State v. Smith

• Decision Date: 14 February 1893
• Citation: 21 S.W. 493,114 Mo. 180
• Parties: STATE ex rel. WOOD, Attorney General, v. SMITH et al.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

21 S.W. 493

114 Mo. 180

STATE ex rel. WOOD, Attorney General, v. SMITH et al.

Supreme Court of Missouri.

February 14, 1893.

GRAIN INSPECTION — PRIVATE INSPECTORS — PUBLIC WAREHOUSES — RIGHTS OF STATE INSPECTORS — OWNERS OF PRIVATE WAREHOUSES.

1. Act June 22, 1889, changing the name of the board of railroad commissioners, providing for the organization of "public warehouses," and regulating the warehousing and inspection of grain "in public warehouses," authorizes such board to appoint a chief inspector of grain for the state, provides for licensing the operator of "a public warehouse," and empowers the chief inspector to appoint assistant inspectors. Section 7 makes it the duty of persons doing "a public warehouse" business to receive "for storage" any grain tendered in the customary manner, and not to discriminate between persons, and requires charges to be uniform, regardless of lots so received. Held, that such statute does not inhibit private inspection in a city of the state in which no public warehouse is situated, though such city has been made an inspection district, and assistant inspectors are there located, and ready to inspect grain, as contemplated by such act.

2. Section 3 of such act provides that "public warehouses" shall embrace all warehouse, elevators, and granaries in which is stored "grain in bulk, and in which the grain of different owners is mixed together," or in which grain is stored "in such a manner that the identity of different lots cannot be accurately preserved." Held, that warehouses in which the owners thereof store their own grain, or in which they lease to other persons certain bins in which to store grain, and preserve it separate from others, and by which owners no warehouse receipts are issued, were not "public warehouses," within the meaning of the act.

3. The fact that the lessees of such bins in some instances had the elevator owners mix different lots and grades of wheat together, or themselves mixed two loads of the same grade belonging to the same owner, does not make such elevators public warehouses, where the elevator owners did so in no instance on their own account.

4. Even though there were public warehouses situated in such city, it would not abolish the right of private inspection in other warehouses by inspectors provided by the owners thereof.

5. Such warehouses cannot be held to be public warehouses because of the large business done in grain thereat and in such city.

In banc.

Quo warranto proceedings by the state of Missouri, on the relation of John M. Wood, attorney general, against L. O. Smith and others, members of the Commercial Exchange of the City of Kansas City, and one Walker and one Wagoner, inspectors of grain for said exchange in said city, charging defendants with usurping, and intruding into the offices of assistant inspectors of grain, and the privileges and emoluments thereof, to the prejudice of the authority of the state, and praying for a writ of ouster. Writ denied.

The other facts fully appear in the following statement by GANTT, P. J.:

