The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 1, 1902, Page 1

Dxnited States Said to Be Egging On VOLUME XCL—NO 32, SAN FRANCISCO, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 1902. PRICE FIVE CENTS. ILL TRIUMPHS IN THE FEDERAL COURT! - e VENEZUELA’S PRESIDENT DECLARES BRITISH SHIP BAN RIGH IS A PIRATE Offers Letters of Marq ue to Any Vessel That Will Undertake the Capture of Craft Carrying Arms for the Revolutionists Special Cable to The Call and the New York Herald. Copyright, 1801, by the Herald Publishing Company. <y ARACAS, Dec. 3L—President Cas- tro has issued a decree by \ hich the British steamship Ban RY e 1 declared to be a because she is carrying tion for the Venezuelan er the leadership of Matos. Castro decrees grant letters of zuelan or foreign g to make an effort igh, and that he will e Ban Righ's cargo to effect capture. AGREEMENT WITH GERMANY. Eaiser Acting i;;’ull Accord With American Attitude. —Presi- German | Venezuelan custom- as to the attitude he | y attempts to e has an- has been made by ter Bowen, in Caracas. overthrown | now” in progress or iggestions are adopt- be compelled to use | herself in La Guayra. | Castro’s known | Venezuelans in t the few hundred be landed will | yra, even un- | f war. Ad- t German settlement | the Berlin | me lead the | La Guayra | some e 1 the L‘m:edj ¥ be drawn into complications,. for the bably not favor the | ng German army on| y does not led with this ked con- | her diff- | no doubt | @evelop- Herr von Hol- | assador, have ex- | s embodying | des of their | is im- declare: | von Holleben—Germa T occupy- e taking of = the United | Stete a B desire to | p e r subjects, | whick 2 failed y, and to | t 2 ing eo- | er € es will | e of custom- into an ar- | at will be | t tion of Ger- ezuela. The United States 1 retary Hay rally prefer that all need for on of the Ger programme ng the i ruc- | Minister Bowen is exerting ent Castro to | amicably settle his | y The action ot the time when | ing pressure to of representations e United States, which believes t the revolution | Mendoza will suc- Castro destroy the reyolutior, as | do, the United | and give .Ger- " WANTS CASTRO DISCIPLINED. Berlin Government. c. 31— Dr. O. Schmidt- Minister to Venezuela, which will be about will be done by Herr 2zzi, the German Charge sident Cas- bears in- 90 further. Dr. Schr tructio e earrying’ out thied in t | rcive me s, which probably will | applied wi tour or five weeks 1t tempediate cfforts have fafled in meantime. It is possible, however, t #vents may short is period. Insgmuch s Germgr possessed of | e gadod will of the United States in this atter Baron Richtofen, Imperial Becrethry of Foreign Affairs, desires ‘o | ¥ive President Castro a—*le time to rec- | sgnize this fact, and t \et also that | rmany is really in € t. Germany | will Dot act at the mome. shen a -for- #ign difficulty might streng..en President ted States | | not | | until | | Castro's hold upon his country by unit- ing Venezuelan national feeling against Germany. It is understood at the Foreign Office, here that the United States is not only tolerant. of Germany's purposes toward Venezuela, but pleased that Germany and not the United States is to undertake to discipline Venezuela into paying her debts and keeping ‘faith with foreigners doing business th POPE CELEERATES MASS IN HONOR OF DYING YEAR Te Deums Are Sung in All of the Churches in Rome at Midnight. Bpecial Cable to The Call and New York Her- ald. Copyright, 1901, by the Herald Pub- lishing Company. ROME, Dec. 31.—Pope Leo is apparently enjoying his customary good health. He celebrated mass this-evening in honor of the end of the year. At midnight Te Deums were sung in all the churches. e | REW YEAR'S GIFT OF CASH TO ALL THEITR EMPLOYES J. P. Morgan & Co. Follows the Firm’s Custom at the Close of the Year. | NEW YORK, Dec. 381.—In accordance with the firm’s custom at the close of a prosperous year J. P. Morgan & Co. to- day made-a cash New Year’s-gift to the employes of the firm. In the aggregate the gift amounted to about $100,000. The distribution averaged 75 per cent of the vearly salary of each employe. The older employes got 100 -per cent, while those who had come more recently into.service of the firm got less, 1 VICTORY [ O AR NS ST DRI OF OPPONENTS OF THE RAILWAY MERGER SOON TURNS TO DEFEAT Judge William Lochren Makes a Ruling Which Is Declared to Settle the Legality of the Proposed Consoiidation of Roads INNEAPOLIS, Dec. 3l.—Judge William Lochren of the United ) States Circuit Court to-day dis- solved the temporary injunc- tion issued yesterday in the case of Peter Power against the North- ern Pacific Railway Company by Judge Elliott of the District Court of Hennepin County. The injunction which was dissolved by | the order of Judge Lochren restrained the Northern Pacific from issuing any evidences of indebtedness to retire the preferred stock of the company, or to re- tire the preferred stock in any other ran- ner than by the use of the surplus net carnings of the road. It also restrained the Northern Pacific and its officers from entering into any agreement or doing any. act by which the road would be consolidated or merged, through the me- dium of the Northern Securities Com- pany, with the Great Northern and the Burlington, or either of them. Refuses to Stay Proceedings. After the decision was made orally by Judge Lochren at-the close .of a day's argument by the attorneys for both sides an effort’ was made by the plaintiff's at- torneys to have ‘the court fix the aiaount of bond which would be required in order to appeal from the decision and to stay all further proceelings in the lower | court pending the appeal. . Judge Loch- ren refused to allow a supersedeas bond in any amount to be given. Attorney W. A. Lancaster, representing Mr. Pow- er, the plaintiff, asked in court “Does your Honor mean to say t(hat the-damage which would “result to the Northern Pacific Railway. Company if an appeal from your order dissolving the temporary. injunction was taken and a Qupersedeas bond staying proceedings were filed would be so great that.a bond . 