Owen Roberts

“ The Government urges that the supposed hardship imposed upon the defendants by the entry of the injunction is exaggerated; that, by giving a bond, the defendants could release their moneys and property. To this there are several sufficient answers. If the court is without jurisdiction to demand security under the circumstances presented it is equally without authority to compel the proffer of a bond by the seizure of property. ”

“ Under the Sherman Act and the Wilson Tariff Act, the District Court has no jurisdiction in this suit to enter a money judgment. Its only power is to restrain the future continuance of actions or conduct intended to monopolize or restrain commerce. It, of course, has the power, pending final action in this respect, to retrain action or conduct violative of the statute. A preliminary injunction is always appropriate to grant intermediate relief of the same character as that which may be granted finally. ”

“ Thus it argues that a court of equity has inherent power to protect its jurisdiction. The fallacy, in the application of the principle here, is that, i service of the defendants is properly obtained, and if the complaint states a cause of action, no one questions the jurisdiction of the District Court to enter an appropriate injunction against future conduct violative of the Anti-Trust Acts. ”

“ The parties agree that neither of them can find any decision or text book authority for the requisition of such security on the footing of a complaint in equity. The respondent refers us to certain cases as analogous but, upon examination, they are all found to be cases in which an interlocutory injunction was granted with respect to a fund or property which would have been the subject of the provisions of any final decree in the cause, [11] or against action which would ultimately have been subject to injunction by final decree. ”

“ All the petitioners attack the order as in substance a sequestration of property beyond the power of the court and an abuse of discretion in the circumstances. The petitioners in No. 1189 also seek a reversal on the ground that the complaint does not state a claim cognizable by United States courts and that the affidavits filed by these petitioners establish that the court below has no jurisdiction over the persons of the defendants. ”

“ It is admitted that there is no applicable federal statute and that, under the law of New York, an attachment may issue only in an action seeking a money judgment and will not issue in an equity suit such as the instant one. [6]
The court below deduced the power to grant the injunction from § 4 of the Sherman Act [7] and from § 262 of the Judicial Code, the section under which petitioners seek review in this court. The respondent seeks to sustain the injunction under the same statutory provisions. ”