Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 November 1907 — SANTA FE HEAVILY FINED. [ARTICLE]

SANTA FE HEAVILY FINED.

Lo» Angrlra Jndx« Inflicts Penalty «f f 330,000 for Giving Rebates. A fine of $330,000 was imposed on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad by Judge Oil in Wellborn in the United States (District Court at Los Angeles for granting rebates to the Grand Canyon Lime and Cement Company of Arizona on shipments from Nelson, Arlz., to Los Angeles; This sentence follows the conviction of the road on Oct. 11 last by a federal grand jury, which returned a verdict of guilty on sixty-six counts after deliberating only an hour. The punishment represents a penalty of $5,000 for each charge, but falls short of the maximum fine allowed under ths law by $990,000, though it exceeds the minimum by $264,000. Rejecting the Santa Fe’s plea that it was not aware it was breaking the Elkins act, the judge held that the conces■kms had been intentionally and systematically made. Even if the company was ignorant of the law, said the decision, this would imply “a degree of negligence well nigh equivalent to guilty knowledge.” The court also dismissed as unworthy of credence the statement that the sums paid were in recompense for damages to goods in transit.