Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1912-04-02
BRIEF FILED
!. BY OVERyORS \
APPLIES TO RATES /
''Righl. II States 10 Regulate
Railroads Within Own
. Dsfdef Argued
Three 6ovelDors Make Up
the Committee to File
bliei With Court
Blief Deellle, Every State.
Has / Right 10 Regulate
Every Business
BY Associated Press.

Of a sovereign state to regulate bust
ness, including. railroads, within It's
borders was the burden Of a brief
which Governors Harmon Of Ohio,
Hadley Of Missouri. and Aldrich- od
Nebraska were permitted to file in
the supreme court as friends OF the
court.
The plea OF the governors, all OF
whom have been active in railroad
legislation and litigation was in the
appeal from United States Circuit
Judge Walter Sanborn's decision in
the Minnesota Railroad rate case in
volving the right OF state to reg'llate
commerce wdtain the borders.
The three governors were empower
ed to act as q committee on state
riehts at Hae conference M governors
at Spring Lake, N. 7. last September,
and were then authorized to seek to
intervene. in the Minnesota rate case.
No conhiet Between Authorities
The controversy In the courts &C.
cording 70 the brief which was drafted
by Governor Harmon and which was
Immediately iled with the clerk of
;taie court. involved no cCu4ict be-
tween the states and rthe. .fedegsA IA.
thordty but the more extraordanary
question of whether railroad RIGHTS
supercede and dominate state rights.
The decision Of Judge sanborn, the
brief contends, took the power OF
states to regulate railroads from the
states and left the railroads ffee to
ctarge whatever rates they please In
their trafic within the states. He
took the stand that II state cannot
regulate the milregulate the railroads
Within it's borders tn r there was no
power to. regulate them at all.
Was Discussed by Governors,
In conclusion the governors dis
cussed the board questions OF state
and interstate commerce and said:
I'm this, as in all other cases where
inconvenience arises from the divi-
sion Of powers between state and ma
tion, the only safe and sure reliance
is in the inta2ligen'; e, resourcefulness,
patience and common interest Of the
American people. They will adjust
their business to conditions which
result from the form Of government
they have themselves adopted and
require taeir agents in each branch OF
it is co-operated harmoniously and
heartily. ~
"Only the short sighted, and they
are relatively few, will believe that
commerce among the states can gain
any real or lasting vantage at the
expense Of local commerce, or that
local commerce can thrive long. II at
aN. from interference wttn general
commerce, even though. by the In.
dfrectness 81 its effect, such interfer-
ence may escape the condemnation OF
the law.
The fourteenth Amendment pro-
tects the rights Of carriers from in
vasion under the guise Of regulation
by either state or nation. 1t is not
always easy to find the line which
separates the domain Of public au-
thority from that Of private right.
But this is not 30 hard as it would be
to trace the indirect effects Of regaha-
ton by the states and by congress
back and forth across the boundary
Of their respective Jurisdictions. The
boundary NseR is plainly marked. We
who have to do with administering
the. judicial power have in especial
charge the covenant of the Union and
our plain duty is to see that this
boundary is respected, leaving further
responsibility to the people Of the
country and the agencies they have
created for the regulation Of COM
merce, state and interstate" =,
Grew Out Of Minnesota Rates
The appealed case grew out OF
that Of Shepard versus Simpson in
which the MnnesotG railroad rate
regulations, particularly the two cent
q mile passenger rate law, were at-
tacked g connscatery. Judge Warter
sanbosn who heard the case in the
federal court held that exercise Of the
rieht Of states to regulate railroad
rates my be enjoined by the courts
because Of the actual or probable es.
feet which Il may be shown to have
no interstate commerce through the
oper,tion on those engaged therein
Of conditions of competition, location
Of commercial centers and railroad
lines and of what were called "eG1i-
-- Continued On page 5.) Ii