The Idaho scimitar. [volume] (Boise, Idaho) 1907-1908, 1908-08-29
A Rehearing Asked.

appeals at Chicago for a rehearing Of the case
against the Standard Oil company, in which Judge
Lands was reversed, Attorney General Bonaparte
asked:
Is this court to be understood as announcing the
rule that in it does not agree with the trial
judge to the amount of punishment which should
have been imposed the sentence will be reversed on
the ground that it was an abuse of judicial dis
cretion
General Bonaparte asserted that defendants were
every day fined more than the value of all their pos
sessions, and enquired-
Is the principle different because the amount in
volved is measured by hundreds of dollars in one
and by millions in the other?
A couple Of hard nuts for the court to crack. If
it answers in the affirmative in each instance, it will
seriously impair the value of courts to tgants,
peciay to litigants against the representatives of
the great wealth that large fines
Again says Mr.. Bonaparte:
MAY a shipper successfully plead ignorance of
the lawful rate when that ignorance is the result of
his own negligence or Of his failure to avail himself
of the sources of knowledge at his commando"
Mr. Bonaparte also pertinently enqured
MAY a concern which through corporate organ-
zation and railroad favortsm has established
gigantic monopoly in a territory with population of
millions and concentrated business many thousand
times large that carried on by the ordinary
citizens, plead in mitigation of punishment when call
ed to for its violations of the law that the
number of offenses which it has committed and for
IL
ton to the magnitude OF its business?
To his own questions, General Bonaparte made
answer:
To permit such defense is to make of the law
will O the wsp of legislation, phantom sta
tute, destitute of strength substance.
These selected fragments from the petition of the
government will lead the public to suspect that the
court of appeals has established dangerous pre-
cedent, that it went far out of its way to save
Inv he Of
and that President Roosevelt had at least some
for his arraignment of the court
In concluding his petition, the attorney general
contended-
'"That the opinion of this court is based upon
misconcepton of the record with reference to the
rulings of the trial judge as to the admission of
evidence tending to show want of knowledge, and
with reference to his construction of the statute
on that subject and the theory on which the
was tried
That the Interpretation of the statute by this
court, imposing duty the shipper and permit
ting defense of ignorance to be made without re-
gard to the negligence of the shipper, is contrary
the language of the statute and to its purpose and
seriously 1mpalrS the efficiency of the act
That the criticism of the trial judge for abuse of
discretion rests upon a wrong assumption of what
the trial judge actually did and assumes that he
attempted to try and punish the Standard Oil COM
pany Of New Jersey.
That the ruling stated in the opinion to the eff
feet that fine is excessive when it exceeds in
amount the ability of the defendant to pay is an
innovation in criminal law.
THAT in short, the opinion as it stands erron-
eousy states material portions of the record does
injustice to the trial judge leaves doubtful in
new trial the rule of law to be applied, both as to
knowledge on the part of the shipper, and as to
the number of offenses; appears to be in conflict
with the language of the supreme court and with
the previous language of the presiding Judge of
this court, and with the great weight of legal auth
GRITTY; and, if permitted to remain unmodifed will
tend to encourage disobedience to law to impede
the enforcement of sautary statutes and largely to