The daily sentinel., 1910-10-07
UNITED STATES COURT WILL
CONVENE NEXT MONDAY
Continued from page ~

a full bench last term, many import
ant cases were set for argument, out
of their turn, for Tuesday. The con-
tinuing vacancies may cause the fur
! ther postponement of several OF them.
The death Of Solicitor General Bow
ers may also result in the postpone
ment of a number OF government
cases.
The first big case set for argument
| is the dispute between the state OF
West Virginia and the commonwealth
of Virginia as to the amount of money
the former owes the latter by reason
/ of the formation of separate govern
ments. Charles L. Littlefield. special
master of the court, last spring re-
ported that the amount varied from
about 100000 to about $9,OOO.-
600 according to the basis that might
be accepted for settlement Some
of the most prominent lawyers in the
country will appear before the court
1 to argue on exceptions to the report,
which will be preparatory to final
judgment in the case.
Immediately following the Virginia
case. the court will hear the famous
peonage cases from Florida. Only
the favorable action of the supreme
court, ii is said, can now save several
men from going to the federal peni-
tentiary for alleged violations of the
laws against compulsory service. w.
S. Harlan, general manager of the
Jackson Lumber company, with big
mills near Lockhart, Ala, has been
sentenced to serve eighteen months
at hard labor in the federal peniten-
tiary at Atlanta, Ga, and to pay a
| of ~ nnn Har.
logging superintendent, to fifteen
months and a fine of $1,000; c. C.
Hilton and S. Il. Huggins, employees,
to thirteen months and a fine of 81 =
900, all for having conspired to COM
nit the offense known as peonage.
The accused are seeking to be re-
leased on writs of habeas corpus, the
claim being that the sentence to hard
labor was illegal, that the trial court
had no Jurisdiction and taht the
grand jury was not constituted ac-
cording to law.
Scarcely of less interest i'm the labor
| world will be the cases involving the
tonstitutionality OF the Employers
Liability law OF 1908. This law was
passed by congress to take the place
of the act nullified by the supreme
court because it applied to intra-state
commerce as well as to interstate.
The present law has been attacked
along the same lines.
OF even greater interest is the case
involving the contempt proceedings
against the officials of the American
Federation of Labor; Samuel Comp
ers. president of the federation is
under sentence to serve twelve
months in jail; John Mitchell, form
erly president of the United Mine
Workers, nine month; and Frank
. Morrison, secretary of the federation,
six months, all for alleged contempt
of the supreme court of the District
of Columbia in that they disregarded
| the injunction to cease interfering
| with the business of the Bucks Stove
& Range company of ST. Louis which
/ had brought suit against them to pre-
vent them from boycotting it. All
the points in the controversy-a to
| be laid before the court for final
decision.
The Missouri two-cent passenger
rate law and the maximum freight
rate law. of that state have been set
for argument after the contempt
cases. The constitutionalality of
these laws is attacked Owing to the
I veto by Governor Hughes of the New
I 1orR tWo-cent fare Dill, MS attltuue
| as a member OF the court toward the
; Missouri cases will be watched with
interest.
The court was to have given n sec
ond hearing at the beginning of the
term to the Baltimore & Ohio South
| western Railroad cases, involving the
question as to what should be the unit
for the assessment of penalties for
violations of the weight hOur
law, governing the shipment Of live
stock. Last year the court stood