Statement of the Case. There is an immense supply of wood along the line of the Great Northern system of which the Willmar and Sioux Falls Railway forms a part, much larger than upon the line of the railroad of plaintiff in error, the wood on the line of the latter company being scarce and becoming more so every day. Citizens of towns west of Hanley Falls upon the line of the railroad of the plaintiff in error are purchasers and consumers of wood and posts, and a connection and transfer facilities at Hanley Falls would cheapen these commodities at such towns. Taking the wood from the Willmar road by transferring the cars might result in somewhat lessening the benefit to the plaintiff in error of a much longer haul of dearer wood along its own line. The farmers along the line of the road of the plaintiff in error, west of Hanley Falls, have heretofore raised many stock cattle which are ready to be fed and fattened for market, the best market for such cattle being Sioux City, in the State of Iowa, "on account of the supply of feed being more plentiful and cheaper at or near Sioux City, and such stock can be sold to the best advantage in the market having the cheapest and best supply of feed." Making the connection at Hanley Falls would result in the use of the Willmar road from that point to Sioux Falls for certain kinds of cattle which otherwise would probably not be carried there and might be sent to the poorer market of St Paul or Minneapolis, and thus give the plaintiff in error the benefit of its long haul. The result of the continued lack of these facilities might also be that the trade in that kind of cattle would decline and be extinguished among the people west of Hanley Falls, in which event, while no one would be benefited by such want of facilities, many would be injured. At the station at Hanley Falls the tracks of these respective roads intersect at grade "at a point from 40 to 60 rods distant from the respective depots of the two companies, and in such manner that it is practicable for them to provide ample, equal and reasonable facilities by track connections for the transfer from one of said roads to that of the other of any and all cars of whatsoever name or nature used in the business or on the lines of the roads of the two companies mentioned, or either of them." Opinion of the Court. There was evidence showing that on account of the great loss in weight of the cattle known as "stockers and feeders" when arriving at Sioux City over the long haul of 380 miles on the road of the plaintiff in error and its connections, that market had become practically shut out from the owners of such cattle living on the road of the plaintiff in error west of Hanley Falls, while the St. Paul and Minneapolis markets, being poor markets for "stockers and feeders," the trade in that kind of cattle west of Hanley Falls had greatly diminished, and was still diminishing. Mr. Albert E. Clarke for plaintiff in error. Mr. W. B. Douglas for defendant in error. MR. JUSTICE PECKHAM, after stating the foregoing facts, delivered the opinion of the court. Before entering upon the discussion of the questions in this case, we desire to say that the briefs filed herein during this term are in plain violation of the amendment to Rule 31, adopted at the last term. See 178 U. S. 617. The rule as amended is reproduced in the margin.1 The type used in quoting the statute is so small as to be exceedingly difficult to read. Many briefs are still printed on glazed paper. We shall hereafter insist upon a strict compliance with the terms of the rule as amended. This writ of error has been sued out by the plaintiff in error alone, and various grounds are stated for the claim that the statute upon which the judgment below is founded is a violation of the Constitution of the United States. It is alleged that this judgment, and also the statute, interfere with and regulate interstate commerce, and therefore they violate the commerce clause of the Constitution. 131. All records, arguments and briefs, printed for the use of the court, must be in such form and size that they can be conveniently bound together, so as to make an ordinary octavo volume; and as well as all quotations contained therein, and the covers thereof, must be printed in clear type (never smaller than small pica) and on unglazed paper. Opinion of the Court. Plaintiff in error urges that transporting cattle from Minnesota to Iowa constitutes interstate commerce, and that neither the State of Minnesota nor its railroad commission has the right to in any manner interfere with or regulate such commerce. The judgment in this case, however, neither regulates nor interferes with that commerce, nor does that part of the statute upon which the judgment is founded. Whether any other portion of the statute does regulate such commerce is beside the question, and it is not necessary to here decide. To provide at the place of intersection of these two railroads, at Hanley Falls, ample facilities by track connections for transferring any and all cars used in the regular business of the respective lines of road from the lines or tracks of one of said companies to those of the other, and to provide at such place of intersection equal and reasonable facilities for the interchange of cars and traffic between their respective lines, and for the receiving, forwarding and delivering of property and cars to and from their respective lines, as provided for by this judgment, would plainly afford facilities to interstate commerce, if there were any, and would in nowise regulate such commerce within the meaning of the