VOL. XLVIII.- NO. 14,764.
PORTLAND, OREGON, TUESDAY, MARCH J4, 1908.
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
T
FEDERAL COURTS
Supreme Court Annuls
, State Rate Laws.
RAILROADS' RIGHT TO APPEAL
State Can't Forbid Resort to
United States Court.
ONLY ONE JUDGE DISSENTS
Fpo-h-Making Decision on Slate
Railroad Legislation Against Both
Minnesota and North Caro
lina in Favor of Railroads.
I roi:
rOINTH lKCTlKt bv roiRT.
FTxoppoIv penalties pr.v.nt rail
road from qucBtlonlnjc validity of
laHi.
Ther.fore audi Inns are unconsti
tutional. Sufficiency or ratca fixed by law
la for vourls fa decide.
Suih HRalnat a Mate officer preventing-
him from enforcing Mate law
which Jlxea confiscatory rates la not
uU against state.
Where Mate law la alleged to h in
violation of Federal constitution.
Federal courts may take jurisdiction
and do not commit usurpation in ao
doing.
When a Federal court has taken
Jurisdiction. It haa powor to enjoin
from proceeding in afate courts until
tt haa given Judgment.
WASHINGTON'. March 23,-In refusing
to Brant to Attorney-General Young, of
Minnesota, a writ of habeas corpus re
leasing him from the penalty Imposed
by the 1'nlted States District .Court for
thet District of Minnesota on the charge
of contempt of court in Instituting a
proceeding in a state court for enforce
ment of the railroad rte law after the
Federal Court had prohibited such a
course, and In affirming the decision of
Judge Prltohard, of the United States
Circuit ?ourt for the Western District
of North Carolina, discharging from im
prisonment James II. Wood, a ticket
agent of the Southern Railway at Ashe
ville, softer he hud been sentenced by the
Ashrville Police Court to serve a term
on tho rockpilc on the charge of collect
ing for a ticket on that road a greater
price than was permitted by the state
railroad law the Supreme Court of the
United Slates today added another to
the series of decisions which have ren
dered notable the present term of that
court.
Era-Making Decision.
In both cases the risht of states to fix
rates for railroad transportation was the
issue). and both involved conflicts be
tween the Federal and the state courts.
The decision in each case was opposed
both to the states and to their courts.
The opinion of the court in both cases
was announced by Justice Peckham and.
with the exception of Justice Harlan, all
the other members of the court stood
behind him in tne announcement of the
court's finding. ,
Justice Harlan read a dissenting opin
ion In the Young case. In which he took
the view that the suit was practically a
proceeding against the state, therefore
permissible under the 11th amendment
to the Constitution. He therefore char
acterised the opinion as era-making in
the history of the court, said it had the
effect of closing the courts of a state
against the state itself and predicted
that the result would be disastrous.
The two cases were so similar that
both practically were decided in one opin
ion. The pronouncement was made in
the Minnesota case. Justice Peckham's
opinion was authoritatively outlined as
follows:
Railroads Deprived of Rights.
The court decided that by reason of the
enormous penalties provided in the rate
laws by way of fines against the com
panies and Imprisonment of their agents
and employes, the companies are in ef
frct prevented from ever questioning the
validity of those laws, as the risk of con
fiscation of property and Imprisonment
of agents In case the companies failed
in their defense was too much to un
dertake In order to obtain a judicial de
cision of the question of such validity.
Such laws are therefore held unconstitu
tional, as they prevented the companies
from resorting to thjp courts and therefore
deprived them of equal protection of laws.
The question of sufficiency of the rates
to enable the company to obtain some
return to Its stockholders for their in
vestments has for many years teen held
to be one for the courts to decide, as it
would be a violation of the Constitution
of the I'nlted States to fix rates so low
as to be confiscatory. If enforced.
The laws providing rates for transpor
tation of passengers and freight In the
two cases under consideration have been
held by the courts below to be so low as
to ba substantially confiscatory, and
should, therefore, not be enforced until
after further trials. The courts had juris
diction to make such an order.
Iaw! Violate Constitution.
