Venner v. New York Central and Hudson River Rd. Co.

Appeal from a judgment of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the second judicial department, entered March 14, 1917, affirming a judgment in favor of defendants entered upon a dismissal of the complaint by the court on trial at Special Term. The action was brought for the purpose of preventing and, so far as accomplished, of undoing a consolidation (agreement executed April 29, 1914) of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company, whose railroad began at New York city and ended at Buffalo, with the Lake Shore and Michigan Central Railway Company, whose line began at Buffalo and ended at Chicago and other western points, and of nine other railroad companies owning branch lines, all of them together representing a capitalization of over $900,000,000, which consolidation had been approved by all the public service and public utilities commissions whose approval was required, and by the interstate commerce commission. The basis of the plaintiff, appellant’s attack was that the consolidation was in violation of the Federal Anti-Trust Acts and various constitutional provisions and acts of the states through which the railroads of the consolidated company extend, forbidding the -consolidation of parallel and competing lines of railroad and forbidding the creation of monopolies. ,