of the State were overruled.
In March, 1902, a suit was instituted by the United States in the
Circuit Court of the eighth federal district. The judges who sat upon
the case decided unanimously that the acquisition of the stock of the
Northern Pacific and the Great Northern Railways by the Securities
Company was a combination for the restraint of trade among the States,
and therefore a violation of the Sherman act. A decree was issued by the
court prohibiting the company from acquiring any more of the stock of
these roads and from exercising any control over either of the roads in
question.