H has also, for many years, been held
that a suit is not one against the state,
although It prevents a state officer from
bringing suits for the enforcement of a
state enactment which fixed rates so low
aa to be confiscatory and which act was.
I
BAR FROM
therefore, a violation of the Constitution
of the United States, and this principle
is reiterated and again decided in these
cases.
The jurisdiction of the Federal
Courts in such cases is only exercised
where the state enactment is alleged
to be a violation of the Constitution of
the United States, and in such cases it
is proper for those courts to take Ju
risdiction equally with the State
Courts, as the Constitution of the
United States is, by ita own provisions,
the -supreme law of the land, anything
in state legislation or law to the con
trary notwithstanding, and there Is no
usurpation of jurisdiction in' such
event
The name duties rest upon the State
Cqurts. and the party had his choice
of forum without any invidious dis
tinction against the State Courts, and
in favor of the Federal Courts because
of his choice of the latter. ,
Must Let Federal' Court Decide.
When a Federal Court has taken
jurisdiction of cases before any pro-
D. W. Stevens, Member f the Jap
aofwe Council In Corfu, J-Htully
Wounded by Vengeful Coreans at
u Francisco.
reeding in a State Court has been com
menced, the former court has authority
to decide the case and to enjoin any
person from proceeding in a State
Court until the Federal Court has pro
ceeded to Judgment. This ie also a well
established right of a court of equity,
and no new ground, is taken in this
case.
The opinion turned almost entirely
upon the penalty provisions pf the
rate laws, and the court's Aiews on
that point were stated in tha following
extract from the opinion:
Penalty Is Too Great.
For disobedience of the freight act the
officers, directors, agents and employes of
the company are made guilty and upon con
viction each may be punished by Imprison
ment in the county jail for a period not ex
ceeding 10 days. Earn violation would be
a separate offense and therefore might re
sult in imprisonment for the various agents
of the company who would dare disobey for
a trm of 90 days each for each offense.
Disobedience to the passenger rate act
renders the party guilty of a felony and
subjoct to a nne not exceeding $.V00 or
imprisonment in the iate prison for pe
riod not exceeding five years or both fine
and imprisonment. The sale of each ticket
above the price permitted by the act would
be a violation thereof. It would he diffi
cult, if not impossible, for the company to
obtain officers, agents or employes willing
to carry on the?e affairs except in obedi
ence to the act and orders In question. The
company itself would also, in case of diso
bedience, be liable to immense fines pro
vided for in violating orders of the com
pany. The company In ordrr to test tho
validity -of -the arts must find, some agent
or employe to disobey them at the rik
stated. The necessary effect and result
of such legislation must be to preclude a
resort to the courts either state or Fed
eral for the purpose of testing Its validity.
The officers and employe could not be ex
pected to disobey any of the provisions of
the acts or orders at the risk of such fines
and penalties being imposed upon them, in
case the court should decide that the law
was valid. The result would be a denial
of any hearing to the company.
A law which Indirectly achieves a like
result by imposing such conditions upon the
right to appeal for judicial -relief as work
an abandonment of the right, rather than
face the conditions upon which it is offer
ed or may be obtained, is also unconsti
tutional. It may therefore be said that
when the penalties for disobedience are by
fines so enormous and imprisonment so
severe as to intimidate the company and
Its officers from resorting to the courts to
test the validity of the legislation, the re
sult is the same as If the law in turn pro
hibited the company from seeking judicial
construction of laws which deeply affect
its rights.
How Young Tested Law.
The proceeding In- Mr. Young's case'
grew out of an effort by the Minnesota
Federal Court on May 51 last to restrain
Mr. Young and other state officials from
executing or attempting to execute the
rate law. Certain stockholders of the
Northern Pacific Railway Company filed
a suit asking for an injunction to pro
hibit the state officials from carrying
the law into effect, on the ground that
the rate fixed was so low as to make
impossible returns to the company on its
investment.
