Chicago, I.&L. Ry. Co. v. R.R. Comm'n of Indiana

• Decision Date: 27 June 1906
• Docket Number: No. 1.,1.
• Citation: Chicago, I.&L. Ry. Co. v. R.R. Comm'n of Indiana, 38 Ind.App. 439, 78 N.E. 338 (Ind. App. 1906)
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court
• Parties: CHICAGO, I. & L. RY. CO. v. RAILROAD COMMISSION OF INDIANA.

38 Ind.App. 439

78 N.E. 338

CHICAGO, I. & L. RY. CO.

v.RAILROAD COMMISSION OF INDIANA.

No. 1.¹

Appellate Court of Indiana.

June 27, 1906.

Proceedings against the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railway Company before the Railroad Commission, and from an order fixing a rate on coal and from an order regulating the waybilling of cars, the corporation appeals. Motion to dismiss the appeal overruled.

For dissenting opinion, see 79 N.E. 520.E. C. Field and H. R. Kurrie, for appellant. C. V. McAdams, for appellee.

ROBINSON, C. J.

This is an appeal to review the action of the Railroad Commission of Indiana in fixing a rate on coal, and also an order of the commission forbidding the waybilling of cars loaded with coal at their marked capacity when such cars would not hold the marked capacity when fully loaded.

This case arose out of proceedings taken by the commission under the act of the Legislature approved February 28, 1905 (Acts 1905, p. 83, c. 53), entitled: “An act providing for the creation of a railroad commission, the appointment and compensation of the members thereof, prescribing the powers and duties of such commission and its members, prescribing certain duties and obligations of railroad companies, express companies and other common carriers, defining certain misdemeanors and prescribing penalties, providing for the collection of penalties by civil action from railroad companies and other common carriers by the state in cases therein provided for, appropriating money to carry out its provisions, providing for a review of the decisions of the commission and conferring jurisdiction on certain courts to hear and determine such proceedings, and repealing all laws and parts of laws in conflict therewith.”

The first and second sections of the act create the commission, provide for the appointment of three commissioners, prescribe the qualification, terms, and salaries of the commissioners, the organization of the commission, and where its sessions may be held.

The third section vests the commission with power and authority to supervise all railroad freight and passenger tariffs, to regulate car service and the transfer of cars from one road to another and supervise charges therefor, to require and supervise the location and construction of sidings and connections between railroads and the crossing of tracks and sidetracks of railroads by other railroads, vesting in the commission the authority now vested in the Auditor of State with reference to crossings and interlocking appliances; to supervise and regulate private car line service and private tracks where the same are used in connection with any railroad in the state, to correct abuses and prevent unjust discrimination and extortion in freight and passenger tariffs on the different railroads, and to enforce the same by proceedings for the enforcement of penalties provided by law through courts to competent jurisdiction. The commission is also given power, upon failure of the railroads so to do, to fix and establish for all connecting lines reasonable joint rates of freight, transfer and switching charges; to fix the pro rata part of charges to be received by each of the two or more connecting ronds, where such roads fail to agree; from time to time to alter, change, amend, or abolish any classification or rate established by any company whenever found to be unjust or discriminative; to enforce reasonable and just rates for the use or transportation of loaded or empty cars and for storing and handling freight; to enforce reasonable rates for the transportation of passengers, and tolls or charges for all other service performed by any railroad company subject to the provisions of the act; to adopt and enforce such rules, regulations, and modes of procedure as it may deem proper; to hear and determine complaints made against classifications or rates maintained by common carriers, or against the rules, regulations, and determinations of the commission. This section also provides that its provisions shall be construed to mean that the commission shall have power to correct, alter, change, or establish rates, charges, classifications, rules, or regulations, where such companies fail to have just and reasonable and undiscriminative rates, charges, classifications, rules, and regulations in effect, and shall exercise such power only where some person or corporation injuriously affected by such rate, charge, classification, rule or regulation, shall have filed with the commission a written verified complaint setting forth the unreasonable character of the rate, charge, classification, rule, or regulation complained of, when the commission shall proceed to consider the reasonableness of the same and shall make such corrections, alterations, changes, or new regulations, as may be necessary.

