Los Angeles herald., 1908-09-01
FEDERAL COURT
RULES AGAINST
TELEPHONE co.
CITY OF POMONA DEFEATS
CORPORATION
RIGHT TO STREETS SETTLED BY
DECISION
Holds That Municipalities May De-
nand Compensation for Use of
Their Highways by Public
Service Concerns

Judge Olin Wellborn Of the United
States circuit court, sitting for Judge
Ross. yesterday decided the case OF
the Sunset Telephone company VS.. the
city of Pomona in favor of the latter
city, thereby determining (unless over
ruled by the United States supreme
court) as the counsel for Pomona
maintains:
First-Legally, cities have the right
to control their streets and to compel
all telephone corporations to obtain
O. franchise from the legal authorities
thereof.
Second-Financially the right OF
every city to demand compensation
and pay for the use of it's streets from
all telephone companies. and incident
ally from all other quasi-public COM
panies.
Third--Politically. the doctrine of
high finance is not founded on. law.
Means New Policy
Others whose attention was called to
the decision yesterday said that 1t
meant a new policy west of the Mis-
sissippi river, as between the munich
palities and the public service corpo-
rations
The history of the case sxtends
mainly over a period of three years.
Pomona officials tore up mile and
half of poles and wires three years
agov in an effort to force the Sunset
company either to get a franchise or
to sue the officials in order to test the
question in court.
Then City Attorney Robert G..
Loucks asked the company to bring
suit and finally induced the local au-
thorities to give the company sixty
days, and later thirty days longer, to
establish franchise claims in court.
Loucks Levels Poles
The company demurred, hence
Loucks had himself deputized as as
sistant street commissioner and with
gang Of men, and handling pliers
himself, cut the wires and poles. the
work extending over a period of two
weeks.
The press of the state took up the
controversy between a comparatively
small city and big corporation, and
finally the Sunset company was forced
to bring suit for an injunction and
damages.
Pomona councilmen had adopted the
necessary resolutions of warning,
hence the questions resolved them
selves squarely on the company's right
TO use the streets without a franchise.
The Sunset company caused photo
sgraphs to be taken of the wreck1ne
crew and tried by ridicule to minimize
the Importance of the litigation pend
ing, but 1t failed to stop the Pomona
officials, headed by their city attorney
The wreckers were careful to cut only
local telephones working from the out
side of the city inward, and putting
about eighty telephones out of commits
sion there.
Sunset Company Sues
The Sunset people finally asked for a
writ of injunction and damages.
The corporations points In brief
were:
That the federal telegraph act of 1866
gave the company right to construct
telephone and telegraph lines for inter-
state business.
Under District Judge Beatty's find
ings in the City of Eureka case the
Sunset company was right in its course.
Judge Wellborn overrules both of
these contentious He holds that in
l u. S., page 761, in the case of Rich
mond vs. Southern Bell company, the
federal act of 1866 did not apply.
He overruled Judge Beatty, who sat
from Idaho in place of Judge Morrow,
in the Eureka case:
Other Cities Interested
The Importance of these issues may
be gauged when 1t is stated that litiga-
ton is now in progress between the
Sunset company and Santa Ana, Pasa-
dena, San Jose, Oakland, San Fran
cisco, Alameda and other cities.
One of the cases cited by the opinion
Is that of the Western Union Telegraph
company VS.. st. Louis, Mo-, in which
similar issues were decided adversely
to the company. In this case Supreme
Judge Brewer wrote the opinion, hold
ing that the people had the same prop
erty interest in the streets that they
had in the lands, and they could not
be sacrificed without compensation.
Complainant as a telephone company
is not within the act of congress men
toned, nor is 1t entitled because Of it's
telegraph business--if it does such
business at Pomona-to claim benefits
of said act as to poles and wires used
in the telephone business"
Must Pay for Use
"Said act of congress does not grant
to telegraph companies the right to
enter upon private property without
consent or owners or the right OF
eminent domain or to occupy with
poles, wires and other fixtures the
streets of the city without the latter's
consent"
An extract from the Western Union
st. Louis case is quoted as follows:
mo one would suppose that
franchise from the federal govern
ment to corporation to construct
interstate roads of lines of travel,
transportation or communication
would authorize it TO enter on pri-
vate property of individuals and
appropriate it without compensa-
tion.
"The principle is the same when
under a grant of franchise from
the national government corpo-
ration assumes to enter on property
of a public nature belonging to a
state"
Some Of the oldest corporation law