Harriman v. Northern Securities Co., 197 U.S. 244 (1905)
Harriman v. Northern Securities Company
No. 512
Argued March 1, 2, 1905
Decided March 6, 1905
Opinion delivered April 3, 1905
197 U.S. 244
CERTIORARI TO THE CIRCUIT COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
Syllabus
After affirmance of the decree in the Northern Securities Case, 193 U.S. 197, adjudging the combination illegal under the Anti-Trust Act, the corporation adopted a resolution reducing its capital stock and distributing the surplus of assets created by the reduction and consisting of shares of the Northern Pacific and Great Northern Railway Companies ratably among its stockholders. Complainants objected to the pro rata distribution and insisted that the Northern Pacific stock they had delivered to the Securities Company was not so delivered in pursuance of an absolute sale, but to be held in trust; that they were entitled to have their stock returned to them; that the decree in the government suit practically so adjudicated, and that, as they acted in good faith, believing that the original contract was not within the prohibitions of the Anti-Trust Act, the doctrine of in pari delicto did not apply.
The circuit court granted a temporary injunction against pro rata distribution, and the circuit court of appeals reversed the order and practically disposed of the entire case adversely to complainants. This Court granted a writ of certiorari. Held that:
Where the decree of the circuit court of appeals in an action in equity only reverses an order of the circuit court granting an injunction, but the court, the record presenting the whole case, practically disposes of the entire controversy on the merits, certiorari may issue from this Court and this Court may finally dispose of it by its direction to the circuit court.
The decree of the circuit court in the Northern Securities case, affirmed by this Court, 193 U.S. 197, did not determine the quality of the transfer as between the defendants, and the provisions therein as to return of shares of stock transferred to it by the railway stockholders were permissive only, and not an adjudication that any of the vendors were entitled to a restitution of their original railway shares.
The judgment of this Court affirming the decree of the circuit court in the Northern Securities case went no further than the decree itself, and while it leaves the circuit court at liberty to proceed in the execution of its decree as circumstances may require, it does not operate to change the decree or import a power to do so not otherwise possessed.
General expressions in an opinion which are not essential to dispose of a case are not permitted to control the judgment in subsequent suits.
Nothing in the judgment or opinion of this Court in the Northern Securities case, 193 U.S. 197, enlarged the scope of the decree of the circuit court so as to make it an adjudication that any of the vendors of railway stocks were entitled to judicial restitution of the stocks transferred by them to the Securities Company, or that the Securities Company could not distribute the shares of railway stock held by it pro rata between its own shareholders.
The transaction between complainants and the Northern Securities Company was one of purchase and sale of Northern Pacific Railway Company stock for shares of stock of the Securities Company and cash, and not a bailment or trust.
When a vendor testifies that the transaction was an unconditional sale and that he attached to his negotiations no other conditions than that of price, he is estopped from afterwards denying that this is a statement of fact and claiming that he only swore to a conclusion of law.
Property delivered under an executed illegal contract cannot be recovered back by any party in pari delicto, and the courts cannot relax the rigor of this rule where the record discloses no special considerations of equity, justice, or public policy.
The fact that the complainants in this case acted in good faith and without intention to violate the law does not exempt them from the doctrine of in pari delicto. All the parties having supposed the statute would not be held applicable to the transaction, neither can plead ignorance of the law as against the other, and the defendant secured no unfair advantage in retaining the consideration voluntarily delivered for the price agreed.
Where a vendor, after transferring shares of railway stock to a corporation in exchange for its shares, becomes a director of the purchasing corporation and participates in acts consistent only with absolute ownership by it of the railway stocks, and does so after an action has been brought to declare the transaction illegal, his right to rescind the contract and compel restitution of his original railway shares, if it ever existed, is lost by acquiescence and laches.
The Northern Pacific system, taken in connection with the Burlington system, is competitive with the Union Pacific system, and the entire record considered, to deliver to the complainants the Northern Pacific stock claimed by them and distribute the balance of the stock ratably between the other Securities Company stockholders would not only be inequitable, but would tend to smother competition, and thus contravene the object of the Sherman law and the purposes of the suit brought by the government against the Northern Securities Company.
