“ The real objection is not so much to the existence of the power to fix the amount of the fine, as the fact that, when exercised by the supreme court of the state, it is not subject to review, and is said to be unlimited. But it is limited. Waters-Pierce Oil Co. v. Texas, 212 U.S. 111, 53 L. ed. 430, 29 Sup. Ct. Rep. 220. It is limited by the obligation to administer justice, and to no more assess excessive damages than to impose excessive fines. But the power to render a final judgment must be lodged somewhere, and in every case a point is reached where litigation must cease. ”

“ The double liability, in civil and criminal proceedings, finds its counterpart in many instances; as, for example, where an attorney is disbarred or ousted of his right to practise in the court because of conduct for which he may likewise be prosecuted and fined. ”

“ The uncertainty as to the relief that may be granted in such case arises from the fact that at one time the proceeding was wholly criminal, and those guilty of usurping a franchise were prosecuted by information instead of by indictment, and punished both by judgment of ouster and by fine. But in England, before the Revolution, and since that date in most of American states, including Missouri, quo warranto has been resorted to for the purpose of trying the civil right, and determining whether the defendant had usurped or forfeited the franchise in question. ”

“ Neither can it be amended by adding a provision that the judgment of ouster shall not operate to make those who buy plaintiff's products subject to prosecution, under the act of 1907, making it a felony for any person to deal in articles manufactured by a corporation whose license had been forfeited. This statute, which, it is said, will deprive plaintiffs of the right to do interstate business, is not before us. We have no right to assume that it will be applied so as to interfere with any right which plaintiffs have, under the Constitution, to do interstate business. ”

“ It was thereupon held that in Missouri quo warranto might have been instituted for such acts of misuser, even though there had been no criminal statute on the subject. For this reason neither the validity nor invalidity of the anti-trust statute has any bearing on the case. The plaintiffs in error cannot complain that they were deprived of the equal protection of law, because in the civil proceeding they were not tried in the manner, and subjected to the judgment, appropriate in criminal cases. ”

“ So that, whatever may be the rule elsewhere, in Missouri a corporation may, in quo warranto, be subjected to a money judgment, whether called a fine as punishment, or damages for its implied contract not to violate its franchise. ”

“ If the judgment was not void, we cannot consider the collateral questions as to whether the suit abated against the Republic Oil Company when it gave notice of its withdrawal from the state; nor whether the act of 1907, amending the anti-trust act, operated to relieve the defendant from the penalties for all combinations in restraint of trade entered into prior to the adoption of the amending statute. These are non-Federal questions. ”