Source: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/194/48
Timestamp: 2014-12-21 01:59:06
Document Index: 519804036

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1', '§ 2', '§ 3', '§ 1', '§ 2', '§ 6', '§ 1', '§ 3']

STATE OF MINNESOTA, , v. NORTHERN SECURITIES COMPANY, Great Northern Railway Company, Northern Pacific Railway Company, | LII / Legal Information Institute
Supreme Court aboutsearch liibulletin subscribe previews STATE OF MINNESOTA, , v. NORTHERN SECURITIES COMPANY, Great Northern Railway Company, Northern Pacific Railway Company,
194 U.S. 48 (24 S.Ct. 598, 48 L.Ed. 870)
STATE OF MINNESOTA, Appt., v. NORTHERN SECURITIES COMPANY, Great Northern Railway Company, Northern Pacific Railway Company, et al.
Argued: January 7, 8, 1904.
[HTML] Messrs. W. B. Douglas, M. D. Munn, and George P. Wilson for appellant.
At a later date, 1899, the legislature of Minnesota passed another statute relating principally to such restraints upon trade and commerce as interfered with competition among those engaged therein. That statute contained these provisions: '§ 1. Any contract, agreement, arrangement, or conspiracy, or any combination in the form of a trust, or otherwise, hereafter entered into which is in restraint of trade or commerce within this state, or in restraint of trade or commerce between any of the people of this state and any of the people of any other state or country, or which limits or tends to limit or control the supply of any article, commodity, or utility, or the articles which enter into the manufacture of any article of utility, or which regulates, limits, or controls or raises or tends to regulate, limit, control, or raise the market price of any article, commodity, or utility, or tends to limit or regulate the production of any such article, commodity, or utility, or in any manner destroys, limits, or interferes with open and free competition in either the production, purchase, or sale of any commodity, article, or utility, is hereby prohibited and declared to be unlawful. § 2. That when any corporation heretofore or hereafter created, organized, or existing under the laws of this state, whether general or special, hereafter unites in any manner with any other corporation wheresoever created, or with any individual, whereby such corporation surrenders or transfers, by sale or otherwise, in whole or in part, its franchise, rights, or privileges, or the control or management of its business to any other corporation or individual, or whereby the business, management, or control of the business of such corporation is limited, changed, or in any manner affected, and the purpose or effect of such union or combination is to limit, control, or destroy competition in the manufacture or sale of any article or commodity, or is to limit or control the production of any article or commodity, or is to control of fix the price or market value of any article or commodity, or the price or market value of the material entering into the production of any article or commodity, or in case the purpose or effect of such union or combination is to control or monopolize in any manner the trade or commerce, or any part thereof, of this state or of the several states, such union, combination, agreement,* arrangement, or contract is hereby prohibited and declared to be unlawful. . . . § 3. Any corporation heretofore or hereafter created, organized, or existing under the laws of this state, which shall hereafter, either directly or indirectly make any contract, agreement, or arrangement, or enter into any combination, conspiracy, or trust, as defined in § 1 of this act, shall, in addition to the penalty prescribed in § 2 of this act, forfeit its charter, rights, and franchises, and it shall thereafter be unlawful for such corporation to engage in business, either as a corporation or as a part of any combination, trust, or monopoly, except as to the final disposition of its property under the laws of this state. . . . § 6. That for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act any citizen of this state may, and it is hereby declared to be the duty of the attorney general to, institute, in the name of the state, proceedings in any court of competent jurisdiction against any person, partnership, association, or corporation who may be guilty of violating any of the provisions of § 1 of this act, for the purpose of imposing the penalties imposed by this act, or securing the enforcement of § 3 hereof.' Minn. Gen. Laws, 1899, chap. 357.
The complaint alleged
That the said scheme had been consummated, and said two railway systems were now under the absolute management and control of the Securities Company, and 'by reason thereof all competition between said lines has been destroyed and a monopoly in railway traffic in Minnesota (as well as without said state) has been created, to the great and permanent and irreparable damage of the state of Minnesota, and to the people thereof, and in violation of its laws, and of the laws of the United States in such case made and provided, viz.: The act of Congress approved July 2d, 1890, entitled 'An Act to Protect Trade and Commerce Against Unlawful Restraints and Monopolies' 26 Stat. at L. 209, chap. 647, U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 3200;' and
The contention, however, is that a case arising under the laws of the United States was presented by the allegation in the complaint that the combination and consolidation between the Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railway Companies and the control of their affairs and operations by the Northern Securities Company were also in violation of the anti-trust act of Congress of July 2d, 1890. An allegation in a complaint filed in a circuit court of the United States may, indeed, in a sense, confer jurisdiction to determine whether the case is of the class of which the court may properly take cognizance for purposes of a final decree on the merits. Newburyport Water Co. v. Newburyport, 193 U. S. 561,ante 553, 24 Sup. Ct. Rep. 553, and Pacific E. R. Co. v. Los Angeles (decided at present term) 193 U. S. , ante, 586, 24 Sup. Ct. Rep. 586. But if, notwithstanding such an allegation, the court finds, at any time, that the case does not really and substantially involve a dispute or controversy within its jurisdiction, then, by the express command of the act of 1875, its duty is to proceed no further. That is manifest from the 5th section of that act, which provides: 'That if, in any suit commenced in a circuit court or removed from a state court to a circuit court of the United States, it shall appear, to the satisfaction of said circuit court, at any time after such suit has been brought or removed thereto, that such suit does not really and substantially involve a dispute or controversy properly within the jurisdiction of said circuit court, or that the parties to said suit have been improperly or collusively made or joined, either as plaintiffs or defendants, for the purpose of creating a case cognizable or removable under this act, the said circuit court shall proceed no further therein, but shall dismiss the suit or remand it to the court from which it was removed, as justice may require, and shall make such order as to costs as shall be just.' 18 Stat. at L. 470, chap. 137 (U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 508). That provision has not been superseded by any subsequent legislation.
By the 1st section of the anti-trust act every contract, combination in the form of a trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several states, is declared to be illegal. The 2d section condemns the monopolizing or attempting to monopolize, or combining or conspiring to monopolize, any part of such trade or commerce. By the 3d section, every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of commerce in any territory of the United States or the District of Columbia, or in restraint of trade or commerce between any such territory and another, or between any such territory or territories and any state or states or the District of Columbia, or with any foreign states, or between the District of Columbia and any state or states or foreign nations, is declared to be illegal. A violation of the provisions of each section is made a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding $5,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court. Of course, a criminal prosecution under the act must be in the name of the United States and in a court of the United States,the district attorney who conducts the prosecution being subject to the direction of the Attorney General as to the manner in which his duties shall be discharged. Rev. Stat. 362 (U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 208).
For the reasons stated, we are of opinion that the suit does notto use the words of the act of 1875really and substantially involve a dispute or controversy within the jurisdiction of the circuit court for the purposes of a final decree. Western Union Teley. Co. v. Ann Arbor R. Co. 178 U. S. 239, 243, 44 L. ed. 1052, 1054, 20 Sup. Ct. Rep. 867. That being the case, the circuit court, following the mandate of the statute, should not have proceeded therein, but shold have remanded the cause to the state court.