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Show RAILROADS CANNOT HAUL. COAL TO MARKET FROM THEIR OWN COAL MINES Supreme Court Upholds ihe Constitutionality of the Commodities Clause of the Hepburn Act, but Opens a Big Hole in the Law, Allowing the Railroads to Be Stockholders in Coal Companies or to Sell Coal Before, It Is Transported Washington, May 3. That the "Commodities "Com-modities clause' of the Interstate Commerce act of 190G, known as the Hepburn rate law. is constitutional xtas In effect declared today by the supreme court uf the United States. Thy decision was announced by Justice Jus-tice White. The court reversed and remanded tho decision of the United States circuit court, but the only diroc-tlonH diroc-tlonH were to enforce and apply the statute as It is now constructed. Briefly f ummarized, the decision of the supreme court. In the commodities clause caees, holds the law to bo constitutional, con-stitutional, but it does not concede the government side as to the scope. An especial exception is as to the owner-ehlp owner-ehlp of the stock of the different corporations cor-porations which It held did not constitute con-stitute such ownership as would prohibit pro-hibit transportation under the terms of the law. It was also held that ownership ot the commodity applied only to. the time of transportation If. before transporting it, the railroad company has in good faith parted with a commodity, com-modity, it may carrv it. The principal point of the decision vas in relation to railroads holding the stock of subordinate companies and on that Important point the finding was favorable to the roads. Juetice Harlan disscntod on Ihe stock feature, but otherwise the decision de-cision was unanimous. , The following is a summary of the opinion in the commodities cases: "1. The claim of the government, that the provision contained in the Hepburn act. June 29, ll06, commonly called the commodities clause, prohibits prohib-its a railroad company from mavlng commodities In Interstate commerce because the company has manufactur-rd, manufactur-rd, mined or produced them, or ownel them In whole or In part, or has had an Interest direct or indirect In them, wholly Irrespective of relation of connection con-nection of carrier with the commodities commodi-ties at the time of tho transportation. Is decided to be untenable, it is also decided that the provision of the commodities com-modities clause relating to interest direct or indirect, does not embrace an Interest which a carrier may have in a producing corporation as the result of the ownership bythe carrier of topk In Buch corporation irrespective of the amount of stock which the carrier car-rier may own In such corporation, provided pro-vided the corporation has been organized organ-ized In good faith. "The announcement as to the commodities com-modities clause was made in deciding decid-ing tho twelve Injunction and mandamus man-damus cases brought by the government govern-ment against the Delaware & Hudson, the Erie, the New Jersey Central, the Delaware & Lackamanna,- the Pennsylvania Penn-sylvania and the Lehigh Valley railroads. rail-roads. The cases came to the court from the United States Circuit court for the eastern district of Pennsylvania, Pennsyl-vania, which decision was announced by Judge Grew, attracting much attention. at-tention. They origipated in the circuit court and, in Its petition, the government govern-ment charged that the railroad companies com-panies In question were engaged In transporting in interstate commerce anthracite coal, mined by themselves on their own mines which are located In Pennsylvania. The Hepburn act makes It unlawful 'for any railroad company to transport from any state to any other state or to any foreign country any article or commodity, other oth-er than timber, manufactured, mined or proluced by It, or under its author-By, author-By, or which it may own in whole or lu part, or In which it may have any Interest, In-terest, direct or Indirect, except such articles or commodities as may be necessary nec-essary and Intended for its use in the conduct of Its business as a common carrier'." . The circuit court decided against the constitutionality of the provision, because, as it was alleged, it deprives the corporations of their property without with-out d process of law. which 'in prohibited pro-hibited by the fifth amendment to the constitution. It was also held by tho court that the eIaufce"not directly but indirectly" works a practical confiscation confisca-tion of the property of the railroad: henco the law was held to bo Invalid and "In lu nature and effect a discriminative discrim-inative prohibition." Tho erdlct was reversed by todav's decision. New York. May 3. Philadelphia and Trading atock slumped 3 points on the stock market on the announcement announce-ment of the commodities decision and the rest of the market weakened model mod-el ately. Before l o'clock Reading recovered re-covered Its loss and the whole market became Intensely dull. Delaware and Hudson lost 1 1-4 and Pennsylvania 1 on the break, but both recovered tb? losses. |
