The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-02-12
COMMERCE COURT
RIVALS SUPREME
Except in Very Rare Cases
Can Its Decisions Be
Appealed.

great power and given place OF al
most limitless authority over the in
dustrai and economic destiny OF the
nation. the new Court Of Commerce
formally Opened for business Feb
ruary |. II is popularity called the
supreme court Of railroads. IL Is a
higher court than the Interstate Com
mcrce commission. and has appellant
jurisdiction over decisions OF the COM
mission. Except In rare cases there
will BIO no appeal 10 the United States
supreme court for its decisions.
There are vast interests at stake be-
fore this new tribunal, which was
created by the present congress at its
second session. II marks "A new and
significant step In advancing the pow
or OF the Federal government over the
railroads Of the nation. II was created
because President Taft saw that the
Interstate Commerce commission
could not much longer maintain the
Joint role Of prosecutor and judge.
The commission Is to be the militant,
aggressive and evcrwatchful guar
dian OF the peoples interest: the COM
mcrcc court Is to be the arbiter be-
tween the railroads and the shippers.
Jurisdiction Of Court.
The new court will have jurisdic-
ton over question arising under the
Interstate commerce law on appeal
from the decisions of the Interstate
Commerce commission. There are
some exceptions to this rule, however.
The law does not give the commerce
court Jurisdiction In cases involving
the collection OF penalties. the inflic-
ton Of criminal punishment, or the en-
forcement Of any order Of the com
mission for the payment of money; all
appeals In these cases go over its
head, and are to be taken directly TO
the United States supreme court.
Vital and far.reaching questions
which have hitherto been left to "a
the United States circuit and district
courts of the country, will now be TO-
cussed In the commerce court. Lack
Of uniformity In the Interpretation of
the laws has confused the minds OF
business men and clogged the dockets
with u bewildcring maze OF decisions
many of which are contradictory.
When these cases were appealed to
the United States supreme court.
years often passed before they were
reached ON the docket. and the result
was that both the railroads and the
shippers were kept In a state Of un.
certainty and suspense that was de.
moralizing.
The initial calendar Of the new
court will contain % cases. involving
validity Of orders Of the Interstate
Commerce commission. All cases now
pending in the various federal courts
relating To railroads, over which the
commerce court Is given jurisdiction,
have been automatically transferred to
It's docket.
The PERSONAL Of the new court Is
interesting. President Taft selected
men OF the highest type for the tri-
bunal. men of distinguished legal
attainsncnts. He drew upon the In
tcrstatc Commerce commission In his
first selection. and made its chairman.
Martin A. Knapp. chief justice of the
new court. Mr.. Knapps confirmation
was at first opposed In the senate be-
cause he was believed to have pre-rail.
road tendencies. That he is admira.
bly, equipped for the chief justiceship
cannot be denied.
Schooling Of Knapp.
Martin A. Knapp received his early
schooling at Homer, n. Y, but was
compelled to strike out for himself at
IL years Of age and earn his own liv-
ing. After several years Of country
school teaching at meager salary,
young Knapp passed the bar eXamina-
ton and became u law clerk at Syr-
acuse. n. Y. He specialized in bust
ness and industrial law and his ad-
vancement was rapid. President Har-
rison appointed him to the Interstate
was elected by his associates as chair
man In 1898, aud held that position I'M
til his present appointment.
Judge William II. Hunt, another
member of the court was born in
New Orleans In 1857. He is Yale
man. and has had varied experience in
the public service. ranging from a
collectorship of customs in Montana
and Idaho in 1881, to the governor
ship of Porto Rico in 1901. He was at
first nominated as an associate JUS
tice Of the court of customs appeals.
btu resigned that position to accept
his present one. For three years
Judge Hunt was governor Of Porto
Rico. and was instrumental in formu.
lating national policy for the island.
He resigned the governorship to be-
come United States district Judge for
the district of Montana In 1904.
Another forcefu; personality on the
court of commerce bench is Julian w.
Mack. OF Chicago. He was born in
San Francisco in 1866. and graduated
from the Harvard law school In 1887.
lie was admitted to the bar in Illinois
and practiced law from 1890 TO 1903.
when he WAS appointed civil service
commissioner for the city Of Chicago.
In 1901 he was elected judge of the
Chicago juvenile court. and in this
capacity achieved n national fame on
~ second to- that OF Judge Lindsey of
Denver.
John r.. Garland. is a native of New
York but his legal reputation has been
s,. naI