The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-08
Another of President Taft's Pet Schemes Is
 Destroyed
ASSUMES POWER TT
 DOES NOT POSSESS
Unanimous Decision Voiced by Chief Justice White Says That Court Has No Power to Review
 Commissions Decisions

Washington. June 7.--Blow after blow was given the new commerce court to- day by the supreme court of the United States, which upheld the exclusive juris- diction of the interstate commerce com mission over the administration machin- cry of the federal rate laws.
 The principal decision was announced by Chief Justice White in the so-called Proctor X Gamble case He was sus- tained by the entire court. In substance. he held that the commerce court was not to substitute it's judgment for the inter- state commerce commission in the admin istration of the freight laws. The spe- cifc point ruled upon was that parties who failed to get relief before the in- terstate commerce commission have no right to go into the commerce court and have that court pass upon the facts to ascertain if they should have been grant, ed relief
 White Goes Far l In the course of his opinion Chief Jus tice White however, went further. Hs showed that the commerce court was not given new and strange powers. but succeeded to the powers of the circuit courts, in existence when the commerce. court was created, and that the com- merce court was limited In reviewing the commissions orders to questions of law. Tn cases yet To be passed upon it is con- tended that the commerce court went out of the domain of law and gave it's juds- ment on pure questions of fact. Chief Justice White stated the question for decision to be whether the authority of the commerce court was confined to enforcing and restraining. as the case might be. affirmative orders of the com mission or whether 1t had the power to exert it's own judgment by original in- depreciation of the administrative fea- lures of the act to regulate commerce. and upon that assumption 10 treat re- ! tvsal of th. ennlmission 10 grant relief as m anira.atlye order ana accordingly pass upon it's correctness
 Both fron, the words of the act creat- l ing the commerce court and from the 1 general scheme of rate regulation. the chief justice said it was to be seen that the commerce court had no such broad powers as il claimed.
 Act Was Not Destructive
 "It cannot be disputeu.e said Chief Justice White, that the act creating the commerce court was intended to l be but part of an existing system l for the regulation of interstate com merce and that the making of t a part of that system was not intended to destroy the existing machinery or method of regulation, but to cause it to | be more effective by providing a more i harmonious means for securing the iu- dicial enforcement of the act to regu- l late commerce"
 1 Chief Justice White decsSred that Congress had created the interstate commerce commission aS q quasi iu- dicial body to enforce the laws In or der that there might be unity of regu- | lation and that from 1887 to 1910 it 1 had not been even seriously asserted | that, a to subjects which in their na- ture were administrative power lay in the courts to exercise original iuris- diction, or to enforce their conceptions as to the meaning of the act by deal | ing directly with the subject irrespect- | i've of any prior affirmative action by | the commission.
 Courts Limited to Law 1 Originally he said. the courts felt | a duty to pass on both question of law and of fact, but by 1910 il had come 10 pass that in considering orders of | the commission the courts were limited to determining whether the orders of the commission violated the consttu- ton, conformed to statutory authority, | or whether power had been so arbi- l trarily exercised by the commission as virtually to transcend the authority conferred, although 1t might not tech nically be doing so. It was this Jur- isdiction, he declared. the commerce court had inherited.
 | TO adopt the view of the commerce court s to it's Jurisdiction. Chief Jus 1 tice White said, would be to overthrow the system of rate regulation adopted 1 by Congress.
 Senator Poindexter today introduced resolution to discharge the commit l tee on commerce from further consider alton of the bill 10 abolish the com merce court In order to bring the meas -~~~>~~~>--~-~~--~~>~>~--~->