Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-02
UNITED STATES COMMERCE COURT

one or the most interesting prdhcheS
of the government at the, present time Is
the United States Com
Interesting merce Court. for the rea-
rr, son that it may be hkened
AA'oAAu. to an invalid. Under the
last regular congre ssional appropriation
the court received funds sufficient to
carry it through March. 1913. Then
there was talk of disseminating the court.
Now bill is in conference which. If
passed will appropriate sufficient money
to the court to carry it through the pres
ent fiscal year. or. in other words. into
the next session of Congress, where it
will have another chance for it's life
Provided DR.. SiXty-second Congress can
keep the court alive, until the first OF
July, DR.. Sixty-third Congress may be
able to prolons its life indefinitely. Opn-
ion is more or less divided as to the
merits of the court.
In creating the Commerce Court the
act stated that "a court is hereby created
which shall be known as
Creation OF the Commerce Court and
A. cl shall have the jursdic
: ton now possessed by
circuit courts of the United States.
That statement was modified, however,
by defining the particular kinds of cases
which would come before the new court.
BY creating the Commerce Court ques
tons of national import We're taken away
from the circuit courts, leaving them with
entire jurisdiction in questions local to
the district in which they presided. In
speaking of this arrangement one circuit
court Judge explained it thus:
1t is of no serious consequence that
local laws vary greatly in different states.
even in those which adjoin each other;
for example, the laws relating to the po
ltica status of the citizens such as the
qualifications of a voter or office holder.
etc In like manner the laws relating to
ordinary property rights, such as rates
of interest. etc. may be very unlike as
between different states without any no.
ticeable degree of public disadvantage
But when it comes to cases involving
questions of national import such as
questions arising under the interstate
commerce laws. the antitrust laws pat
emf laws and the like. there is the great
est need of uniformity of decision. TO
have Il question which concerns the pub
lie everywhere decided one way i'm one
district and another way in another dis
tunate. 1t results in uncertainty and con-
fusion, to say nothing of the delay which
must occur until the question can be
finally decided by the Supreme Court
The Commerce Court has the important
junction of deciding cases arising under
the act to regulate COM
Important merce. some of which form
Tssuas excellent examples of the
reasons that led to it's eA-
Enlistment. Questions arising in con-
nection with this act go beyond the rights
or interests of individuals. and affect, on
the one hand. the rights of great rail
road systems. and, on the other hand
the interests of large numbers of shippers
ana important sections of the whole
country. AS the cases are now tried
that is, under the jurisdiction of the
commerce Court-it is not infrequent
that several are heard at once Had
these cases been brought in the cir
cut courts they would undoubtedly have
been brought in different districts and the
railroads would have chosen the courts
->othlns IKE that is possible in the Com
merce Court due to the uniformity Of
the laws and the fact that the iurisdic-
ton includes the whole of the United
States.
The commerce Court was organized in
FEBRUARY. 1911. During the two years
OF Its existence it has heard and decided
many cases. At the time of its organi-
eaton thrty-siN untried cases were
transferred to it. being those which up
To that time had been scattered through
out the various districts and We're await
ing trial. Since its organization there
have been more than fifty cases come be-
fore 1t originally AT the present time
the total number of all those cases still
pending is hardly more than ten An in
stance which shows the dispatch with
which cases are handled by the court is
the So-cailed ''intermountain cases.
THESE We're begun III October, 1911 heard
and decided by the Commerce Court in
December and finally submitted to the
Supreme Court in February only about
four months after they We're commenced
Perhaps no other instance can be found
where case of such importance and
difficulty has passed through the courts
in SO short time.
:. !;
The United States Commerce Court con-
sists of five judges, appointed by Chief
Justice White. and
Judges and chosen from the cir
Their Terms. w '"usun u the