It was the duty of the Securities Company under the decree in the government suit to end a situation which had been adjudged unlawful, and as this could be effected by sale and distribution in cash, or by distribution in kind, the company was justified in adopting the latter method and avoiding the forced sale of several hundred million dollar of stock which would have involved disastrous results.
Edward H. Harriman, Winslow S. Pierce, Oregon Short Line Railroad Company, and the Equitable Trust Company of New York exhibited their bill against the Northern Securities Company in the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of New Jersey April 20, 1904, on which, with accompanying affidavits and exhibits, a restraining order was issued, pending an application for an injunction as prayed in the bill. April 26 an amended bill was filed, and the application for a preliminary injunction was heard May 20, 21, and 23 by Bradford, J., holding the circuit court.
On the fourth day of June, a second amended bill was filed, and on July 15, 1904, Judge Bradford delivered an opinion sustaining the application. 132 F. 464.
The order for injunction was entered August 18, 1904, and an appeal therefrom was prosecuted to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which, on January 3, 1905, reversed the order. 134 F. 331.
Thereupon complainants applied to this Court for the writ of certiorari, which was granted January 30, and the matter advanced for hearing, and heard March 1 and 2. The affirmance of the decree of the circuit court of appeals was announced March 6, it being added that an opinion would be filed afterwards.
The Northern Pacific Railway Company was the successor, through reorganization, of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, and by its charter it was provided that its capital stock might be increased from time to time by a vote of a majority of the stockholders, and that the company might, by a like vote, classify its stock into common and preferred, and might "make such preferred stock convertible into common stock upon such terms and conditions as may be fixed by the board of directors." On July 1, 1896, by the unanimous vote of its then stockholders, the capital stock was increased to $155,000,000, divided into $80,000,000 of common stock and $75,000,000 of preferred stock, and it was resolved
that such preferred stock shall be issued upon the condition that at its option, the company may retire the same, in whole or in part at par, from time to time, on any first day of January prior to 1917.
The plan of reorganization which was adopted provided that, as to the new company, which it was contemplated should acquire the properties and franchises of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, and the issue of preferred stock by it,
the right will be reserved by the new company to retire this stock, in whole or in part at par, from time to time, upon any first day of January during the next twenty years.
All the certificates of stock, whether common or preferred at that time or subsequently issued, contained this clause:
The company shall have the right at its option, and in such manner as it shall determine, to retire the preferred stock, in whole or in part at par, from time to time, upon any first day of January prior to 1917.
The reorganization had been managed by J. P. Morgan & Company, and the directory of the Northern Pacific Railway Company were friendly to that firm. During the same period, the president of the Great Northern Railway Company was James J. Hill, and its directors were friendly to him.
The two companies were friendly to each other, and in April, 1901, acquired the shares of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company.
At this time, the Union Pacific Railway system included the Union Pacific Railway, the railroad of the Oregon Short Line Railroad Company, and the railroad of the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company. The Union Pacific Company was practically the owner of the entire capital stock of the Oregon Short Line Railroad Company, and the latter company was the owner of practically the entire capital stock of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company. The interests in control of the Union Pacific system might properly be called the Harriman interests. Shortly thereafter, at the instance of the Union Pacific Railway Company and with money furnished by that company, the Oregon Short Line company purchased Northern Pacific preferred stock to the amount of $41,085,000, and common stock to the amount of $37,023,000, aggregating $78,100,000 of stock, being a majority of the $155,000,000, total capital stock of the Northern Pacific company as then outstanding. But the preferred stock was subject to retirement at par at the option of the company, and the 370,230 shares of common stock was less than a majority of the total common stock, which majority was held by the Morgan-Hill party.
In October, 1901, complainant Harriman was elected a member of the board of directors of the Northern Pacific Railway Company and James Stillman was reelected. They were also directors of the Union Pacific Railway Company. They both attended a meeting of the Northern Pacific board on November 13, 1901, and Harriman was chosen a member of the executive committee. At this meeting, resolutions were adopted providing for and resulting in the retirement of the preferred stock on January 1, 1902, by the payment of $100 cash for each and every share to each and every holder of record on that day.
