Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1908-10-29
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Judge Wood of the Mississippi Chan
Gerry Court has declared uncorstitutiCe al
the recent act of the Legislature which
penalties railroads which remove causes
from the State to the federal courts. The
question came up in the case of the State
against the Louisville and Nashville road.
Officers of the anthracite railroads have
notified sales agents in eastern cities that
indications now favor a serious shortage
in the domestic sizes of coal the coming
winter as the total output of the mines
up to Sept. l was 100000 tons less than
at the same period last year. The mines
will be operated at full capacity from
this on.
Asserting that its passenger business
now results in a loss of $3,600000 a year
in consequence of the twO-cent rate law,
the Philadelphia and Reading railroad
has begun suit to overthrow the Penn
sylvania two-cent rate law. The recent
decision of the Supreme Court of the
State in the case brought by the Penn
sylvania railroad against the same law
was against the law, but only in so far as
that railroad was concerned.
The Missouri, Kansas & Texas and
fifty-fve other Western and Southwest
ern railroads filed suit in the United
States Circuit Court at st. Paul, asking
that the Interstate Commerce Commission
be temporarily restrained from enforcing
an order lowering the rates on cattle ship
ments from Texas, New Mexico, Okla
homa and Kansas to Chicago, st. Louis
Kansas City, Omaha, St. Joseph aid New
Orleans.
The Federal Circuit Court at Philadel-
phia permitted the government to appeal
from it's decision against the validity of
the commodity clause of the rate bill,
which prohibited the coal railroads from
owning or operating coal mines or other
commodities, except lumber, carried as
freight. The appeal to the Supreme Court
is based upon ten alleged errors. 1t is de-
MED that the clause is not valid exer-
else of the powers of Congress and also
that the measure would deprive the rail
roads of their property without due pro-
cess of law. 1t is also contended that
the Circuit Court erred in declaring the
law discriminative and prohibitive rather
than regulative. Counsel for both sides
will ask the Supreme Court to give this
case precedence over all others on ac-
count of its great importance Judge
Burlington on the same day filed his dis
senting opinion on the original case, hold
ing the law to be constitutional.
The governments case against the coal
railroads of the East, excepting the Penn
sylvania, Delaware and Hudson, and the
Ontario and Western, was resumed be-
fore Examiner Guilbert at New York, ard
J. S. Harris, former president and now a
director of the Reading road, was the
principal witness When asked if the coal
roads had ever combined to fix prices, he
replied that he had never heard of such
thing His memory failed him on nearly
all of the questions implying anything to
the contrary Once he admitted that
there had been an agreement to limit the
output, but said it was never lived UP to.
President Finley of the Southern rail-
way, in his annual report, draws atten-
ton to one quite significant effect of the
industrial depression upon labor. He has
discovered that his employees are more at
tentive and willing because they know
that some one is waiting and longing for
their jobs On this account he figures
that so much more and better work has
been done that the operating expenses
have been greatly reduced. In the face
of a decrease of S692,015 in gross earn
ings for the month of March there was
shown a decrease of nearly million dol
lars in operating expenses as compared
with the same month of last year.
Conferences between President Shaugh-
messy of the Canadian Pacific and the
receivers of the Chicago Great Western
railroad have convinced many observers
hat the Canadian Pacific is to take over
ne Great Western, and that a traffic ALI |
ance has already been formed.
Attorneys for railroads which are |
threatened with loss of millions of dol |
lars in revenues as a result of the fam |
GUS Missouri river rate case decision, are |
confident that a rehearing of the case
will be granted by the interstate COM
merce commission. A conference of the |
attorneys was held in Chicago, at which |
the preparation of petition to the COM
mission for a rehearing was begun.