The Sentinel=record., 1914-05-26
TAP LINES WIN
 BIG VICTORY
SUPREME COURT OF UNITED STATES DECIDES THEY ARE
 COMMON CARRIERS.
Many Small Lumber Roads and the
 Will Be Benefited by the Decision.

Washington, May 25.-Another at tempt by the government to separate the ownership of railroads from in- dustrial concerns met with failure to- | day, when the supreme court held that tap line railways, serving lum- | Der camps in the southwest, owned l by the same interests, were entitled ! to share with the trunk lines in through rates. The lnteEstate Com merce Commission had held this diyi- sion of the rate was in effect re bate, and ordered it discontinued
 Justice Day, delivering the opinion i for the entire court said:
 Congress has not made it illegal for roads thus owned (owned by the l persons who also own the timber and mills which they principally serve) to | operate in interstate commerce. He added that even the commodities clause under which an unsuccessful | attempt was made several years ago to divorce eastern railroads from the coal business, expressly excepted from it's operation the lumber in dustry.
 It further was pointed out that the common ownership was not shown 10 be inconsistent with the laws of the states in which the tap lines operate, and Justice Harlan said "We think the commission exceeded it's author Iity when it condemned these roads as mere attempt to evade the law and to secure rebates and preferences for themselves.
 In effect the court held that the tap lines were common carriers as to both proprietary and non-proprietary business. and that the ownership did not change their character when hauling commodities produced by a company in common ownership.
 The recently abolished commerce court held in this case That "the com. mission was not only without power to forbid any allowance whatsoever to be made by trunk line. to pro prietary railway, but it also was without power to prohibit the making of joint rates by the trunk lines and the petitioning tap lines"
 Todays decision did hot come as a surprise to the Interstate Commerce Commission. Members of the com mission were well pleased with that part of the opinion holding that tlhe commission has full power to prevent preferences and discriminations in the fixing of allowances and divisions of rates.
 This leaves to the commission the fixing of allowances based upon the character of the service; that is, whether it is a switching or lno haul service. It can prevent mill ing-in-transit privilege, which makes no charge for the haul of the logs, and may require a charge by the tap lines for log from forest to mill in addition to the full lumber rate from mill to market
 The commission has not taken up yet the questions involved in the SUI preme courts decision. but the entire Itap line case soon will be readiusted in conformity with the opinion of the court It is not regarded as probable that the decision in any way will -affect the pending advance rate case, or that 1t will have any particular bearing upon the decision of the com mission in the industrial railways case. in which the commission held that allowances to the iron and steel railways were practically rebates, and ordered them discontinued.