These resolutions declared that the company thereby determined to exercise its right to retire the preferred stock; provided that, for the purpose of raising the funds necessary to do so, the company should issue its negotiable bonds for $75,000,000, convertible at par into shares of the common stock of the company at par; authorized the making of a contract for the sale of all of such bonds at par and accrued interest, the contract to contain a provision giving to the holder of every share of the common stock the opportunity to receive from the contract purchaser at par and interest, such bonds to an amount equal to seventy-five eightieths of the par amount of said common stock at such time owned by such holder, and arranged for the retirement from and after December 31, 1901, of the $75,000,000 preferred stock, by the payment to each and every holder of record thereof on January 1, 1902, of $100 cash for each any every share.
On November 15, the executive committee of the Northern Pacific Company authorized the execution of a contract with the Standard Trust Company of New York for the sale and delivery of the convertible certificates for $75,000,000 provided for in the resolutions.
The preferred stock was subsequently taken up in accordance with the plan resolved upon.
The Northern Securities Company was incorporated under the laws of New Jersey in November, 1901, its articles of association having been filed at Trenton on the thirteenth day of that month, with a capital stock of $400,000,000, divided into 4,000,000 shares of the par value of $100 each, and its objects being certified to be:
(1) To acquire by purchase, subscription, or, otherwise, and to hold as investment, any bonds or other securities or evidences of indebtedness, or any shares of capital stock created or issued by any other corporation or corporations, association, or associations, of the State of New Jersey, or of any other state, territory, or country.
(2) To purchase, hold, sell, assign, transfer, mortgage, pledge, or otherwise dispose of, any bonds or other securities or evidences of indebtedness created or issued by any other corporation or corporations, association or associations, of the State of New Jersey, or of any other state, territory, or country, and, while owner thereof, to exercise all the rights, powers, and privileges of ownership.
(3) To purchase, hold, sell, assign, transfer, mortgage, pledge, or otherwise dispose of shares of the capital stock of any other corporation or corporations, association or associations, of the State of New Jersey, or of any other state, territory, or country, and, while owner of such stock, to exercise all the rights, powers, and privileges of ownership, including the right to vote thereon.
(4) To aid in any manner any corporation or association of which any bonds or other securities or evidences of indebtedness or stock are held by the corporation, and to do any acts or things designed to protect, preserve, improve, or enhance the value of any such bonds or other securities or evidences of indebtedness or stock.
(5) To acquire, own, and hold such real and personal property as may be necessary or convenient for the transaction of its business.
The business or purpose of the corporation is from time to time to do any one or more of the acts and things herein set forth.
The corporation shall have power to conduct its business in other states and in foreign countries, and to have one or more offices out of this state and to hold, purchase, mortgage, and convey real and personal property out of this state.
On the fourteenth day of November, 1901, fifteen gentlemen, including complainant Harriman and two other directors of the Union Pacific, James J. Hill, president of the Great Northern, and two members of J. P. Morgan & Company, were elected directors of the Northern Securities Company. Complainant Harriman took his seat at the board, and an executive committee of five was elected, of which he was one.
November 15, resolutions were passed authorizing the purchase of the Northern Pacific stock held by Harriman and Pierce, as follows:
The president stated that he now had an opportunity of acquiring $37,023,000 par value of the common stock, and $41,085,000 par value of the preferred stock, of the Northern Pacific Railway Company at an aggregate price of $91,407,500, payable, as to $82,491,871, in the fully paid-up and nonassessable shares of this company at par, and, as to the remaining $8,915,629, in cash.
On motion, and by affirmative vote of all the directors present, it was
Resolved, That the president be, and hereby he is, authorized, in behalf of this company, to purchase said stock -- namely, $37,023,000 par value of the common stock, and $41,085,000 par value of the preferred stock of the Northern Pacific Railway Company -- at an aggregate price of $91,407,500, payable, as to $82,491,871 thereof, in the fully paid-up and nonassessable shares of the capital stock of this company at par, and, as to $8,915,629, in cash, and that the officers of this company be, and hereby they are, authorized to issue fully paid-up and nonassessable shares of stock of this company to the amount of $82,491,871, and to pay $8,915,629 in cash, in consideration of such $37,023,000 of the common stock and $41,085,000 of the preferred stock of the Northern Pacific Railway Company.