Constitution. That is all that has been done by the judgment under review. A State may furnish such facilities or direct them to be furnished by persons or corporations within its limits without violating the Federal Constitution. But the Supreme Court of the State, in the opinion delivered therein, said that there was ample evidence in the case of a necessity for such track connection resulting from the benefit which would accrue to exclusively state commerce when considered alone, to justify the ordering of the connection in question. What is said in the statute in relation to the establishment of joint through rates for the transportation of freight between points on the respective lines of these roads within the State, and the manner of enforcing the establishment of such rates in case of the omission so to do by the companies, and as to any unjust or unreasonable charge for the transportation of freight or cars, are all matters which do not arise under this judgment, and which may never arise as a result of its enforcement. The Opinion of the Court. tracks being connected, the making of joint rates is a matter primarily for the companies interested, and it may be that they will agree upon them, and thus do away with the necessity of any resort to the courts. The objection that there is any violation of the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution is, we think, clearly untenable. Adhering strictly to the question involved in this case, namely, the validity or the invalidity of the judgment actually rendered, we are met by the objection of the plaintiff in error that the judgment itself is necessarily and inherently illegal, because upon the conceded facts, if the judgment be enforced, it can only result in taking the property of the plaintiff in error without due process of law, and in refusing it the equal protection of the laws and in depriving it of its liberty to contract with such persons or corporations as it may choose. We think not one of these objections is tenable. At common law the courts would be without power to make such an order as was made in this case by the state court. Legislative authority would be necessary in order to give power to the courts to render a judgment of this kind. If power were granted by the legislature, and it amounted in the particular case simply to a fair, reasonable and appropriate regulation of the business of the corporation, when considered with regard to the interests both of the company and of the public, the legislation would be valid, and would furnish, therefore, ample authority for the courts to enforce it. Atchison &c. Railroad Company v. Denver &c. Railroad Company, 110 U. S. 667, 681; People ex rel. &c. v. Boston & Albany Railroad Company, 70 N. Y. 569; People v. Railroad Company, 104 N. Y. 58. Railroads have from the very outset been regarded as public highways, and the right and the duty of the government to regulate in a reasonable and proper manner the conduct and business of railroad corporations have been founded upon that fact. Constituting public highways of a most important character, the function of proper regulation by the government springs from the fact that in relation to all highways the duty of regulation is governmental in its nature. At the present day there is no denial of these propositions. Olcott v. Supervisors, Opinion of the Court. 16 Wall. 678, 694; Cherokee Nation v. Southern Kansas Railway Company, 135 U. S. 641; United States v. Joint Traffic Association, 171 id. 505-569, 570; Lake Shore Railway Company v. Ohio, 173 id. 285, 301. It is because they are such highways that the land upon which the rails are laid, and also that which may be necessary for the other purposes of the corporation, is said to be used for a public purpose, and on that ground the power of eminent domain which is given them is held to be a constitutional exercise of legislative authority. The right of the legislature to tax in furtherance of such use is founded upon the same considerations that the use is a public one, and therefore taxation in support of such use is valid. Olcott v. Supervisors, supra. The companies hold a public franchise, and governmental supervision is therefore valid. They are organized for the public interests and to subserve primarily the public good and convenience. While this power of regulation exists, it is also to be remembered that the legislature cannot under the guise of regulation interfere with the proper conduct of the business of the railroad corporation in matters which do not fairly belong to the domain of reasonable regulation. Lake Shore &c. Railway Company v. Smith, 173 U. S. 684. The only question arising as each case comes up for decision is whether in the particular case the power has been duly exercised. Instances where the exercise of this power has been discussed exist in the cases of Louisville Railroad Company 7. Kentucky, 161 U. S. 677, 696; Lake Shore Railway v. Ohio, 173 U. S. 285, 292; Holden v. Hardy, 169 U. S. 376, 392. The books contain almost countless cases where the question of the police power of the States and its proper limitations and conditions have arisen, but those above cited are sufficient for the purposes of this case. The argument favoring the invalidity set up by the plaintiff in error, so far as it is founded upon the provisions of the judgment in question, is directed to two alleged facts, the first of which is that by making track connections the plaintiff in error may be deprived of a long haul of a certain kind of cattle, and may be compelled to deliver them in a car to be drawn by the |