Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1912-12-12
COURT HOLD RAJ
MERGER ILLEGAL
COMBINATION OF UNION PACIFIC
AND SOUTHERN PACIFIC
# LINES DISSOLVED.
SUIT INSTITUTED IN 1908
Decree to EnjoIn- Voting Of Stock o.
Payment Of Any Dividends
List Of the Defend
ants.
SUIT INSTITUTED IN 1908

Washington, Dec. g. 80 The supreme
court in an opinion announced by JUS.
tfce Day held that the Union Pacific.
railroad company by the acquisition
OF stocks in the Southern Pacific had
effected combination in violation Of
the Sherman antitrust law.
L Justice Day, reading the opinion,
stated that the court would enter a
decree to dissolve the combination OF
the Hartman lines and also an in.
junction to prevent the Union Pacific
from voting Southern Pacific stock.
Justice Day Reads Opinion.
Justice Day read the opinion. It
said, in part: "This court reach the
conclusion that the Union Pacific and
Southern Pacific systems, prior to the
stock purchases, were competitors en-.
gagged in interstate commerce, acting
independently as to large amount OF
carrying trade, and that since the &C.
QUESTION of the stock in question the
dominating power of the Union Pa.
cific has suppressed competition be.
tween the systems and has effected a
combination in restraint of the inter.
state commerce within the prohibit,
tons of the act. =
e I'm order to enforce the statute,
the court is required to forbid the do
Ing in the future of acts like those
which are found to have been done in
violation thereof, and to enter a de.
cree which will effectually dissolve
the combination found to exist in VIC
lation of the statute"
The court held that the attempts OF
the Hartman company to acquire the
Northern Pacific stock, the Santa Fe
interests and tho salt Lake route in.
terests were not illegal and sustained
the lower court in this part of the
case.
The defendants in the suit were the
Union Pacific: Oregon Short Line:
Oregon Railroad & Navigation com.
pany; San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt
Lake; Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe;
Southern Pacific; Northern Pacific
and Great Northern railroad5; the
Farmers Loan and Trust company, OF
New York, and the following indlvid.
'lals: E. H. Hartman, Jacob H
Schiff, Otto H. Kuhn of Kuhn, Loeb
& Co.. James Stillman, H. H. Rogers
Henry c. Prick, former Senator Will:
lam A. Clark, and President Robert
S. Lovett, of the Union Pacific. Har
riman and Rogers died while the liti
cation was pending.
In February, 1908, the government
fled its dissolution suit, in the federal
circuit court, which, at Salt Lake
City, about two years ago, dismissed
the entire prosecution. The vote OF
the lower court was three to one
Judge Hook, of Kansas, Dissenting
Every contention Of the government
was denied. The principal finding OF
the lower court was that the Union
Pacific and Southern Pacific were not
competing lines before the merger
and that, therefore, their combination
was not in violation of the antitrust
law.
The Northern Pacific and Great
Northern railroads were merely nomi
nal defendants, the government .alleg
ing Hartman and his conspirators
tried to "gobble up those roads by
buying majority of Northern Pacific
stock to secure control of the Bur
lington" feeder of the Northern Pa
cific In it's Northern Securities
decision, the supreme court held vote
the Northern Pacific deal.
Grossly increased rates, prevention
Of construction of new branch lines
and sensible" deterioration of serv
ice were the three principal evils cit
ed by the government as result o.
the combine.