Resolved, That the president be, and hereby he is, authorized at any time to retire at par, for cash, any and all preferred stock of the Northern Pacific Railway Company that may be acquired by this company, and in case such retirement shall be effected prior to January 1, 1902, to allow interest up to January 1, 1902 at the rate of four percent per annum on the sum receivable for such preferred stock.
Resolved, That the president be, and hereby he is, authorized in behalf of this company to purchase at their par value an amount of the convertible certificates of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, to be issued pursuant to the resolutions of the board of directors of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, passed November 13, 1901, equal to seventy-five eightieths of the par amount of any and all common stock of the Northern Pacific Railway Company that shall have been acquired by this company.
Resolved, That the president be, and hereby he is, authorized, in case of the purchase by this company of any of the convertible certificates of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, to convert the same into common stock of the Northern Pacific Railway Company whenever such conversion may be effected.
Resolved, That the president be, and hereby he is, authorized to borrow, on such terms as he may arrange, any moneys required for the purpose of carrying out the foregoing resolutions, and to make all financial arrangements, and to do all acts and things, which he may deem needful in the premises.
Complainant Harriman and his co-directors of the Union Pacific were not present at this meeting, but were present at the next meeting of the board on November 19, at which the minutes of the meeting of November 15 were read and on motion were approved.
At a subsequent meeting of the executive committee, in which Mr. Harriman participated, the form of the company’s permanent stock certificate, being the usual form, was unanimously approved.
In the meantime, and on November 18, Harriman and Pierce had delivered their Northern Pacific stock to the Northern Securities Company, and that company had delivered to them the 824,000 shares of its stock and $8,915,629 in cash.
The Northern Pacific stock certificates received from Harriman and Pierce were surrendered by the Securities Company to the Northern Pacific Railway Company. The certificates for the 370,230 shares of common stock were exchanged for 370,230 shares of common stock issued in the name of the Northern Securities Company. The certificates for the 410,580 shares of preferred stock were surrendered to the Northern Pacific Railway Company for retirement, and paid for and retired as provided, the transaction resulting in the receipt by the Northern Securities Company of certificates for 347,090 shares of new common stock. This made 717,320 shares, and the Securities Company also acquired 820,270 shares, from a large number of separate individual owners. And from a large number of stockholders of the Great Northern 1,181,242 shares of the stock of the latter company.
At a meeting of the board of directors of the Northern Securities Company on January 22, 1903 at which complainant Harriman was present, the sale by the company of 75,000 shares of its own stock for cash was approved. The second amended bill says $7,522,000 "was issued for cash used for the purchase of other property, and for corporate purposes."
From the organization of the Securities Company until the affirmance of the decree in the government suit, hereafter mentioned, complainants continued to exercise the right of holders of 824,000 shares of stock in the Securities Company; received their share of dividends, and gave their proxy to vote at the annual meetings of 1902 and 1903.
July 17, 1902, Harriman and Pierce and the Oregon Short Line Company pledged the 824,000 shares of Northern Securities Company stock to the Equitable Trust Company, the Short Line Company executing a trust indenture, which contained this clause:
The deposit and pledge hereunder of said shares of stock, or of any other securities which shall become subject to this indenture, shall not prevent the consolidation, union, or merger with any other corporation of the Securities Company, or of any other corporation by which said securities shall have been issued, or the sale of its property or the distribution of its assets. In any such case the trustee shall receive such amounts of stock, bonds, or other securities, or money, or of either or all of them, as the holders of the pledged shares of stock of the Securities Company, or other pledged securities, as the case may be, shall be entitled to receive, and, upon receipt thereof, shall surrender the deposited stock certificates or other securities.