The injunction was granted on Septem
ber 23, on the ground that the law was
confiscatory, and its promulgation was
immediately followed by the commence
ment of an action by Mr. Young in tho
Ramsey County State District Court, In
which that court was asked to direct the
issuance of a writ of mandamus com
manding the Northern Pacific Company
to comply with the rate law." The state
court immediately issued the writ, in
compliance with Mr. Young's petition,
and this proceeding precipitated a sharp
conflict between the Federal and the
state courts.
Mr. Young was summoned before the
former to give an account of his defiance
of the court's injunction, and, failing to
make a satisfactory explanation, he was
subjected to a fine of $100 for contempt j
of court, and at the same time ordered
to dismiss the case in the state court.
Refusing either to pay the fine or to dis
miss the case. Mr. Young Immediately
brought the case to the Supreme Court
of the United States, on a petition for a
writ of habeas corpus. He based his pe
tition upon the ground that the United
Concluded on Page 2
7 ' 4i
JOHNSON WANTS
THE NdiTl
Authorizes Statement
of Position.
MADE NO DEAL WITH BRYAN
Decides to Kill Rumors and
Become Candidate.
FAVORITE SON OF STATE
Wellman Ends Governor's Doubts
and Commits Him to Enter
- Contest at Penver Will
Not Lecture Yet.
By Walter Wellman, to Chicago Record
Herald. . ST. PAUL, March 2S. (Special.) Gov
ernor John A. Johnson Is a candidate
for the Presidential nomination of tho
Democratic party. He authorised me to
make this statement in his behalf.
He is something less than an aggressive
candidate, in that he is making and will
make no organized, systematic effort to
secure the nomination. He is something
more than areceptive candidate, because
in a quiet and dignified way he and his
friends axe looking after his interests, and
because the Governor and his friends will
control the delegation ''from this state to
the Denver convention and Minnesota,
with substantially unanimous voice, will
present her candidate, "the man who can
win at the polls," to the National De
mocracy. Silences Many Rumors.
Governor Johnson authorized) this an
nouncement to he made, because I
pointed out to him that almost every
where in the country great' uncertainty'
exists si to his present attitude. . and
future course. So many rumors and con-'
flicting statements concerning him have
been in circulation that the people do not
know what to believe. It has been said
that he -not only would not be a candi
date, but that he would soon formally
forbid the use of his name as a candi
date against Mr. Bryan; that he had an
understanding with Mr. Bryan, by which
he was not to oppose the Nebraskan, but
if the latter failed of npmination he was
to throw his strength to Mr. Johnson;
that the Governor was afraid to come
out as a candidate on account of the
danger of incurring Mr. Bryan's enmity;
that he has made a contract with the
Slayton Lyceum Bureau for platform
work of a very profitable character and
that he Is, therefore, content to wait
another four years before entering the
National political field.
No Agreement With Bryan.
Governor Johnson and I talked of all
these matters with the greatest frank
ness oj his part. He said he had no
understanding of any sort with Mr.
Bryan. It Is true, he said, that there was
warrant for some of the rumors that he
contemplated issuing a statement that
under no circumstances would" he be a
candidate, because it is only within the
past few hours that he has definitely de
termined what his course was to be.
WINNER OP BOURNE'S- $1000
Judge Norcross, of Nevada, Writes
Best Essay on Third Term.
WASHINGTON, March 23. Senator
Bourne today announced that he has
awarded Frank H. Norcross, Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada,
the 11000 prize for the best essay on a sec
ond elective term.
Many Want Bryan's Seat.
PENSACOLA. Fla.. March 23. Specula
tion is rife here as to whom Governor
Broward will name as the successor to
United States Senator William J. Bryan,
who died yesterday. The Florida cam
paign is now in full blast, with three
candidates for United States Senator
Congressman, William B. Lamar, of
Monticello; John C. Bard, of Pensacola,
and Albert GilchriBt, of Jacksonville. It
is---not believed the Governor will name
any of these, and the selection may be
State Senator Thomas West, of Santa
Rosa. Ex-Senator Samuel Pasco, of Mon-
m
tjitetire R. W. Peckham, of the
l otted States Supreme Court, Who
Rendered Decision Against Hta-te
Railroad Rate Laws.
ticello, was an applicant for the position
when Mr. Bryan wag named, and it is
believed he will again apply.
