Illinois Central Railroad Company v. De Fuentes

Citation35 S.Ct. 275,236 U.S. 157,59 L.Ed. 517
Decision Date01 February 1915
Docket NumberNo. 423,423
PartiesILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY, Appt., v. C. L. DE FUENTES, W. L. Foster, and Overton Cade, as Commissioners and Members of the Railroad Commission of Louisiana
CourtUnited States Supreme Court

Messrs. Blewett Lee, Robert V. Fletcher, Hunter C. Leake, and Gustave Lemle for appellant.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 157-159 intentionally omitted] Mr. Wylie M. Barrow and Mr. Ruffin G. Pleasant, Attorney General of Louisiana, for appellees.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 159-161 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice McReynolds delivered the opinion of the court:

After a full hearing and investigation the Railroad Commission of Louisiana, on August 8, 1903, promulgated the following, known as order No. 295:

'No railroad company operating in the state of Louisiana shall refuse or decline to switch cars for any other railroad with which it connects, or any shipper or consignee, at rates approved or established by the commission, whether such cars are to be loaded with freight to be shipped out of the state, or are loaded with freight shipped into the state. All tariffs for the 'service' of switching cars in the state of Louisiana shall be filed with the commission, within thirty days from the date of this order, and all the commission's rules and orders relative to rates and changes in rates will also apply to switching charges.'

By a proceeding against the members of the commission, commenced in the United States circuit court, eastern district of Louisiana, February 10, 1904, the appellant, a common carrier of freight and passengers operating lines in Louisiana, attacked the validity of this order upon the ground that it is an unlawful attempt to regulate interstate commerce and for other reasons, and prayed that defendants be restrained from enforcing it. Shortly thereafter a temporary injunction was granted, to remain effective pending the cause or until otherwise directed; and on October 6, 1904, defendants answered, denying all the alleged equities. The record discloses no further action by either party until April, 1913, when a rather meager and unsatisfactory agreed statement of facts was filed. The trial court dismissed the bill without prejudice,—January, 1914,—saying that the questions involved had been indirectly decided by this court in Grand Trunk R. Co. v. Michigan R. Commission, 231 U. S. 457, 58 L. ed. 310, 34 Sup. Ct. Rep. 152. From this decree a direct appeal was taken and a supersedeas was allowed.

The extraordinary delay in bringing the cause to final hearing is not explained; and in the circumstances we deem it quite sufficient briefly to indicate and decide the controlling question.

With the consent of the proper local authorities appellant constructed and now operates at New Orleans extensive terminals, including switch and side tracks, warehouses and yards. These are essential to the proper conduct of its large interstate and foreign business; and when it brings freight there the cars are placed on its various switch tracks, to be unloaded by the consignees. At New Orleans physical connections exist between appellant's tracks and the lines of competitive railroads leading therefrom to many states; if order No. 295 is enforced, its switch tracks will be subjected to use by such railroads; more cars will pass over them; and its power to comply with obligations to patrons will be hindered. Together with the various railroads, appellant has published and now has in effect terminal tariffs covering switching; these include no rates for transporting freight to or from the city, 'but simply cover the charges made for switching cars from the depot or yard of one railroad company to points on its terminals.' Upon orders of the consigness certain switch movements are made entirely within the switching limits of the city, between points one or both of which may be located upon the terminals of the...

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    ...Co. v. Covington, 235 U. S. 537, 545 35 S. Ct. 158, 59 L. Ed. 350, L. R. A. 1915F, 792." As said in Ill. Cent. R. R. v. De Fuentes, 236 U. S. 157, 163, 35 S. Ct. 275, 276 (59 L. Ed. 517): "When freight actually starts in the course of transportation from one state to another it becomes a pa......
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    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit
    • March 13, 1957
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