March 10, 1902, a bill was exhibited in the Circuit Court of the United States for the district of Minnesota by the United States against the Northern Securities Company, the Northern Pacific Railway Company, the Great Northern Railway Company, James J. Hill, William P. Clough, D. Willis James, John S. Kennedy, J. Pierpont Morgan, Robert Bacon, George F. Baker, and Daniel S. Lamont, to restrain the violation of the Act of Congress of July 2, 1890, 26 Stat. 209, c. 647, entitled "An Act to Protect Trade and Commerce against Unlawful Restraints and Monopolies," which resulted April 9, 1903, in a decision in favor of complainants, 120 F. 721, and a decree as follows:
That the defendants above named have heretofore entered into a combination or conspiracy in restraint of trade and commerce among the several states, such as an act of Congress, approved July 2, 1890, entitled "An Act to Protect Trade and Commerce against Unlawful Restraints and Monopolies," denounces as illegal; that all of the stock of the Northern Pacific Railway Company and all the stock of the Great Northern Railway Company, now claimed to be held and owned by the defendant, the Northern Securities Company, was acquired and is now held by it in virtue of such combination or conspiracy in restraint of trade and commerce among the several states; that the Northern Securities Company, its officers, agents, servants, and employees, be, and they are hereby, enjoined from acquiring, or attempting to acquire, further stock of either of the aforesaid railway companies; that the Northern Securities Company be enjoined from voting the aforesaid stock which it now holds or may acquire, and from attempting to vote it at any meeting of the stockholders of either of the aforesaid railway companies, and from exercising, or attempting to exercise, any control, direction, supervision, or influence whatsoever over the acts and doings of said railway companies, or either of them, by virtue of its holding such stock therein; that the Northern Pacific Railway Company and the Great Northern Railway Company, their officers, directors, servants, and agents, be, and they are hereby, respectively and collectively enjoined from permitting the stock aforesaid to be voted by the Northern Securities Company, or in its behalf, by its attorneys or agents at any corporate election for directors or officers of either of the aforesaid railway companies, and that they, together with their officers, directors, servants, and agents, be likewise enjoined and respectively restrained from paying any dividends to the Northern Securities Company on account of stock in either of the aforesaid railway companies which it now claims to own and hold, and that the aforesaid railway companies, their officers, directors, servants, and agents, be enjoined from permitting or suffering the Northern Securities Company, or any of its officers or agents, as such officers or agents, to exercise any control whatsoever over the corporate acts of either of the aforesaid railway companies. But nothing herein contained shall be construed as prohibiting the Northern Securities Company from returning and transferring to the stockholders of the Northern Pacific Railway Company and the Great Northern Railway Company, respectively, any and all shares of stock in either of said railway companies which said the Northern Securities Company may have heretofore received from such stockholders in exchange for its own stock, and nothing herein contained shall be construed as prohibiting the Northern Securities Company from making such transfer and assignments of the stock aforesaid to such person or persons as may now be the holders and owners of its own stock originally issued in exchange or in payment for the stock claimed to have been acquired by it in the aforesaid railway companies.
The case was brought to this Court, and March 14, 1904, the decree was affirmed. 193 U.S. 197.
March 22, 1904, the board of directors of the Northern Securities Company adopted the following preamble and resolutions:
Whereas, in the course of its business, this company has acquired, and now holds 1,537,594 shares in the capital stock of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, and 1,181,242 shares in the capital stock of the Great Northern Railway Company; and
Whereas, in a suit brought by the United States against this company, the said railway companies, and others, this company has been enjoined from voting upon the shares of either of the said railway companies, and each of the said railway companies has been enjoined from paying to this company any dividends upon any of the shares of such railway company held by this company; and
Whereas, this company has issued, and there are now outstanding, 3,954,000 shares of its own capital stock; and
Whereas, this company desires and intends to comply with the decree in the said suit, fully and unreservedly, and without delay:
Resolved, in consideration of the premises, it is declared necessary and desirable for this company so to reduce its present stock as will enable it, without delay, in connection with such reduction, to distribute among its shareholders the shares of capital stock of said railroad companies held by it.
Resolved, that the board of directors of this company hereby declares it advisable that article (Fourth) of this company’s certificate of incorporation be amended, so as to read as follows:
Fourth. The capital stock of this company is hereby reduced to three million nine hundred and fifty-four thousand dollars ($3,954,000), and shall hereafter be three million nine hundred and fifty-four thousand dollars ($3,954,000), divided into thirty-nine thousand five hundred forty (39,540) shares of one hundred dollars ($100) each. Such reduction of capital stock shall be accomplished by each holder of outstanding shares of this company’s stock surrendering to the company, for retirement, ninety-nine (99) percentum of the shares held by him.