This is a proceeding by quo warranto, instituted in division No. 1 of this court, and by that division referred to the court in banc, and argued at this term. The information charges that the defendants Walker and Wagoner, by virtue of an appointment and employment by the Commercial Exchange of Kansas City, have usurped and intruded into the offices of assistant inspectors of grain at Kansas City, and the privileges, franchises, and emoluments thereof, and claim the right so to do, to the damage and prejudice of the authority of the state; "that there is shipped daily to said city, and there sold and bought, and shipped from said city, by citizens of this and other states who are not members of said Commercial Exchange, nor in any way connected therewith, large quantities of grain, amounting annually to many millions of bushels, thereby making said city one of the chief grain markets of the country, and that all, or nearly all, of the grain shipped to or from said city is received, bought, sold, stored, shipped, or in some way handled and controlled while there by the members of said Commercial Exchange;" that the grade of such grain, and the dealings and bargains of said grain dealers of Kansas City with persons shipping to, and selling or buying grain on, said market, are based upon a certificate of inspection issued by an inspector of grain in said city, and the grade of such grain determines and fixes its price and value, so that it is of great public importance that the inspection of grain in said city should be conducted by impartial inspectors, appointed under and as provided by law; that in the month of November, 1889, there were at said Kansas City, and yet are, public warehouses for the reception, storage, and handling of grain, and the board of railroad and warehouse commissioners of the state of Missouri, being cognizant of that fact, and recognizing the importance of Kansas City as a grain market, and the interest of the public in having proper and fair inspection of grain there, by authority of law declared said Kansas City a grain inspection district, and established a proper number and standard of grades for the inspection of grain, and established, and have ever since maintained, and do now maintain, an inspection office in said city, and duly appointed assistant inspectors of grain for said inspection district, and have at all times since kept, and do now keep, at said city, duly-appointed, qualified assistant inspectors of grain in said city, viz. John Martin and John W. Harmon, who are public officers for the purpose of inspecting grain that may be received into, or shipped out of, said city; that on or about the 26th day of July, 1890, said board of railroad and warehouse commissioners made and adopted revised rules for the inspection of grain in said state and city, a copy of which is herewith filed and made part hereof, and required the collection of a reasonable charge for the inspection of grain as provided by law; that it was the sole prerogative of the inspectors appointed by said board to inspect all grain received into or shipped from the public warehouses of said city, and also all other grain in said city which the owners or those in control of the same desire shall be inspected, and to receive a certificate of its grade; that the Commercial Exchange, on or about 8th of February, 1892, without authority of law, did appoint the respondents Walker and Wagoner inspectors of grain at said city, and empowered them to sign certificates of inspection, and fixed the charges for weighing, sampling, and inspection, in the aggregate, at 60 cents per car; that, by virtue of this appointment, Walker and Wagoner are inspecting grain in said city, and receiving the fees therefor; and the said exchange and its members deny the right of the inspectors appointed by the board of railroad and warehouse commissioners to inspect grain in said city.

The respondents waived the issuance of the writ, and made return to the information. They admit the incorporation of the exchange, the appointment of its own inspectors; and defendants say that, while the process of fixing the grade of grain is sometimes called "inspection," and the person engaged in determining the matter an "inspector," yet, in truth and in fact, there is no "inspection" in the sense in which the word is used in legal parlance, nor for the purpose of determining any matter cognizable under the police power of the state, as applicable to the facts and mode of business hereinafter mentioned. The defendants say that it is not true that there were at said Kansas City at the time of filing the information herein, nor for a long time prior thereto, any public warehouses for the reception, storage, or handling of grain, nor are there any such public warehouses at said city at this time. The defendants say that it is true that about the month of November, 1889, the board of railroad and warehouse commissioners, of the state of Missouri, placed at said city a number of its appointees, called "assistant inspectors," to determine the grades of grain bought and sold at said city, but the defendants deny that it was, or is, or ever has been, the duty of the persons so appointed by said board of commissioners to inspect all grain in said city which the owners or those in control thereof desired to have inspected, or concerning which they desired to receive a certificate showing the grade thereof. On the contrary, defendants aver that, when there ceased to be in said city any public warehouse, the said board had no longer any authority to appoint or continue any person to act as its employe or appointee at said city for the inspection of grain, and they especially deny that said board ever had power or authority to require any person, not the keeper of a public warehouse, desiring to have the grade of grain determined, to resort alone to the services of said alleged appointees; that in November, 1889, there was at said Kansas City only one public warehouse for the storage of grain, known as the "Interocean Elevator," the owners of which qualified as public warehousemen, in accordance with the provisions of the statute in such cases made and provided, June 22, 1889; that the existence and qualification of said Interocean elevator was embraced by said state board of railroad and warehouse commissioners as furnishing authority to place assistant inspectors at Kansas City aforesaid; that the license of said Interocean elevator expired in the month of May, 1890, and was not renewed; and that since said date there has not been a public warehouse, either licensed or unlicensed, at said city. Defendants charge that the insufficient inspection of the board's inspectors was the cause of the exchange appointing its own inspectors; that the said Walker and Wagoner are in every respect competent and qualified to act, and are experts, well...