SECRET MARRIAGE LEARNED
MME. ELLEN COURSES ROECKEL
WEDS PUPIL.
Sieger Slips Away With Young"Kng.
lishman and Ceremony Is
Performed.
SAN FRANCISCO. March 23. (Spe
cial.) Friends of Madame Ellen Coursen
Roeckel. the well-known singer, learned
today of her secret marriage last month
to Phillip Davis, a young Englishman
and one of her pupils. Madame Roeck
el's first husband, the ' late J oseph
Roeckel. was a composer of songs.
One day last month Madame Roeckel
and Davis went quietly to San Mateo
and were married in - the Episcopal
Church. Madame Roeekel-Davis has
three children, all singers. Mrs. Walter
Reed, a well-known church singer of
Portland, is a sister.
Dynamite for Prohl Paper.
ROCK ISLAND. III., March 23. The
Daily - News office was dynamited early
today and the pressroom was badly dam
aged. The paper has been attacking the
gamblers and those advocating local li
cense. No one was injured.
The News was founded 30 years ago by
John Looney, a lawyer and politician.
Looney was Indicted last June on numer
ous counts for alleged conspiracy, extor
tion and criminal libel, but has not been
convicted on counts that have so far
come to trial.
COfiEflli
SHOOTS
STEVENS THRICE
Attempt.to Slay Ameri
can Diplomat.
HATRED OF JAPAN THE CAUSE
Interview Arouses. Fury of
Young Students.
RECOVERY IS PROBABLE
Would-Be Assassin in Excitement
Mortally Wounds Compatriot.
Glories in Deed and Tells
"Wrongs" of Corea.
' WHAT STEVENS SAID.
"The Coran people have been
greatly benefited by Japanese pro
tection. "Japan is doing for Corea what
America is doing for the Philip
pines. "Yon can cet some id ea of the
condition before the war from the
statement that the government was
spending 3,000,000 yen annually on
a standing army and 60,000 yen on
public education. The people are
divided Into two classes, the peas- .
an try and the official classes. The
peasants have 'welcomed the Japa
nese, while the official olaae haa
not. but even the officials are be
ginning to see that the only hope
for the country 4le in reorgani- J
sation of the old institutions." I
SAX FRANCISCO, March 23. With tho
revolver of the' would-be assassin con
cealed in a handkerchief, D. W. Stevens,
formerly Counsellor to the Japanese Em
bassy at Washington, but for several
years Diplomatic Adviser to the Corean
government at Seoul, was shot and ser
iously wounded this morning as he was
about to leave for Washington.
Three shots1 were- fired, at Mr. Stevens
front a 32-caliber revolver by I. W. Chang,
a diminutive Corean. The first bullet
missed the Diplomat .and accidentally
struck and perhaps fatally wounded M.
W. Chun, one of the three or four Co
re ana who were lying- in wait for Mr.
Steyens with the intention of killing him,
and who, a moment before, had struck
him a vicious blow in the face. The other
two shots took effect in Mr. Stevens back,
one bullet striking him under the fight
shoulder blade near the spinal column and
the second a few Inches lower. While the
wounds are serious, it is said that the
chances for Mr. Stevens' recovery are
good.
Plans Carefully Ufa id.
The attempted assassination, which evi
dently had been well planned, took place
at tho Ferry Station at 9:30 o'clock this
morning Just as Mr. Stevens, accompanied
by Mr. Chozo Koike, . the Japanese Con
sul -General, was about to take the ferry
connecting with the overland train for
the Bast, where he expected to spend an
extended vacation with his sisters in
Washington and Atlantic City.
The motive for the murderous attack
apparently arises out of the resentment
of a small group of local Coreans to the
Japanese protectorate over Corea, who
sought to avenge their country for the
important part played in the reorganiza
tion of its government by Mr. Stevens.
Mr. Stevens arrived from the Orient last
Friday on the Japanese steamer Nippon
Maru. Last night he was attacked at
the Fairmount Hotel by a delegation of
four or five Coreans 'who had called to
see him with reference to an interview
in which ho had praised the work of the
Japanese in Corea.