Upon the surrender to this company, by any shareholder, of the entire number of shares, and parts of shares, of this company’s stock, which he is hereby required to surrender, this company will assign to him, for each share so surrendered, thirty-nine dollars and twenty-seven cents ($39.27) of the stock of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, and thirty dollars and seventeen cents ($30.17) of the preferred stock of the Great Northern Railway Company, and proportional amounts thereof for fractional shares of the stock of this company.
The board of directors or executive committee from time to time shall make such rules and regulations as it shall deem necessary or convenient for carrying out the provisions hereof and all matters pertaining to the surrender and retirement of the stock of this company, or to the assignment and transfer of the stocks of the said railway companies, hereby contemplated, shall be under the direction of the board. For the purposes hereof, the stockholders of this company, and the number of shares held by them, respectively, shall be determined from the stock transfer books of the company, which, for such determination, shall be closed at a day and hour to be determined by resolution of the board.
Resolved, that a meeting of the stockholders of this company, for the purpose of taking action upon the said alteration of the certificate of incorporation of this company, and also upon such other business as may come before the meeting, be, and is hereby called, to be held at the general offices of this company in the City of Hoboken, County of Hudson, and State of New Jersey at 11 o’clock A.M., on April 21, A.D. 1904.
Notice was accordingly given that the meeting of the stockholders would be held on April 21, and a copy of the resolutions and an explanatory letter were sent to the Attorney General of the United States. Early in April, the three principal complainants in the present suit presented to the Circuit Court for the District of Minnesota their petition for leave to intervene in the suit of the United States against the Northern Securities Company, setting up substantially the same grounds as in this suit, and seeking similar relief. This application was heard at St. Paul April 12 and 13. The government appeared by the Attorney General, and filed a declaration that it was satisfied with the relief granted. April 19, 1904, the court rendered its decision, denying leave to intervene. 128 F. 808.
Up to April 18, 1904, the Securities Company had issued 86,945 certificates of stock and there had been 16,000 transfers registered on the books of the company. At the closing of the transfer books on that day, there were 3,953,971 shares of stock outstanding in the hands of 2,531 separate holders.
The meeting of the stockholders of the Northern Securities Company was duly held April 21, 1904, and at that meeting the stock of the company was reduced 99 percent, and the proposed pro rata distribution of the stock of the Northern Pacific Railway Company and of the preferred stock of the Great Northern Railway Company, to and amongst the shareholders of the Northern Securities Company, was assented to. Two million nine hundred and forty-four thousand seven hundred and forty shares were represented, and all voted for the plan adopted by the directors.
As has been stated, the second amended bill was filed after the hearing on the application for the preliminary injunction, and it was therein alleged, among other things, that the Northern Securities Company was incorporated and organized in pursuance of a combination in restraint of trade and commerce among the several states; that the said company was to
acquire and permanently hold a majority of the shares of the capital stock of said Great Northern and Northern Pacific companies and control the operation and management thereof in perpetuity, and that the then existing holders of such railway shares should deposit the same with said holding company and receive in lieu thereof share certificates of said holding company upon the basis of $180 par value of its stock for each share of Great Northern stock and $115 par value of its stock for each share of Northern Pacific stock, and that said holding company should act as custodian, depositary, or trustee of said railway shares on behalf of the existing stockholders of said railway companies and their assigns.
That, prior to the incorporation of said Northern Securities Company, your orator Oregon Short Line Railroad Company had acquired and at the time of the incorporation and organization of said Securities Company owned, $37,023,000 par value of the common stock and $41,085,000 par value of the preferred stock of the defendant Northern Pacific Railway Company represented by certificates issued to and registered in the name of your orators Harriman and Pierce, and that, after the incorporation of the said Northern Securities Company had been resolved upon as aforesaid, your orators Harriman, Pierce, and Oregon Short Line Railroad Company agreed with the promoters and incorporators of said Northern Securities Company to transfer to and deposit with said Northern Securities Company, under the terms and conditions aforesaid, the said shares of said Northern Pacific Railway Company of the aggregate par value of $78,108,000 owned by said Oregon Short Line Railroad Company as aforesaid, and to receive in exchange therefor certificates of said Northern Securities Company representing an interest therein of $82,491,871 par value and $8,915,629 in cash, and in pursuance of said agreement your orators Harriman and Pierce, acting for your orator Oregon Short Line Railroad Company, did, on or about the eighteenth day of November, 1901, transfer and deliver to said Northern Securities Company certificates for $37,023,000 par value of the common stock and $41,085,000 par value of the preferred stock of said Northern Pacific Railway Company owned by your said orator as aforesaid, and received in exchange therefor certificates of said Northern Securities Company representing an interest in $82,491,871 par value and said cash. . . .
