Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1912-12-19
RAILROAD CONTROL BROKEN
Attorney General Wickersham Be
lieves the Decision Must Re
suit in a Distinct Meas
IRE of Relief.


trust law the contracts ny which raul
road-ownod coal companies in the Penn
s,lvauia anthracite fields had purchased
for all time the, output Of independent
mines.
Attorncv-Gcn-ral Wic>ersham in a
statement Tonight expressed the belief
tha. the decision will 50 completely de-
strov the combinations which now con-
troll the price of anthracite that 1t must
result in a distinct measure Of relief to
tho public
the court ordered the dissolution Of
railroad control OF the Temple Iron COM
many, nv which the principal railroads
and their coal companies were found to
have strangled a project to build a COM
pcting road into the anthracite fields In
1895 and by which monopolizing schemes
could be put into execution handiN IN
tho future
Tho government failed. the court held,
10 show general combination 70 ap-
norton the amount of coal to be put upon
the market annually by the various
roads The governments other charges
as to a general combination Wcr" cnara'-
terlzed as indefinite.
Minor combinations were held TO have
hecn improperly included in the p"luon
of the government, and the proceeding
against them was dismissed without pre-
JUDGE TO other actions 10y the govern
ment. Attorney General Nickersham was
not prepared to-day to say whether ne
would direct new proceedings against
these alleged combinations or not
Justice T.urton announced tine unani-
nous opinion of the court, which, for the
purposes of this case, consisted of only
Pix members Justice Day took no part
In the decision because of his absence
from the bench when the case was argued
IN October. 1911. Justice Hughes refrain
I'll rom participating in the action OF
the court because he was special as
sislnnt to the Acknowledgement when the
coai business was first investigated by
,hc government Justice Pitncy was not
on the bench when the case was pre-
serted to the court
The suit was sent back to the Judge:
Of the court in which 1t originated, tn,
circuit court for eastern PENNSYLVANIA
Tor the enforcement of the decision TIL
finding of the lower court was upheld
cNcopt as to the contracts with the in
DEPENDENTS
were the Philadelphia " Reading, tn
I.ohiph VALLEY. the Delaware. Lacka
wanna Western, the Central Rail
road of New Jersey. the Erie ana tn
New y ork, Susquohanna " Western
The minor combinations not pas@c
upon hut left for possible future con
sideration were those alleged to hay
been created in 1895 by the ahsorptio
of the New York. Susquehanna ,
Western by the Eric; in 1901 by II
acquisition by the Reading com
panY, which owned the Phila
delphia e Rea ling railroad and
coal company by similar name of tn
Central of New Jersey with its Goa
companies; In 1899 by the acquisitio
by the Eric of the Pennsylvania Goa
company, which is said to have bee
projecting new railroad, the Della
ware Valley Il Kingston.
GRIP or THE SIN ROADS.
At the outset OF his opinion Justlc
I.urton dwell upon the great fac,o
Of the six railroads ana their Goa
companies in anthracite mining. Owe
30 per cent, of the entire unmhe
area of anthracite Were owned b
them, he declared, and over Is pc
cent. OF the annual supply put upo
the market was theirs.
He said the tremendous influence {
these companies in this business wa
due to the liberal policy of the Stat
OF PENNSYLVANIA to encourage coal de
vclopment by authorizing an allianc
between the coal producing and IN
ri pu nj :
the transportation Of the coal to tide
water, the great distributing cente
Justice Lurton said that. independer
of any agreement or combination, tn
nix railroads were in undisputed con
troll
THE situation is one which invite
concerted action" continued the JUS
tice, land makes exceedingly easy tn
accomplishment Of any purpose t
dominate the supply and control tn
prices al the seaboard The one
fourth supply which comes from indie
pendent operators has been sold i
competition with the larger supply q
the defendants. If by concert of &C
ton that source of competition be re
moved, the monopoly which the dc
PENDANTS, acting together, may exei
over production and sale will be com
plote."
hc Justice proceeded to state what ha
occurred he first considered the chars
of general combination" To airport iC
output. Reliance was made, he said
yupport of this charge upon the conferen,
If railroad presidents in 1896 when it ".
lvcrrod efforts were made to distribu
he coal business upon the basis of Il
amount carried in previous years.
The weight Of proof" declared Justi
Lurton, satisfies us that whatever mig
lavc been contemplated or attempted, q
scheme proved abortve or If attempt
vas abandoned long before the bill w
Ned"
LOWER COURT Is UPHELD
Other charges of general comblnatio
was declared, had been properly GO
Jidered by the lower court ana while /
Supreme Court had gone through the re
ord it would not discuss them
The justice then took up the Tenn
iron company feature of the case.
detailed how independent operators in /
wyoming region of Pennsylvania abo
1898 pledged their tonnage to a new ro
% tidewater and how the New Yoi
Wyoming n Western Railroad compa
was projected in good faith on I
strength Of these pledgas Iva stxAI ~