Pickard v. Pullman Southern Car Co

• Decision Date: 01 March 1886
• Citation: 29 L.Ed. 785,117 U.S. 34,6 S.Ct. 635
• Parties: PICKARD, Comptroller, etc., v. PULLMAN SOUTHERN CAR CO. 1 Filed
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

6 S.Ct. 635

117 U.S. 34

29 L.Ed. 785

PICKARD, Comptroller, etc., v. PULLMAN SOUTHERN CAR CO.¹

Filed March 1, 1886.

Section 28 of article 2 of the constitution of Tennessee of 1870 contains these provisions: 'All property shall be taxed according to its value, that value to be ascertained in such manner as the legislature shall direct, so that taxes shall be equal and uniform throughout the state. No one species of property from which a tax may be collected shall be taxed higher than any other species of property of the same value. But the legislature shall have power to tax merchants, peddlers, and privileges, in such manner as they may from time to time direct.' On the sixteenth of March, 1877, the legislature of Tennessee passed an act, entitled 'An act declaring the mode and manner of valuing the property of telegraph companies for taxation, and of taxing sleeping cars,' (Laws 1877, c. 16, p. 26,) the sixth section of which provided as follows: 'That the running and using of sleeping cars or coaches on railroads in Tennessee, not owned by the railroads upon which they are run or used, is declared to be a privilege, and the companies owning and running or using said cars or coaches are required to report, on or before the first day of May of each year, to the comptroller, the number of cars so used by them in this state; and they shall be required to pay to the comptroller by the first of July following $50 for each and every of said cars or coaches used or as run over said roads; and if the said privilege tax herein assessed be not paid as aforesaid, the comptroller shall enforce the payment of the same by distress warrant.' Under this act the comptroller of the state claimed that there was due from the Pullman Southern Car Company, a corporation of Kentucky, to the state, for each of the years 1878, 1879, and 1880, a privilege tax of $50 on each one of 38 sleeping cars run and used on railroads in Tennessee, and not owned by the railroad companies on whose roads they were used, but owned by the Pullman Company. The aggregate amount of the taxes claimed was $5,700, and the comptroller instituted proceedings to collect them from that company, which, under the provisions of a statute of the state, paid the money under protest, and it was paid into the state treasury, with notice to the comptroller that it was paid under protest, and the company, within the time prescribed by the statute, and in August, 1881, brought an action at law against the comptroller to recover the $5,700, in the circuit court of the United States for the Middle district of Tennessee.

The declaration alleges, among other things, that the sleeping cars, for the running or use of which the taxes were claimed and collected, were not run or used by the plaintiff during any one of the years 1878, 1879, or 1880, but were run and used by certain railroad companies in Tennessee, though they were owned during that time by the plaintiff, which permitted those railroad companies to run and use them under certain contract stipulations; that the sleeping cars so run and used were, during the whole of the years 1878, 1879, and 1880, employed by them in interstate commerce, being run into and through Tennessee, from and into other states, transporting passengers from other states into or across Tennessee, or from Tennessee into other states; and that, therefore, such taxes and the collection thereof were illegal and contrary to the constitution of the United States. There was a demurrer to the declaration, raising, among other things, the question above stated, but, on a hearing, the demurrer was overruled, the opinion of the court being delivered by Mr. Justice MATTHEWS. 22 Fed. Rep. 276. The conclusion arrived at in the opinion, which accompanies the record, was that the levying of a privilege tax on the running and using, on railroads in Tennessee, of sleeping cars not owned by those railroads, was, as applied to such cars when employed in interstate transportation, a regulation of commerce among the states, and contrary to the constitution of the United States, and therefore void. Leave being given to the defendant to plead over, nil debet was pleaded, and the issue was tried by the court without a jury, by a written stipulation between the parties, which embodied an agreed statement of facts, on which the cause was heard. The agreed statement sets forth that the plaintiff is a Kentucky corporation, having its chief office and place of business at Louisviller and that, since 1872, it has been engaged at Louisville in manufacturing railway cars, known as drawing-room cars and sleeping cars, and in hiring those cars to various railroad companies in Tennessee and other states, under the following form of contract:

'This indenture, made this nineteenth day of June, A. D. 1872, between the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, the party of the first part, and the Pullman Southern Car Company, of the second part: Whereas, the said party of the second part is now engaged in the business of manufacturing railway cars, known as drawing-room and sleeping cars, under certain patents belonging to them, and of hiring the same to railroad companies, and receiving therefor income and revenue by the sale to passengers of seats and berths, and accommodations therein; and whereas, the said party of the first part is desirous of availing itself of the use on and over its lines of road of the cars constructed under the sleeping and drawing-room car patents now the property of said second party, and also of connections by means of said cars with other lines of railroad, whereon said cars are now operated by said second party: Now this contract witnesseth that the said party of the second part, in consideration of the covenants and agreements of the party of the first part, hereinafter mentioned to be by them kept and performed, hereby agrees with the said party of the first part that they will furnish drawingroom cars and sleeping cars to be used by said party for the transportation of passengers, sufficient to meet the requirements of travel on and over their line of railroad, and on and over all lines of railroad which they now control or may hereafter control, by ownership, lease, or otherwise, the said cars so furnished to be satisfactory to the general superintendent of the first party.

'(2) The said party of the second part agrees that they will keep the carpets, upholstery, and bedding of each of the said cars in good order and repair, and renew and improve the same, when necessary, at their own expense excepting repairs and removals made necessary by accident or casualty; it being understood that the said first party shall repair all damages to said cars, of every kind, occasioned by accident or casualty during the continuance of this agreement.

'(3) The said party of the second part hereby agrees, at their own expense and cost, to furnish one or more employes, as may be needful, upon each of said cars, whose duties shall be to collect fares for the accommodations furnished in said cars, and generally to wait upon passengers therein, and provide for their comfort.

'(4) The said party of the first part hereby agrees that the general officers of said second party, and the employes named in article third of this agreement, shall be entitled to free passage over the lines of the first party, when they are on duty for the second party.

'(5) The party of the second part hereby agrees that the general officers of the first party shall be entitled to free passes in any of the cars furnished by said second party under this agreement.

'(6) It is hereby mutually agreed that the said employes of the second party named in article third of this agreement shall be governed by and subject to the rules and regulations of the said first party, which are or may be adopted from time to time, for the government of their own employes, and, in the event of any liability arising against said first party for personal injury, death, or otherwise of any employes of said second party, it is hereby distinctly understood and agreed that the said first party shall be liable only to the same extent they would be if the person injured was an employe in fact of said first party, and for all liability in excess thereof shall be indemnified and paid by said second party.

'(7) The party of the first part, in consideration of the use of the aforesaid cars, hereby agrees to haul the same on the passenger trains on their line of road, and on all roads which they now control or may hereafter control by ownership, lease, or otherwise, and also on all passenger trains on which they may, by virtue of contracts or running arrangements with other roads, have the right to use such cars in such manner as will best accommodate passengers desiring the use of said cars; and the said party of the first part shall, at their own expense, furnish fuel for the cars and materials for the lights, shall wash and cleanse said cars, and shall also keep said cars in good order and repair, including renewals of worn-out parts, and all things appertaining to said cars, necessary to keep them in first-class condition, except such as are provided for in article second of this agreement.

'(8) The party of the first part agrees to furnish said party of the second part, at convenient points, room and conveniences for airing and storing bedding.

'(9) The said party of the first part further agrees that the said party of the second part shall be entitled to collect from each and every person occupying said cars, such sums for said occupancy as may be usual on competing lines furnishing equal accommodations, and that such rules and regulations shall be agreed upon as will most favor the renting of seats and couches in said cars.

'(10) The party of the first part hereby agrees to permit the party of the second part to place their tickets for seats and couches for sale in such of the railroad ticket offices as...