Alabama Public Service Commission v. Western Union Telegraph Co.

• Decision Date: 12 October 1922
• Docket Number: 3 Div. 572.
• Citation: 94 So. 472,208 Ala. 243
• Parties: ALABAMA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION v. WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH CO.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

94 So. 472

208 Ala. 243

ALABAMA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION v. WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH CO.

3 Div. 572.

Supreme Court of Alabama

October 12, 1922

Appeal from Circuit Court, Montgomery County; Leon McCord, Judge.

Petition by the Alabama Public Service Commission for mandamus to the Western Union Telegraph Company requiring obedience to an order of the petitioner directing the continuation of telegraphic service to certain towns in the state of Alabama. From a judgment denying the writ, petitioner appeals. Affirmed.

Harwell G. Davis, Atty. Gen., and Lamar Field, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellant.

Francis R. Stark, of New York, and Rushton & Crenshaw, of Montgomery for appellee.

THOMAS J.

The judgment of the circuit court is affirmed on authority of State of Alabama v. Western Union Telegraph Co., 94 So. 466.

The valid orders of a public service commission will be enforced in the courts, and orders not authorized by law are unenforceable. Miss. R. Com. v. M. & O., 244 U.S 388, 37 S.Ct. 602, 61 L.Ed. 1216; Interstate Comm. Com v. L. & N., 227 U.S. 88, 33 S.Ct. 185, 57 L.Ed. 431 433; Interstate Comm. Com. v. Nor. Pac., 222 U.S. 541, 32 S.Ct. 108, 56 L.Ed. 308; Miss. R. Com. v. I. C., 203 U.S. 335, 27 S.Ct. 90, 51 L.Ed. 209. The final test of validity or invalidity of the order is whether, when all the circumstances that are relevant and material to same as duly presented are considered, the order is reasonable or unreasonable. R. R. Com. v. Ala. North., 182 Ala. 357, 364, 62 So. 749; R. R. Com. of Ala. v. A. G. S., 185 Ala. 354, 64 So. 13, L. R. A. 1915D, 98; Miss. R. Com. v. M. & O., 244 U.S. 388, 37 S.Ct. 602, 61 L.Ed. 1216.

In the finding of the state court, when the conclusion of law and finding of facts are intermingled so as to make it necessary in order to pass upon the question, the Supreme Court of the United States will analyze the facts. Jones Nat. Bank v. Yates, 240 U.S. 541, 552, 553, 36 S.Ct. 429, 60 L.Ed. 788; Nor. Pac. v. North Dakota, 236 U.S. 585, 593, 35 S.Ct. 429, 59 L.Ed. 735, L. R. A. 1917F, 1148, Ann. Cas. 1916A, 1; Traux v.

Corrigan, 257 U.S. 312, 42 S.Ct. 124, 66 L.Ed. 254 .

The fact that the Western Union Telegraph Company did not apply to the Alabama Public Service Commission for vacation of the order or for injunctive relief therefrom, within a given time from the rendition of the order of April 30, 1920, did not subject it to obedience to an order that is...