The Carlisle independent., 1910-01-13
COMMERCE LAW
 AND TIE TRUSTS
 TREATED BY TAFT
PRESIDENT HANDLES TWO lM- PoRTANT TOPICS IN HIS sPE-
 GAL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
WANTS NEW COURT CREATED

Under the Interstate Law-Chief
 Executive Also Urges Federal ln-
 corporation Statute to Suppress
 Abuses and Not to Destroy Legiti-
 mate Combinations of Capital. Washington Jan. Needed legislation concerning the interstate commerce law and the control of trusts formed the sub ject of President Taft's special message to congress. The president calls atten- ton to the partial failure of the present the frequent appeals from it's decisions to federal courts and the Slowness of the supreme court in deciding these cases. The message says:
 Tt would not be proper to attempt to
 deprive any corporation of the right to
 the review by a court of any order or de- cree which, if undisturbed, would rob it
 of a reasonable return upon its invest
 ment or would subject it to burdens which would unjustly discriminate against it and in favor of other carriers similarly situated. What is. however, of supreme importance is that the decision
 of such questions shall be as speedy as init, and that uniformity of decision be secured so as to bring about effec-
 tive, systematic and scientific enforce ment of the comerce law, rather than conflicting decisions and uncertainty-of
 final result
 Recommends "Court of Commerce" For this purpose I recommend the es-
 tablishment of court of the United States composed of five judges desig- mated for such purpose from among the circuit judges of the United States. to
 be known as the United States court of commerce. which court shall be clothed with exclusive original jurisdic- tion over the following classes of cases:
 "CD All cases for the enforcement. oth- erwise than by ajudication and collec- ton, of forfeiture or penalty, or by in fhctioa Of criminal punishment, of any order of the interstate commerce com
 mission other than for the payment of money.
 -(2) All cases brought to enjoin, set
 aside. annul or suspend any order or requirement of the interstate commerce
 commission.
 "(3) All such cases as under section 3 of the act of February 19 1903, known
 as the .Eikins act are authorized to be
 Inaintaired in a circuit court of the Uni ted States.
 "(4) Ali such mandamus proceedings as
 under the provisions of section 20 or sec ton g of the interstate commerce law
 are authorized to be maintained in a cir cult court of the United States. Reasons precisely analogous to those which induced the congress to create the
 court of customs appeals by the -proyi- may be urged in support of tine creation of the commerce court.
 ''In order to provide a sufficient num- Der of judges to enable this court to be constituted it will be necessary to author ize the appointment of five additional
 circuit judges, who, for the purposes of those circuits where there is at the pres ent time the largest volume of business
 such the second. third, fourth. seventh and eighth circuits. The act should en- power the chief justice at any time when the business of the court of commerce
 does not require the services of all the judges to reassign the judges designated to that court to the circuits to which they respectively belong and it should also provide for payment to such judges sitting hp of commerce of such additional amount | as is necessary to bring their annual compensation up to sl0,000.
 Only Second to Supreme Court.
 '"The regular sessions of such court should be held at the capitol. but it should be empowered to hold sessions in different parts of the United States if found desirable; and it's orders and judg- ments should be made final, subject only | to review by the supreme court of the United States. with the provision that the operation of the decree appealed from | shall not be stayed unless the supreme court shall so order The commerce court should be empowered in its discretion to restrain or suspend the operation of an | order of the interstate commerce comnis- l sion under review pending the final hear | ing and determination of the proceeding, | but such restraining order should be made except upon notice and afetr hear ing, unless in cases where irreparable damage would otherwise ensue to the pe- | ttoner. judge of that court might | be empowered to allow a stay of the commissions order for a period of not more than SO days, but pending applica- l tion to the court of it's order or iniunc- | ton, then only where his order shall con- | tain specific finding based upon evil | dence submitted to the judge making the order and identified by reference thereto l that such irreparable damage would re- suit to the petitioner specifying the na- ! ture of the damage"
 Under the existing law the interstate | commerce commission itself initiates and l defends litigation in the courts for the ffF.n afr,% sr, ff4a f1afar 1f 1 ders and decrees, and for this purpose it | employs attorneys who. while subject to ! the control of the attorney general act | upon the initiative and under the instruc- tions of the commission. This blending | of administrative. legislative and judi cial functions tends. in my opinion. to | impair the efficiency of the commission ] by clothing it with partisan characteris- tics and robbing it of the impartial judi cial attitude it should occupy in pass ing upon questions submitted to it. In my opinion all litigation affecting the government should be under the direct control of the department of justice; and therefore recommend that all proceed ings affecting orders and decrees of the l interstate commerce cornnission be brought by or against the United States co nonine and be placed in charge of an assistant attorney general acting under l the direction of the attorney general"
 Would Permit Agreements.
 Coming to the subject of railroad pools
 and traffic agreements, the president
 "The Republican platform of 1908 ex- pressed the belief that the interstate
 commerce law should be further amend
 cd so as to give the railroads the right to make any public traffic agreements
 subject to the approval of the commis- sion but maintaining always the prn- ciple of competition between naturally competiag lines, and avoiding the com non control of such lines by any means whatsoever
 Tn view of the complete control over