The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1911-10-13
SUPREME ! / COURT
JUSTICE REsUMEs WORK WITH
~ ACTIONS AWAITING
DECISION.
MINNESOTA RATECASfUP
Committee Of Governors Will ~ near
in Behalf Of the state-Impor-
tant Antitrust Cases .
Be Heard.

Be Heard.
Washington, D. G. - When the Sa-
creme Court convene, Monday after
its summer vacation it was confronted
by an exceptionally heavy docket. con-
sisting of 781 actions, as compared
with 696 year ago. Transportation
rates will be the principal questions
that the court will have to decide, and
although the cases are by no means
so important as the Standard Oil and
tobacco trust suits, the decisions are
eagerly awaited by the railroad inter.
ests throughout the country.
Perhaps the most important of these
suits is the Minnesota rate case, in
which Judge Sanborn of the United
States circuit court held that the state
had no right to regulate rates within
its borders. This decision was based
on the theory that interstate COM
merce might be affected by such ac-
ton. During the recent conference Of
governors at Spring Lake, N. J., the
attention of the entire country was
called to the matter by the speech Of
Governor Aldrich of Nebraska, who at
tackled Judge Sanborn's decision and
said that the federal courts were tres
passing on the rights of the states. A
committee headed by Governor Har-
mon of Ohio was appointed to appear
in the supreme court on behalf of the
state.
important Antitrust Cases.
Next cine several antitrust cases
whose hearing has been held up pend
Ing the tobacco and Standard Oil de
cisions. These actions all involve the
Interpretation of the Sherman law,
and the decisions rendered are en-
pected to mark definitely the bounds
Of the trust decisions of last spring.
The clerk of the court has announced
that this litigation has been advanced
on the court docket. Among these
cases are included the hard coal
case" the cotton corner case,' the
"St. Louis bridge case" and the ''tur-
pentine case"
The hard coal case" constitutes an
attack by the government on the prin-
cipal anthracite coal carrying rail
roads and coal mine owning compan-
les in Pennsylvania. It is alleged that
since 1896 these companies and rail-
roads have been parties to conspir-
acy and combination to end competi-
ton among themselves in the trans
portatiOn and sale of anthracite coal,
and to prevent the sale OF an independ.
ent output in competition to their own.
In the st. Louis bridge case the
government contends that the agree
ments whereby the Terminal Railroad
association of ST. Louis acquired the
ownership. control and operation OF
the Fades bridge and. the merchants
bridge across the Mississippi violate
the Sherman antitrust law. The
United States circuit court for east
ern Missouri dismissed the bill.
Cotton Corner Cases.
Nothing like the cotton corner case
has ever before come before the SUI
preme Court. The government will
ask the Supreme Court to overrule the
action of the United States circuit
court for southern New York in strik-
ing out an indictment against James
A. Patten, Eugene G. Scales, Frank B.
Hayne and William P. Brown. Three
counts charged that these men con.
spired to monopolize the Interstate
trade and commerce in available cot.
ton by acquiring enough of that com.
modify ON the New York cotton ex.
change to give the alleged conspira.
tors power to fix arbitrary and exces
sive prices.
The decision of the interstate com
merce commission will claim the at
tention of the court in the so.called
grain elevator cases" There is a
long series of these cases and it is
expected the highest tribunal in the
country will decide the question as tc
whether the interstate commerce com
mission possesses the power to prohib
it railroads from paying to operators
of elevators compensation for "ele
waiting grain in transit"
The orders of the Interstate com
merce commission principally effect
Mississippi river cities, and the boards
of trade of these cities have Joined
with the railroads terminating Their.
to test the validity of the commission
action. The United States circuit
court for western Missouri decided
that the commission is without thu
power It sought to exercise, and tn,
matter comes. before the Suprem,
Court on an appeal from this decision
4 Austin Death List SIS.
Austin, Penn. The list of dea,
in the Bayliss dam disaster, to date
is So. sssssaa
/ ii FIREMAN l9 KILLED IN FIRE.