The fourth section provides for notice to the company before rates or charges are revised or changed, for a hearing, that the commission may adopt rules to govern its proceedings, subpœna witnesses and order the production of books and papers, etc.

The fifth section reads: “In all actions between private parties and railroad companies or private car line companies brought under this law, the rates, charges, orders, rules, regulations and classifications approved by or made by said commission before the institution of such action, shall be held, deemed and accepted to be reasonable, fair and just, and in such respects shall not be controverted therein except as hereinafter provided until finally found otherwise in a direct action brought for that purpose in the manner prescribed by sections 6, 6 1/2 and 7 hereof.”

The sixth section provides that, if any railroad company or party in interest be dissatisfied with any rate, classification, rule, charge, or general regulation made, such company or party may procure a complete transcript of all the proceedings of the commission relative thereto, and also a copy of all the evidence heard, which evidence shall be incorporated into such transcript, and such company or party may file such transcript, with a concise written statement of its or his causes of complaint against the action of the commission, in the office of the clerk of the Appellate Court, who shall, after certain requirements as to notice are complied with, “place said cause upon the docket of the said Appellate Court for hearing and determination.” The commission shall be made a party to such proceeding in the Appellate Court, and shall defend the same. All such causes shall be given precedence over all other civil causes in said Appellate Court and shall be heard and determined upon the transcript filed as aforesaid, as speedily as possible, to the end that public interests may not suffer by reason of such appeal. Jurisdiction to hear and determine such appeals and power to adopt rules of procedure to facilitate the speedy determination thereof not inconsistent with this act are hereby conferred upon the Appellate Court of Indiana. The Appellate Court shall have power to affirm the action of the commission appealed from, or to change, modify, or set aside the same as justice may require. The decision of the Appellate Court in any such matter shall be final, and said commission shall keep copies of all such findings and judgment on file in its office. The sixth section further provides that, if the company or party in interest be dissatisfied with any order or regulation respecting the location or construction of sidings, switches, or connections between railroads, or the crossing of one railroad by another, or the transfer or switching of cars at junction points, or the regulation of private tracks, such company or party may file a petition in the circuit or superior court of the particular county setting forth the objections to the order, and, after the requirements as to notice are complied with, the case shall be set for hearing “and shall be heard and determined as a suit in equity, without a jury.” The court may affirm the action of the commission, or change, modify, or set the same aside. Either party may appeal from the finding and judgment to the Appellate Court in the same manner that appeals are prosecuted in civil cases from judgments of circuit and superior courts.

Section 6 1/2 provides that: “All orders of the commission made and entered upon its records as herein provided respecting rates, charges, rules, regulations and classifications, or respecting the location or construction of sidings or connections between railroads, or to the crossing of one railroad by another, or the transfer and switching of cars at junction points, or regulation of private tracks, shall be operative and in full force at and from the time fixed therefor by the commission as hereinafter provided, until any such order shall have been changed, modified or set aside by a circuit, superior or appellate court under the proceedings provided for in section 6 of this act; provided, however, that” if at the time of filing the transcript in the Appellate Court appealing from fixing of any rate the company filing such petition may, upon filing a bond specified, charge and collect the rate that existed before the making of the order by the commission until such proceeding is finally determined; and, if the company files the bond and continues to charge the old rate, it shall give each person paying the old rate a certificate showing the amount received and the rate charged and containing a promise to refund the difference if the new rate is sustained by the Appellate Court. A penalty is provided for failure to comply, within a fixed time, with the promises contained in the certificate.

The seventh section provides that in all trials under section 6 “the burden of proof shall rest upon the plaintiff, who must show by clear and satisfactory evidence that the rates, regulations, orders, classifications, acts or charges complained of are unreasonable and unjust to it or...