Louis Brandeis

“ The interlocutory decree set the railway free to remove the shops before the case could be heard on final hearing. By ending the status quo which had existed for 10 years, it exposed the city and its citizens to danger of irreparable loss. The change subjected Sapulpa to grave and immediate peril. Removal of the shops, which had been located in Sapulpa for a generation, would probably affect property values seriously, and might bring disaster in its train. It might ruin businesses. It might result in unemployment. It might compel many of Sapulpa's citizens to seek homes elsewhere. ”

“ The only relief prayed for in the bill is that the defendants be enjoined 'from compelling plaintiff to submit to the jurisdiction of the Corporation Commission in the several matters aforesaid.' There is no prayer for general relief. No right or interest of the railway would have been prejudiced by participating in the hearing before the commission and awaiting the result thereof. The railway would not thereby have waived its right to contest in the federal court the validity of the Oklahoma law. ”

“ In December, 1926, while the restraining order issued in 1917 was in force, the railway, without leave of the commission, and without making any application in the cause, directed that the division point for passenger trains be changed in January, 1927, to Tulsa, and it indicated a purpose to remove its shops to West Tulsa. Thereupon the complaining citizens of Sapulpa filed in the cause a motion which, reciting these facts, prayed that the cause be set for hearing and that meanwhile the commission prohibit the railway from making any change. ”