Three Bullets Hit Stevens.
This morning as lie ami Mr. Koike
stepped from an auto-bus at the Ferry
station, three or four T'on-ans were
waiting for him. As the Consul-General
stepped to the front of the bus to look
after some baggage, one of the Coreans,
later Identified as Chun, stepped up and
struck Mr. Stevens a vicious blow in the
face. The diplomatist immediately
started in pursuit of his asssailant, when
Chang drew from his pocket what to
several witnesses appeared to be merely
a handkerchief, but they were quickly
undeceived as three shots in rapid suc-
T .
Mrs, f rederic Schoft", of Washington,
re-KIected President of Mothers
Congress.
cession came from it, directed at Mr.
Stevens. The would-be assassin, in the
excitement of the moment, apparently
forgot that orre of his companions was
In line with the aim he. was taking. The
first shot missed the diplomatist and
brought Chun down With a bullet
through the right lung. The other two
were better directed and struck Mr.
Stevens. Mr. Koike immediately went
to the latter's assistance and helped him
to an automobile, which rushed him to
the Harbor Emergency Hospital only a
block away.
' Assassin Promptly " Caught
Dropping his revolver, with the hand
kerchief still wrapped around it, Chang
and his third companion started to flee.
The other Corean escaped, but tho
would-be murderer . was quickly sur
rounded by a mob of more than BOO peo
ple and taken In charge by police offi
cers. Chun, the wounded Corean, was
picked up by the police and also taken
to the Harbor Hospital, where his
wounds and those of Mr. Stevens were
temporarily dressed by Dr. Reben Hill.
The diplomatist and the wounded Co
rean, upon whom a loaded revolver of
a cheap pattern was found, were then
laid side by side in the same ambu
lance and hurried to the Central Emer
gency Hospital.
. Stevens Will Recover.
After an examination, the surgeons
stated that there were no indlcationa
that .Mr. Stevens lungs were pene
trated or that the lower bullet had
entered the abdomen. He declared his
chances for recovery to be good. In
the afternoon Mr. Stevens was removed
to the St. Francis Hospital.
Chun, the wounded Corean, is at tlio
Central Emergency Hospital, and his
recovery Is not expected. He denied
that he knew Chang, and declared that
Mr. Stevens fired the shot which
wounded him. As the latter was not
(Concluded on Page 8.)
CONTENTS TODAY'S PAPER
The Weather.
YESTERDAY Maximum temperature, 66
degrees; minimum, 49 degrees.
TODAY Showers; southwest winds.
Foreign.
French Countess accused of leading gang of
hotel burglars. Page 1. -Promoter
In Paris accused of $12,000,000
ewlndfe. Page l.
Furious Chinese bqycott Japan. Page 1.
National.
Amendment to anti-trust law introduced.
Page 4. v
House cuts Sulzer's speech from record.
Page 2.
Supreme Court annuls railroad rate laws of
Minnesota and North Carolina. Page 1.
China invites fleet to her port. Page 4.
Politic.
Johnson declares his candidacy. Page 1.
Taft and Takahira speak on relations with
Japan. Page 4.
Domestic.
Interstate Commission show panic haa not
nurt railroads. Page 3.
Graat storm in Southern states. Page 2.
Bingham orders inquiry into gambling and
graft in New York. Page 2.
Sport.
Beavers in practice at San Luis. Page 7.
American auto in California. Page 5.
Pacific Coaat.
Corean fanatic seriously wounds r. W. Ste
vens for favoring Japan. Page 1.
Marsh confesses perjury In Los Angeles land
fraud case. Page 3.
Convict labor problem stirs Marlon Demo
crats to heated debate. Page 0.
Master of Oregon Grange proposes amend
ment to Oregon' initiative law. Page 6.
Salem saloonmen don't speak to Mayor
Rodgers. Page .
Portland and Vicinity.
Mayor Lane and B. S. Josselyn discuss
municipal lighting. Page
Vehicle tax ordinance attacked under refer
endum. Page 10.
