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Opinion.

The court can not give an accounting without investigating unlawful acts of the parties, and this it will not do. It will leave the parties where it found them.

The accounting is denied.

San Antonio Gas Co. v. State.

54 S. W. Rep., 289.

Statement.

Circuit Court of Appeals of Texas.
November 1, 1899.

All the electric railways, electric light and gas companies in San Antonio, Tex., agreed to charge certain car fare, and not to compete with each other and to consolidate after they had obtained from the city an extension of all their franchises until 1940. The franchises were extended, and other acts done pursuant to the agreement. The State brought an action against the San Antonio Gas Company, a party to the said agreement, to forfeit its charter. Judgment for the State in the lower court, and plaintiff appeals.

Opinion on appeal.

A trust is defined in the statutes as "a combination of capital, skill, or acts by two or more persons, firms or corporations" for purposes enumerated, one being "to increase or reduce the price of merchandise, produce or commodities." "If the combination was made, and its object was in restraint of trade and to create a monopoly, the statute denounces it no matter if the immediate result of the combination may be the temporary reduction of prices. To fix, by combination, a rate lower than one that has prevailed, carries with it the power and ability to establish higher ones, and the object of the statute is to free business and commerce from being controlled by combinations. * The law does not look to the results." It is settled that the trust legislation is constitutional; and a conspiracy was formed within its terms; therefore, the lower court did right in forfeiting the charter.

* *

UTAH.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION.

ARTICLE 12.

§ 20. Any combination by individuals, corporations, or associations, having for its object or effect the controlling of the price of any products of the soil, or of any article of manufacture or commerce, or the cost of exchange or transportation, is prohibited, and hereby declared unlawful, and against public policy. The legislature shall pass laws for the enforcement of this section by adequate penalties, and in case of incorporated companies, if necessary for that purpose, it may declare a forfeiture of their franchise.

[Adopted, May 8, 1895.]

STATUTE.

REVISED STATUTES OF 1898, TITLE 54.

POOLS AND TRUSTS.

§ 1752. Unlawful combination. Any combination by persons having for its object or effect the controlling of the prices of any professional services, any products of the soil, any article of manufacture or commerce, or the cost of exchange or transportation, is prohibited and declared unlawful.

§ 1753 id. Members guilty of conspiracy to defraud.— Any person or association of persons who shall create, enter into, become a member of, or a party to, any pool, trust, agreement, combination, confederation, or understanding with any other person or persons, to regulate or fix the price of any article of merchandise or commodity; or shall enter into, become a member of, or a party to, any pool, trust, agreement, contract, combination, or confederation to fix or limit the amount or quantity of any article, commodity, or merchandise to be manufactured, mined, produced, or sold in this state, shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of a conspiracy to defraud, and be subject to punishment as hereinafter provided.

§ 1754. Trusts declared unlawful.—It shall not be lawful for any corporation to issue or to own trust certificates; or for any corporation, agent, officer, or employe, or the direct

ors or stockholders of any corporation to enter into any combination, contract, or agreement with any person or persons, the purpose or effect of which combination, contract, or agreement shall be to place the management or control of said combination or combinations, or the manufactured product thereof, in the hand of any trustee or trustees, with the intent to limit or fix the price, or lessen the production and sale of any article of commerce, use, or consumption, or to prevent, restrict, or diminish the manufacture or output of any such article, or to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce within this state.

§ 1755. Penalties, firms and corporations.-If a corporation, a company, a firm, or association, shall be found guilty of a violation of any provision of this title, it shall be punished by a fine in any sum not less than one hundred dollars nor more than two thousand dollars for the first offense; and for the second offense not less than five hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars; and for the third offense, not less than five thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars; and for every subsequent offense shall be liable to a fine of fifteen thousand dollars.

§ 1756 id. Individuals.—Any president, manager, director, or other officer, agent, or receiver of any corporation, company, firm or association, or any member of any company, firm, or association, or any individual found guilty of a violation of any provision of this title, may be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or by confinement in the county jail not more than one year, or by both, in the discretion of the court before which such conviction may have been had.

§1757. Unlawful contracts void.-Any contract or agreement in violation of any provision of this title shall be absolutely void.

§ 1758. Corporate franchise forfeited.-Any corporation organized or existing under the laws of this state which shall violate any provision of this title shall thereby forfeit its corporate rights and franchises, and its corporate existence shall thereupon cease and determine.

§ 1759 id. Notice to corporation.-It shall be the duty of the secretary of state, upon satisfactory evidence that any corporation or association of persons, incorporated or operating under the laws of this state, has entered into any

trust, combination or association, as mentioned in the preceding provisions of this title to give notice to such corporation that unless it withdraws from and severs all business connections with said trusts, combination, or association, its corporate right and franchise will be revoked at the expiration of thirty days from the date of such notice.

§ 1760 id. Attorney-general to bring action, when.At the expiration of thirty days, if such withdrawal or severance be not theretofore made, the secretary of state shall cause a certified statement of the facts to be filed in the office of the attorney-general of the state, who shall commence, or direct any county attorney in the state to commence, an action, in any district court of the state of competent jurisdiction, to forfeit and revoke the corporate rights and franchises of such corporation. On the final decision of the same, should the defendant be found guilty of a violation of any of the provisions of this title, the court shall render judgment that the charter, corporate rights, and franchises of such corporation be revoked and the secretary of state shall thereupon make publication of such revocation in four newspapers in general circulation in four of the largest cities of the state.

§ 1761. Guilty person liable for treble damages. In case any person or persons, shall do, cause to be done, or permit to be done, any act, matter, or thing in this title prohibited or declared to be unlawful, such person or persons shall be liable to the person or persons injured thereby for treble the amount of damages sustained in consequence of any such violation.

§ 1762. "Person" includes "corporation."-The words "person," or "persons," wherever used in this title shall be deemed to include corporations, companies, and associations, existing under or authorized by the laws of either the United States, or any of the territories, any state or any foreign country.

WASHINGTON.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION.

ARTICLE 12.

§ 22. Monopolies and trusts shall never be allowed in this state, and no incorporated company, copartnership, or association of persons in this state shall directly or indirectly combine or make any contract with any other incorporated company, foreign or domestic, through their stockholders, or the trustees, or assignees of such stockholders, or with any copartnership or association of persons, or in any manner whatever, for the purpose of fixing the price or limiting the production or regulating the transportation of any product or commodity. The legislature shall pass laws for the enforcement of this section by adequate penalties, and in case of incorporated companies, if necessary for that purpose, may declare a forfeiture of their franchise.

[Adopted, 1889.]

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