7could not be given large enough to reim- *burse the defendant?” “As'thie question of granting asuper- d | sedeas,” the Judge replied, “is discre- | tionary with the court, I decline to per- | mit the staying of the praceeding or the | force of the order by a supersedeas bond | on zppeal.” No Evidence of a Merger. Judge Lochren held that the Northern | Pacific was acting within the authority of its cbarter, of the contract entered into between it and its stockholders, as incor= porated in the certificate of preferred stock and of the agreement entered into on November 13 in attempting to retire the $75,000,000 of preferred stock in the manner alleged by Power. | He held that r | not do indirect! »ad corporations could what the law prevented | them doing directly and that any method | by which consolidation of two or more competing parallel lines would be brought ‘abuut would be illegal and a writ of in- | junction would lie to restrain the consum~ | mation of the that there was | nothing in the case a: ented to him that would indicate that the stockholders of the Northern Pacific Railway Company were attempting such a consolidation or merger. The case was transferred late last night by the Northern Pacific from the State to he Federal Court and an order to show | cause, returnable this morning, why the temporary injunction granted by Judge Elliott should not be dissolved, was ob- tained from Judge Lochren and served late last night upon Powers' attorney. The answer of the defendant was filed in the District Court and the order removing the same to the Federal C was served from Judge Brooks of the Hennepin Dis~ trict Court. Hill Not Caught Napping. The Northern Pac lengthy document of thirty-two type- written pages and ostensibly was pre- pared on a few hours’ notice. All of the legal staff of the railway was on hand at the calling of the case In Judge Lochren’s | court this morning. They were C. W. Bunn, Frank Kellogg aad Former Judge Young of St: Paul. Bunn admitted in his | argument that he and his colleagues wers well prepared to argue the case and had not Leen caught by surprise. Representing, Power were George A. Lamb of Lamb & Guernsey, New York; Mr. Moore of Buckley, Gray & Moore, Chicago, and Attorneys Lancaster, Belden and Boutell of Minneapolis. Power's attorneys to-night authorized the statement that the fight had just com- menced and that they would appeal to the United States Supreme Court. Counsel Claim Big Victory. Judge Lochren, in his decision, makes a ruling which the attorneys of J. J. Hill maintain settles the question of the le- gality of the proposed merger. Said the court; “If the Northern Pacific Rallroad never thought of consolidation, but to pay off | the preferred stockholders and issue common stock, it had authority to 'de | that, and that of itselt would certainiy | have no tendency toward consolidation. “It is claimed that it would place cer- tain persons who are alleged to be ma- nipulating these stocks with a view to consolidation or merger in a position in which they would be enabled to carry out their schemes better than if there was not a retiring of the preferred stock. That is asserted. I do not see that it very clearly appears from any of the facts that are set forth. “The mere scheme of retiring of the preferred stock could be carried out just as fully if.\for instance, the Northern Securities Company had never been thought of. The same persons who own the common stock now own it without any reference to the Northern Securities | Company. “It is not very clear to me why they could not manage these three companies with as much reference to doing away with competition without any such com- pany bling formed as with it. If the same persons own all or substantially all 6 the stock of both companies, I do not see tha necessity of forming that company sim- ply for the purpose of carrying that pur- pose out. They might do it just as well without it. “But I do not see that the retiring of the preferred stock has anything to do of itself, naturally, with the formation of the Necrthern Securities Company, if that is an illegal conception. Of itself the re- tirement of the stock is a lawful pur- pose, something that might properly be done.” s answer was a e GOVERNORS TO GIVE BATTLE. Decide to Bring Suits to Prevent Rail- way Cqnsolidation. HELENA, Mont., Dec. 3L—A definite plan of action to defeat the proposed con- solidation of the Northern Pacific, Great Northern and Burlington Railway systems was to-day unanimously agreed upon by the Governors and Attorneys Gemeral of five Northwestern States in which those roads have mileage. Legal action will be instituted immediately in the Minnesota courts with this object in view, and, to quote Attorney Genmeral Douglass of Minnesota, “the thing will be fought to a finish.” 7 Just how, when ‘or where these suits will be brought, neither Governor Van Sant of Minnesota nor Attorney General Douglass would state. The conference ad- journed late this afternoon after adopting resolutions condemning the proposed merger as contrary to sound public policy l Continued on Page Twes 1 ° 1