Interstate Commerce Commn. v. Southern Ry. Co.
| Decision Date | 05 May 1903 |
| Docket Number | 467. |
| Citation | 122 F. 800 |
| Parties | INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION v. SOUTHERN RY. CO. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
Appeal from the Circuit Court of the United States for the Western District of Virginia.
L. A Shaver, for appellant.
Ed Baxter (Fairfax Harrison, on the brief), for appellee.
Before GOFF, Circuit Judge, and PURNELL and BOYD, District Judges.
This is a suit brought by the Interstate Commerce Commission at the instance of certain citizens of the city of Danville, Va against the Southern Railway Company, on account of alleged discrimination in freight rates against the said city. Facts sufficient for an understanding of the questions involved are stated in the opinion.
In the beginning a petition was filed by the Danville Complainants before the commission, and thereupon an investigation was had and an order made by the commission requiring the railway company to reduce its rates on sundry classes of freight to Danville, and on tobacco shipped from Danville to points in the west. The railway company declined to obey the order of the commission, and this suit was brought. The grounds upon which the complaint is based are substantially that the through rates from the west via Lynchburg to Danville are greater than the rate to Lynchburg, and that the rate to Richmond via Lynchburg is less than that to Danville although the latter place is nearer to the shipping points than Richmond. The principal grievance complained of against the Railroad is the rate charged by the Southern Railway for freight between Lynchburg and Danville. Lynchburg and Richmond are both reached by three railway systems, viz., the Southern, the Norfolk & Western, and the Chesapeake & Ohio railways. Prior to 1886 there were four independent railroads operated to Danville, but in that year three of them passed under the control of the Richmond & Danville Railroad Company, In 1894 the last-named railroad company was succeeded by the Southern Railway Company, which acquired control of all the property of the Richmond & Danville Company, and in 1899 the Southern purchased the Atlantic & Danville, which was the remaining railroad running into Danville. On account of the several lines reaching Richmond and Lynchburg, and from the fact that these lines, by reason of their location, do business as carriers from the same points in the west, there is active competition at both Lynchburg and Richmond which has produced exceedingly low freight rates.
From the testimony, it appears that the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, which competes with the trunk lines, and which complies with the interstate commerce act by charging no more for the short than the long haul, is primarily responsible for these rates. The rates given Danville are very much greater than those given Lynchburg and Richmond. From the record we gather the following instances which will show the difference in the rates charged on 100 pounds of freight from the points named to Lynchburg, to Richmond, and to Danville.
Rates in cents per 100 pounds to Lynchburg and Danville:
Class 1. Class 2. Class 3.
Boston to Lynchburg ....... 54 47 28
Boston to Danville ........ 71 63 52
New York to Lynchburg ..... 54 47 38
New York to Danville ...... 66 58 47
Baltimore to Lynchburg .... 49 42 33
Baltimore to Danville ..... 60 52 41
Chicago to Danville ....... 108 90 70
Chicago to Lynchburg ...... 72 62 47
Sugar. Molasses. Coffee. Rice.
New Orleans to Danville ..... 43 37 51 42
Tobacco rates to Louisville:
From Richmond ................... 24
From Lynchburg .................. 24
From Danville ................... 40
The Southern Railway does not share in the competitive through rate from the west to Lynchburg, Richmond, and Norfolk charged by the other railways named, and the water competition for New Orleans is shown by the evidence to have direct effect upon the rates of Norfolk and Richmond. It...
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