United States v. Interstate Commerce Commission, Civil Action No. 4729-47.

Citation78 F. Supp. 580
Decision Date28 June 1948
Docket NumberCivil Action No. 4729-47.
PartiesUNITED STATES v. INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION et al.
CourtUnited States District Courts. United States District Court (Columbia)

Tom C. Clark, Atty. Gen., John F. Sonnett, Asst. Atty. Gen., George Morris Fay, U. S. Atty., of Washington, D. C., James E. Kilday, and David O. Mathews, Special Asst. to the Atty. Gen., Frank F. Vesper and James C. Moore, Special Attys., both of Washington, D. C., for the United States.

Daniel W. Knowlton, of Washington, D. C., for the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Windsor F. Cousins, of Philadelphia, Pa. and Hugh B. Cox, of Washington, D. C., for Pennsylvania R. Co.

Charles P. Reynolds, of Washington, D. C., for Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. and others.

Martin A. Meyer, Jr., of Washington, D. C., for Virginian R. Co.

Charles Clark and A. J. Dixon, both of Washington, D. C., for Southern R. Co.

Before CLARK, Associate Justice, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and McGUIRE and HOLTZOFF, Associate Justices, District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia.

HOLTZOFF, Associate Justice.

This is an action brought before a statutory three-judge court to set aside an order of the Interstate Commerce Commission, dismissing a complaint of the United States, by which the United States sought an allowance from certain railroads for wharfage and handling services rendered in connection with shipments made by the Government during World War II at Norfolk, Virginia. The action is brought under the Urgent Deficiencies Act, U.S.C.A., title 28, sec. 41, par. 28, and secs. 43-48, and under Section 9 of the Interstate Commerce Act, U.S.C.A., title 49, sec. 9.

For a great many years it had been the general practice of railroads serving North Atlantic ports, including Norfolk, to load and unload from car to pier, and vice versa, traffic brought to the port by rail and intended to be transhipped by vessel. The charges for this service, known as wharfage, were included and absorbed in the railroad traffic rates. At the Port of Norfolk, the cost of this labor to the railroads was four cents per hundred pounds. This sum constituted the compensation paid by the carriers to The Transport Trading and Terminal Corporation, which actually performed this task in their behalf.

During World War II, the War Department shipped a substantial volume of goods from various points in the United States to Norfolk, over the trunk line railroads serving that port, for transportation by vessel to points beyond Norfolk, as well as from points beyond Norfolk to points in the interior. Due to the emergency the Government took over the piers at which these goods were handled, and performed the wharfage services itself with its own employees. Nevertheless, the railroads persisted in charging and the Government continued to pay the full traffic rate for transportation, which included four cents per hundred pounds as cost of wharfage.

In view of the fact that the Government had performed the service itself, the United States filed a complaint with the Interstate Commerce Commission praying for reparation at the rate of four cents per hundred pounds on all of the goods that were handled by the Government at Norfolk in the above described manner. The Interstate Commerce Commission dismissed the complaint, on the basis of a finding that the refusal of the railroads to make the allowance to the United States for the wharfage services performed by the Government itself on its own shipments, was not an unsound or unreasonable practice, did not result in unreasonable or inapplicable rates and was not unjustly discriminatory to the United States, United States v. Aberdeen & Rockfish RR Co., 263 I.C.C. 303 and 264 I.C.C. 683. Thereupon the present action was brought to review the decision of the Interstate Commerce Commission and to set aside its order, which had been issued on July 25, 1947.

At the outset it becomes necessary to determine whether this action may be maintained. Section 9 of the Interstate Commerce Commission Act, U.S.C.A., title 49, sec. 9, provides as follows: "Any person or persons claiming to be damaged by any common carrier subject to the provisions of this chapter may either make complaint to the commission as hereinafter provided for, or may bring suit in his or their own behalf for the recovery of the damages for which such common carrier may be liable under the provisions of this chapter, in any district court of the United States of competent jurisdiction; but such person or persons shall not have the right to pursue both of said remedies, and must in each case elect which one of the two methods of procedure herein provided for he or they will adopt. * * *"

In other words, the law accords two alternative remedies to any person who is damaged by any action of a common carrier violative of the Interstate Commerce Act. The injured party either may make a complaint to the Interstate Commerce Commission or may bring an action for damages against the carrier in the District Court of the United States. The two remedies are mutually exclusive. In this instance, the United States did not choose to bring suit against the railroads in the District Court of the United States, but elected to present a complaint to the Interstate Commerce Commission. The United States now seeks a review of the adverse decision of the Commission by an action brought before a three-judge court.

The statute regulating actions to review orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission, U.S.C.A., title 28, sec. 46, provides, in part, as follows: "Suits to enjoin, set aside, annul, or suspend any order of the Interstate Commerce Commission shall be brought in the district court against the United States. * * *"1

An action of this type is a suit against the United States, United States v. Griffin, 303 U.S. 226, 238, 58 S.Ct. 601, 82 L.Ed. 764.

In other words, a suit to review an order of the Interstate Commerce Commission must be brought against the United States as the defendant. Accordingly, in this action the United States of America is named both as the petitioner and as the defendant. The Interstate Commerce Commission is added as a co-defendant, although there seems to be no warrant in law for this course.2 We are thus confronted with an anomaly, — a suit by the United States of America against the United States of America.

The United States is not a mere nominal party defendant. The legislative history of the above-mentioned statute demonstates that the Congress deliberately and intentionally provided that such suits should be brought against the United States and that this requirement was no inadvertence. It was first introduced into the law by the Act which created the Commerce Court, Act of June 18, 1910, Sec. 3, 36 Stat. 539, 542. The provision was debated at length on the floor of each House. These discussions clearly indicate that it was the intention of the authors of the legislation that the Attorney General of the United States should appear in behalf of the United States, and defend the action of the Interstate Commerce Commission.3 Attempts were made to modify this provision in order that the action might be brought against the Interstate Commerce Commission, rather than against the United States, but these endeavors were defeated.

It is clearly, therefore, the duty of the Department of Justice to defend the order of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Necessarily, the Department may not be on both sides of the case. Yet...

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4 cases
  • United States v. Interstate Commerce Commission
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • June 20, 1949
    ...not maintain a suit against itself. The court also indicated its belief that a three-judge court was without jurisdiction of the suit. D.C., 78 F.Supp. 580. The case is here on direct appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 47a, as amended 28 U.S.C. § 1253, 28 U.S.C.A. § In this Court the Commission and t......
  • Ishverlal Madanlal & Co. v. SS Vishva Mangal
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York
    • April 11, 1973
    ...F.2d 487 (2d Cir. 1947); Luckenbach S. S. Co. v. United States, 315 F.2d 598, 604 (2d Cir. 1968) and United States v. Interstate Commerce Commission, 78 F.Supp. 580, 583 (D.C. D.C.1948); this latter case was reversed. See 337 U.S. 426, 69 S.Ct. 1410, 93 L.Ed. Defense Supplies Corporation wa......
  • Friedrichs v. Goldy
    • United States
    • Colorado Supreme Court
    • December 2, 1963
    ...parties to determine whether a justiciable case or controversy is presented. 'While this case is United States v. [Interstate Commerce Commission] United States, et al. [D.C., 78 F.Supp. 580], it involves controversies of a type which are traditionally justiciable. The basic question is whe......
  • United States v. Interstate Commerce Commission
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Columbia
    • September 29, 1950

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