The Legal
Important Litigation The Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company filed a petition in one of the state courts of West Virginia May 26, charging that the West Virginia two-cent fare law is confiscatory and asking that the prosecuting officials be restrained from further enforcing the law. The Interstate Commerce Commission has decided to investigate the charges of B. E. Sundberg of Minnesota against the United States, American, and Adams Express Com panies. The charges are that these com panies are violating the interstate commerce law and monopolizing the express business by means of arbitrary rules and exorbitant rates. Mr. Sundberg also charges that they earn more than one hundred per cent, and are rich and powerful enough practically to defy legislation. If the Commission finds, after hearings, that the charges appear to be sus tained, the Department of Justice may take action. Attorney-General Wickersham congratu lated United States Attorney Gregg and Special Assistant Rush for their success in obtaining new indictments against Governor Haskell and others at Tulsa, Okla., May 27, in the Muskogee land fraud cases. He said they were deserving of great credit for the ability with which they handled the situation. This was the third time the matter had been presented to a federal Grand Jury. Gov ernor Haskell, in giving bond, announced through his attorneys that an effort would be made to have the indictments quashed on the ground of improper influence exerted on jurors and witnesses. The Missouri Supreme Court issued a writ of prohibition June 8, forbidding Judge Wil liams of the state circuit bench to proceed with an injunction restraining certain railways from putting three-cent passenger fares into effect. This decision follows the example set by the United States District Court in Kansas City several weeks ago which en joined a similar proceeding, and the state court has thus shown itself to be acting in harmony with the United States District Court, which recently enjoined a similar proceeding hostile to the railways. This action left but two cases pending in the state courts, in this railroad litigation, the state's appeal from federal Judge McPherson's decision that the Missouri statute was uncon stitutional, and the quo warranto proceedings instituted by the Attorney General for the purpose of revoking the charters of fifteen railroads.
World
A decision was handed down at Wash ington, D. C., May 21, by the Interstate Com merce Commission, ordering the Western and Northwestern railroads, the Northern Pacific, the Union Pacific lines and the Chicago North western Railway, to join in the sale of through passenger tickets between Seattle and other points in the Pacific Northwest and Eastern destinations, via Portland, Ore., and to accord through facilities, like the checking of bag gage, over this route. The Commission itself had received many complaints that the pres ent through rates were unsatisfactory. Chair man Knapp and Commissioner Clark dissented from the majority opinion of the Commission, maintaining that satisfactory through rates and joint rates already are in existence. In a decision against the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, the New York Public Service Commission for the first dis trict laid down the rule May 15 that its jurisdiction over the railroad corporations took precedence over that of the municipal board of health in regard to the sanitary laws. The commission last April issued a final order restricting the railroad company from util izing certain alleged unsanitary methods in loading freight cars. The railroad raised the point of jurisdiction. The substance of the commission's ruling is that when there is a conflict between the local ordinance and the general law of the state, embracing in this instance the public utilities act, the general law prevails. As a result of the disappearance of fifteen books of the United Copper Company, needed by United States Attorney Wise, in his in quiry into the doings of F. A. Heinze in the Mercantile National Bank, and the disappear ance of Tracy Buckingham, formerly transfer agent of the United Copper Company, Sanford Robinson, F. A. Heinze's personal counsel, and Arthur P. Heinze, were indicted on charges of obstructing the administration of justice and interfering with a federal process server. Their cases nave recently been on trial. Another indictment charges Robinson and A. P. Heinze, along with F. A. Heinze, and two others, with a conspiracy to put the books out of the way, to mutilate some of them, and to send Buckingham to Canada. This indictment will come to trial in the autumn. Delavan Smith and Charles R. Williams, owners of the Indianapolis News, appeared before Judge Anderson in the United States District Court at Indianapolis June 1, to resist removal to the District of Columbia for trial for criminal libel, in connection with
