OCR Text |
Show INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION ENJOHNED EROM ENFORCING ORDER 1 ST. PAUL. .Minn., June 30. Judges Sanborn. Hook and Adams, in tho United States court today, renderod an interlocutory decree whereby the' tcm-porarilv tcm-porarilv suspend and enjoin tho enforcement en-forcement of the order of tho Interstate Commcico commission which reduced the charge of certain railroads for the transfer of livestock from their tor-initial tor-initial in Chicago to tho Union Stoi;k vards from $2 to $1 per car. Judge "Adams delivered tho opinion of tho court. The court held: "Tho terminal charge for tho transportation trans-portation of these cars from tho termini ter-mini of tho railroads to the stock yards over tho tracks of the Union Slock Yards company was required by the acts of Congress to be separately scheduled sched-uled by the railroad companies and they complied with thoHo acts and scheduled this charge separately. "This terminal charge of .$2 por car for transferring tho cars over tho tracks of the Union Stock Yards company com-pany to the stock yards and returning the same to complainant roads was a reasonable charge. Made Unreasonauiy Low. "A reduction of it to $1 pcr car made it unreasonably low. Tho interstate commerce commission mado this charco unreasonably low because Ihe rates of the railroad companies on their own roads and their through rates, composed of the rates on their own road and tho technical charge of .2, were, in their opinion, unreasonably higher. This was an error of law. Under the acts of Congress Con-gress which require segregation, the question of the justico and reasonableness reasonable-ness of each segregated rate must bo determined by itself. "Under tho acts of Congress tho Federal courts have jurisdiction to set aside or suspend an order of the inter state commerce commission which results re-sults from misconccptiou and misapplication misappli-cation of the law to conceded or undisputed undis-puted facts. It is not indispensable to tho correction by the Federal court of uu error of law into which the commission com-mission has fallen, where 03' a specific rate is made unreasonably low, that tho aggrieved parl3 should prove that the effort of this unreasonably low rate will make its entire business unprofitable. unprofit-able. It is enough that tho reduced re-duced rato is unjust, and unreasonable. "The order of the interstate com. morce commission whereby the charge for the transfer of livestock from tho termini of tho railroad companies in Chicago over tho tracks of l.lio Union Stockyards company to tho stockyards is reduced from is'J per car to $1 per cur must be suspended and its enforce- j incut enjoined until the final decision ' uf tho court or the further order of tho 1 court." I History of the Case. I Tho action was brought in tho United j States district court b3- Receivers Smith 1 and Siicknoy of the Chicago & Great ! Western and tho Chicago, Milwaukeoi & St. Paul, the Chicago & Alton, Rock Tsland and Santa Fo companies wore i parties to tho suit. Receivers Sticknej' j and Smith reside here, and the Hepburn Hep-burn and tho Sherman anti-trust laws, under which I ho action was brought, leave it optional to briug cases in nii3' district whero one of tho complainant's ' reside. Immediately after action was begun, United States Attorney-General Bonnpnrto caused to bo filed a. certifi cato requiring the court to speed the case and requiring at least three circuit cir-cuit judges to hear aud tr' it. Tho case 1 was argued May 2S last, and some of ! the most prominent railroad attorneys of the couiitr3- look part in tho arg'u-1 incuts or were present, |