Registration passes the , 23.000 mark.
Page 13.
Board of Education lets contract for new
Peninsular school. Page 11.
Contractor demand interest on money due
from city. Page 10.
Two vessels are fixed for new crop load
ing at Portland. Page ltf.
COUNTESS
PROVES
BURGLARS' QUEEN
CharmingWoman Robs
Many Hotels.
SHOWS WEALTH AND JEWELS
LeadsBand of Male Robbers
Through France.
LOOT IS OF GREAT VALUE '
Countess of Monteil and .'Male Con-,
federates Captured Wailcr Pro
motes l-'ake Companies
in France.
PARIS, March ;3. A scries of mys
terious hotel robberies on the Riviera,
extending over many years, lias beea
explained by the arrest of the eharm
iniar " but masquerading Countess of
Monteil. For years the Countess of
Monteil has entertained lavishly both,
at Paris and tlieHiviera. Her wealth
and jewels have drawn comment and
admiration from far and near.
Now she is declared one of the most
ingenious, successful and audacious
hotel thieves that has ever troubled
the hotel proprietors of France. Her
arrest at Nice reveals her not as the
captivating, brilliant Countess, but as
a thoroughly up-to-date burglar, car
rying concealed in her bewitching gar
ments an array of burglare'jmplements
of intricate workmanship, which
opened to her any hotel room on the
Riviera which she knew to contain the
coveted wealth of money and valuables.
The detectives will seek to prove
that the masquerading Countess was in
fact the active director of a band of
hotel robbers, mostly men, some of J
whom have been arrested, and whose
aggregate of loot" is of great value.
GETS $12,000,000 BY SWINDLES
French Walter Develops Into Giant
Bogus Company Promoter.
PARIS, March 23. A sensation has
heen caused by the arrest here this af
ternoon of a man named Henri Ko
chette on the charge of conducting
successful swindles on an enormous
scale. Rochette 'was at one time a
waiter in an obecure French town. He
came to Paris to seek his fortune, in
which he. was eminently successful, so
long as he could keep out of the
clutches of the law. He founded the
Franco-Spanish Bank, and floated not
leas than a dozen mining enterprises,
in which he was a director and n
which tock was eagerly purchased by
French investors.
It now develops that his methods
were fraudulent, and the complaint
against him alleges that he has stolen
ovei- ?1 2.000,000, through the medium
of his various companies and societies.
T IS
CUtXA VERY BITTER AGAINST
- JAPANESE.
Posters Stuck I'p in Hongkong Also
Incite People Against Govern
ment Blood Prophesied.
HONGKONG. March 23. The boycott
crusade is growing. Envelopes are stuck
on all the walls reading:
"The Japanese are a barbarous hum
bug." "The Chinese government does not love
the people, who are now weeping."
"The Chinese will cause a bloody boy
cott of the Japanese immediately and can
see the annihilation which is expected
within a few years."
TATSU INCIDENT AS A CLt'B
Chinese Reform Element Using It
Against Government.
'PEKIN, March 23. Japan has asked
China to take such steps as may be ne
cessary to prevent a boycott on Japanese
goods in China and to put an end to the
anti-Japanese agitation growing out of
the Tatsu Maru incident. This agitation
was manifested last week at Canton
where there were several large meeting.,
at which resolutions declaring that the
anniversary of the release of the steamer
Tatsu Maru be observed as a day of
mourning, and proclaiming a boycott on
Japanese goods were adopted.
The native guilds and the press are
giving prominence to sensational reports
of the Canton demonstrations against
Japan, indicating a widespread attempt
to use the Tatsu Maru case against the
Pekin government as well as against
Japan.
It is believed that a dozen or more of
the men recently taken Into custody on
the charge of agitating for reform have
been executed, the particular allegation
against them being that they had traf
ficked in governmental secrets.
Denies Japanese-Spanish Entente.
MADRID. March 3. Premier Maura
today denied the report current here
last week that Prince Kinoyoshi Kunl
has come to Spain with the object of
arranging a Japanese-Spanish entente.