Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1910-08-24
RESUMES 3.CfNT
 RATE SEPT. 1 Declares 2 1-2 Cent Rate in Arkansas is Not Com
 pensatory.
IT MEANS MORE SUITS
State Will Resist Resumption 0f Old Rate and Fight the Case
 To Finish.

Little Rock, Ark, Aug. Zo.-l noluds s. Buzbee, general attorney for the Rock Island lines in Arkansas, yes- terday served notice on counsel TOT the state in the general rate Htga- ton that has been under way for the past two years that on September l the Rock Island will resume the 3- cent passenger rate, thus withdraw ing the 2 1-2 cent rate which has been effective on that line since June, 1909.
 Following this announcement conference was had among attorneys interested on both sides. of the liti- gation, but unless something not now contemplated intervenes the resump- tion of the old rate will take place.
 This means that the suits against the Rock Island, instituted by the State two years ago to prevent the abrogation of the .2-cent rate under the Ross act, will be revived by the state, and litigation will again be ac- tive as between the state and the Rock Island, with fight to the fin ish, just as is now being carried on against the Iron Mountain and the Cotton Belt railroads in Arkansas.
 "The natural result of the attempt to resume the Scent rate,' said Hon. w. F. Kirby, former attorney general and assistant special counsel fNr the state in the railroad litigation, twill be for the state to revive the suits which were temporarily suspended in June of last year and fight the matter 1 on it's merits
 May Mean Much Litigation. ! While there has been no notice served by representatives of the Frisco and Kansas City Southern the other trunk lines affected by the con- promise rate put into effect following the first clash in the courts, the re. opening of this phase of the case by the Rock Island may lead to similar action on the part of the other lines, and thus force the issued to a finish with all the trunk line railroads ip the state
 Already the state is engaged in a legal battle with the Iron Mountain and the Cotton Belt, active litigatic to be resumed September 26, after a hripf ho1 f0 Inv, counsel for both parties. The final settlement of the rate question with these two lines alone, however, will probably require the remainder of the present year. It has already been under way year and 9 half.
 Starts With Ross Act.
 The direct cause of the litigation was the enactment of law in 1907, known as the Ross act, Hon. J. c. Ross of Malvern being the author, re- quiring the railroads of the state to transport passengers for a compen- sation of cents per mile.
 Shortly after this law became ef- fective, the Iron Mountain resisted it's application on the ground that the rate was unremunerative, and would result in the confiscation of it's prop erty. Application for a temporary restraining order was made in the 1 federal court at St. Paul, in August 1908, to prevent the application of the new rate. The injunction was grant ed, and this success on the part of the Iron Mountain inclined the other trunk lines to question the applica- tion of the Ross act, so they joined in the issue against the state, and all were granted temporary restraining orders against the State Railroad Commission and officers of the State legal department.