The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1912-12-17
DECISION ASSURES
RELIEF TO PUBLIC
More Than Three-Quarters
of the Annual Supply Mar
keted and Over 90 Per
Cent of the Entire Unde-
veloped Area Were Alb
sorbed. by Gigantic Trust

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1s.-The federal
supreme court today cancelled as vio-
lativs5 Of the Sherman law the con-
.stracts by which railroad owned coal
companies in the Pennsylvania anthra-
Cite fields had purchased the output for
sall time Of independent" mines.
Attorney General wickersham. to-
night expressed the belief''that the
decision SO completely will destroy the
combination which now controls the
price of anthracite sthat 1t must result
IN a distinct measure of relief to the
public"
The court ordered also the diesolu-
otion' Of railroad control of the Temple
.Irou company, by which the principal
=. FIlroads and their coal companies were
. found TO fave strangled a project to
{. Bgiild "a competing road into the anthra-
3. cite fields in 1898. and by which mo-
hSpoliztng schemes could be put into
execution handily in the future
GENERAL. COMBINE NOT SHOWN
j.. The government failed. the court
held. stos show "a general combination"
TO abportioH the amount of coal to be
put: upon the market annually by the
various roads. The governments other
charges al to a combinat were char
acteraed as @indefnite."
Mihors' combinations were held to
: have been improperly included in the
petition of the government. and the
. proceeding against them was dismissed
without prejudice TO other actions by
thses government
Q Justice Lurton announced the unani-
mons opinion of the court which for
:sths purposes of this case consisted of
.sbnly six members. Justice Day took
? no part in the discussion. because of
. his absence from the bench when the
o easeswas argued in October, 1911. Jus
:. ticei Hughes. refrained from partici-
pating in the action of the court be-
s'caa use. he was special assistant to the
attorney general when the coal case
was. first Investigated by the govern
ment. Justice Pitney was not on the
bench when the case was presented
to the court
SIX RAILROADS AFFECTED
The railroads concerned in the case
3 were the Philadelphia and reading the
Lehigh Valley; the Delaware. Lacka-
wanna and western; the Central Rail-
road OF New Jersey; the Erie, and the
New York, Susquehanna and Western
The minor combinations not passed
upon but left for possible future con-
sideration were those alleged to have
been created IN 1898 by the absorption
Of the New York, Susquehanna and
Western by the Erie; in 1901 by the
acquisition by the Reading company of
the Central of New Jersey. with it's coal
companies, and in 1899 by the acquisi-
ton by the Erie of the Pennsylvania
Coal company. which is said TO have
been projecting a new railroads.&c.
Delaware Valley and Kingston.
Justice Lurton dwelt upon the great
factor of the six railroads and their
coal companies in anthracite mining
over 90 per cent of the entire unmined
area of anthracite was owned by them,
he declared, and over rs per cent of the
annual supply put Oi b4I MAJ fACI was
theirs. lie said the tremendous indu-
ence of these companies in this bust
ness was due to the liberal policy on
Pennsylvania in encouraging coal de-
velopment by authorizing an alliance
between the coal producing and the
coal transporting companies
'TIDEyyATER TRAFFIC MONOPOLY
AS to the transportation of coal to
tidewater, Justice Lurton said inde-
pendent of any agreement or combina-
ton. the six railroads were in undis-
puted control.
The situation is one which invites
concerted action" continued the justice,
and makes exceedingly easy the ac-
complishnlent Of any purpose to DOM
mate the supply and control the prices
at the seaboard. The one-fourth supply
which comes from independent oper-
ators has been sold in competition with
the larger supply of the defendants II
by concert Of action that source Of COM
Continued on Page 3 Column 4