The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-29

l tempt to destroy the status fixed by 1 court of competent jurisdiction and oe- | prived the party of vested rights thete- 1 under and was an attempt by the leglsla- ture to strike down the power or lhs 1 courts, in cases where they have Jurlsdlc-
 ton to determine the rights of parties l ard the public in a matter Of thls klho' l and was constitutional.
 1 TO- That the necessary and natural eI- 1 feet of the statute forbiddins pars ana | lenees at stations to be used against IT, l tending passengers, unless the carrier 1 sells tickets at the prescribed rales' was 1 to prevent the carrier from taking proper trecaution for the protection of life and l iilnb at stations on the arrival and de- l rirture of trains, and was not proper exercise of the police power since to l enforce a duty to a private individual, l the non performance of which did not involve peril 10 the public, the public safety was sacrificed and the object sought by the statute could have been etter accomplished by penalty upon the refusal to keep or sell the tickets.
 Suspension of Rates. H. The court states at great length tho reasons which controlled the court as to the putting in of a suspension of rates when they are contested. It holds that # is the duty of the court to protect l doubtful cases, and where there is q fair probability under the evidence that re- duced tariffs will not give the carrier idequate compensation, the court ought to wait until full proof is had and in ths l.cantime enjoin the enforcement of the rat tes especially when by exactiny bonds fer the indemnity of passengers and ship rers it can prescribe their rights wholly and SD shape the proceedings that no mat t,f what the final result may be, justice will be done each of the parties If the rates are put in effect the percentage Of less will be concentrated on the ear car iicrs whereas the amount obtained from such custom will be shared by a greater lumber.
 12 That the court alludes to the volum- inous evidence as to the effect of the rates, which according to the burden or Troof on preliminary hearing, complain arts contend would not produce more than 1 per cent income at the highest fo- any of the carriers, and in most in- stances result in heavy losses, and holds u at giving due weight to the commis- s'cn's side of the matter that same items may have been charged to interstate commerce which belong to domestic con- nlerce and that valuations are too high, that the increase in calculation of pusi- ness which might thereby be made, would not probably produce anything like adequate compensation.
 Two Years Business.
 It takes up the business done in two prior years which were the most favor able in the history of these carriers, and the comparisons of the effect of previous rates if put in force in those years. and concludes under existing condition it is not to be expected that future business will be as favorable or the volume of business as large in the immediate fu- ture as in the past. It holds in view or these things and the uncertainty pertain ing to them and the fact that railroads are cutting down all possible expenditures and discharging hundreds of faithful em- ployes that it would not be either for the interests of the carriers or the pubic or a proper exercise of discretion to spec ulate with the property of a complainant and put the reduced rates in force, when passengers and shippers can be protected by the bonds exacted of the carriers.
 In Conclusion.
 The concluding portion of the opinion is devoted to showing that states rights could not be involved much less assailed, by stopping the execution of the statutes in this class of cases. The opinion states that life would be intolerable in any government claiming to be at all free wherein the citizen had no redress against wrongs done by officials In the name of the law" Reference is made to the English government, where the per son of the monarch is inviolable and held to be above the process of the law. and where it is held the King can do no wrong the fiction being that the persons who advise him are the real wrong-doers, who can be impeached and punished, and that the same principle is applied when officials of a state attempt to act under an unconstitutional statute. that it is not the wrong of a state, but the mree wrong or trespass of the individual. That this principle has always been applied, and to the application of it no one can object to in a free country. The constitution itself gives the federal court the right to pass upon such questions, and the real objection to it's exercise is, in effect, the objection to the principles of the union. That it is not to the interest of the citi- zen that focal affairs" should be gov erned otherwise than under the safe guards the law prescribes To conduct them in any other way is to appeal to the higher law The state having surren- dered the power and jurisdiction to the United States, it's exercise by the court cannot be an invasion of the rights Of the state.
 Synopsis of Opinion.
 In March, 1907, 12 of the railroad com panies in this state filed their bills in the United States court at Montgomery to enjoin the statute which fixed 21s cents per mile as the maximum passenger rate and nrovjded for the rates on 110 com