of Relating.
| Prior to the occurrence upon which the
prosecution was based, the Chicago &
Alton company had filed with the inter-
| state commerce commission showing the
dates for the transportation of oil in car
| lots from Whiting to East st. Louis to
be Is cents per hundred pounds and the
| rate for like transportation from Chap
pell to St. Louis to be 1917 cents per
| hundred pounds. The court says it ap-
peared at the hearing that the defendant
shipped it's goods from Whiting to East
! st. Louis for cents and ~ cents to
| st. Louis. The dealings of the Standard
| Oil company were exclusively with the
| Chicago & Alton, which rendered all
| bills for the through service. The de-
Tense argued that the Elkins law au-
| thorized the prosecution for but one of
Tense, and maintained that there could
be conviction on only one count.
Each Offense Punishable.
The court held that the law is violated
every time any property is so transport
| ed, as the legal rate was established by
the railway company on car lot basis.
| The unlawful 6-cent rate was granted
and accepted on that basis. AS to the
defendants claim that the representa-
| tons by the Alton rate had misled it
into the sincere belief that the Alton
| 6-cent rate had been filed with the in
| terState commerce commission, the court
| held that as the law required the car
rier TO keep the schedule at its freight
office for public inspection. it was the
| defendants duty to ascertain at the
railroads Office whether the rate was so
| u ~, Al. L
! termine whether testimony exhibited the
truth of the transaction. The jury hav-
ing found q verdict of guilty, it became
| the duty of the court to fix the pun
! iShment.
Discusses Trusts Protest.
The court then discussed the evidence
offered by the defendant to the effect
that during the period covered by the
Indictment, the Chicago Il Eastern Hi
nois railroad Published an open rate of
Ga cents from Whiting to East st.
Louis. The court held that this fact
should be considered in mitigation. if
| true, although inadmiSSible before the
| jury as to guilt or innocence and the
court after the verdict had been given
directed the production of all schedules
| by that railroad. From these, it APP
peared that the Eastern Illinois, in con-
nection with other railway companies,
issued and filed with the commerce COM
mission class tariff and fixed the rate
at IS cents from Chicago to East ST.
| Louis. On October 8, 1895, the Eastern
| Illinois company filed with the commits
sion its commodity tariff, fixing a rate
of ga cents on oil from Dalton. Ill.,. to
| East st. Louis and providing that out
of this rate switching charge of not to
exceed So per car would be absorbed on
| shipments from Whiting. Ind.
Rate on Oil Was Is Cents
On July l. 1908, sixty days prior to
| the beginning of the period covered by
the indictment IN this case. the Eastern
! Illinois issued its joint tariff No. 17.679.
| This general class tariff provided that
| between Chicago suburban stations, in
| Guiding Whiting, Ind, and East ST.
| Louis, H., the current rates in effect
! from Chicago. H.. should apply, except
| on coal, coke grain and grain products.
! lumber and articles taking the same
| rates or arbitrarios higher, livestock and.
| hay Oil was not included in the COM
| nOJltipS thus nxapn+n1 from, tbnca al,