That at the time of such exchange, on said eighteenth of November, 1901, it was agreed between said Harriman and Pierce and said defendant, Northern Securities Company, that the said $41,085,000 par value of said preferred stock of the said Northern Pacific Railway Company should be converted into common stock of said Northern Pacific Railway Company; that said preferred stock was subsequently and in or about the month of December, 1901, converted by said defendant Northern Securities Company into common stock of said Northern Pacific Railway Company of the same par value; that certificates for $34,709,062 par value of such common stock registered in its name on the books of said railway company were substituted in lieu and place of the certificates for said preferred stock; that said Northern Securities Company caused said original common stock to be transferred into its name upon the books of said railway company, and that said Northern Securities Company now holds within the jurisdiction of this Court certificates registered in its name on the books of the Northern Pacific Company for said common stock so originally received from your orators Harriman and Pierce, and for said common stock into which said preferred stock was so converted and certificates substituted as aforesaid.
Your orators are advised by counsel, and therefore aver, that the effect of said decree of April 9, 1903, as affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States, was to adjudge that the Northern Securities Company was not a purchaser or owner, but simply a custodian, of the shares of stock of said railway company acquired and held by it as aforesaid; that it acquired and held possession thereof in violation of said antitrust act; that it acquired no title thereto, and cannot transfer any rights in respect thereof, and that the legal and equitable owners of said shares of the stock of said railway companies were and are the several parties who originally exchanged the same for stock of the Northern Securities Company or their assigns.
The prayer of the bill was
that it be decreed that said proposed plan of distribution is illegal and contrary to law and in violation of the rights and equities of your orators, and that the complainants are entitled to the return and transfer to them by the defendant Northern Securities Company of the shares of common stock of said Northern Pacific Railway Company which were so delivered by said Harriman and Pierce and the shares of common stock into which the preferred stock of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, delivered by them, were converted, in exchange for the certificates of stock of the Northern Securities Company so issued to and now held by your orators, and such sum in cash as may be just, and that the said defendant, Northern Securities Company, its directors, officers, and agents, may be ordered and directed to endorse the certificates now held by it for said stock of the Northern Pacific Railway Company to your said orator Oregon Short Line Railroad Company or in blank, and deliver the same to your orator the Equitable Trust Company of New York in exchange for the stock of the Northern Securities Company now held by it, to be held subject to its rights and lien as trustee aforesaid, and that the defendant Northern Securities Company, its directors, officers, agents, and employees, be perpetually enjoined and restrained from in any manner parting with, disposing of, transferring, assigning, or distributing, any part of said stock of the Northern Pacific Railway Company so received from your orators Harriman and Pierce as aforesaid, or any common stock into which the preferred stock received from them may have been converted, or the certificates now representing the same or any part thereof, except to return the same to your orators in exchange for its own stock so issued as aforesaid and said cash, and that your orators have such other or further or general relief against said Northern Securities Company as shall be proper and just under the circumstances of the case.
Your orators further pray that the defendant, Northern Securities Company, may be enjoined and restrained from parting with, disposing of, transferring, assigning, or distributing, said stock of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, or any part thereof, during the pendency of this suit, or any certificates now representing the same.
The proofs embraced the pleadings and decrees in the suit of United States v. Northern Securities Company; the ex parte affidavits of Harriman, Hill, and others; the deposition of Harriman taken before the Interstate Commerce Commission at Chicago in January, 1902; the deposition of Harriman taken in the suit of Minnesota v. Northern Securities Company in December, 1902; extracts from the minutes of proceedings of the board of directors of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, and of the executive committee and board of directors of the Northern Securities Company.