Atchison, Topeka Santa Fe Railway Company v. Vosburg

• Citation: 238 U.S. 56,59 L.Ed. 1199,35 S.Ct. 675
• Decision Date: 01 June 1915
• Docket Number: No. 189,189
• Parties: ATCHISON, TOPEKA, & SANTA FE RAILWAY COMPANY, Plff. in Err., v. J. B. VOSBURG
• Court: United States Supreme Court

238 U.S. 56

35 S.Ct. 675

59 L.Ed. 1199

ATCHISON, TOPEKA, & SANTA FE RAILWAY COMPANY, Plff. in Err.,

v J. B. VOSBURG.

No. 189.

Submitted March 10, 1915.

Decided June 1, 1915.

Messrs. Gardiner Lathrop, Robert Dunlap, William R. Smith, and William Osmond for plaintiff in error.

Messrs. Arthur M. Jackson and Wilber E. Broadie for defendant in error.

Mr. Justice Pitney delivered the opinion of the court:

The Federal question involved in this case is concisely stated in the opening paragraph of the opinion of the supreme court of Kansas (89 Kan. 114, 130 Pac. 667), whose judgment we have under review:

'Chapter 345 of the Laws of 1905, as amended by chapter 275 of the Laws of 1907 (Gen. Stat. 1909, §§ 7201 et seq.), concerns the furnishing of cars by railway companies to shippers of freight. When cars applied for under this statute are not duly furnished, the railway company is liable to the shipper for all actual damages suffered, for a penalty of $5 per day for each car not supplied, and for a reasonable attorney fee. Shippers who fail to use cars placed at their disposal are subject to a penalty for their detention, but are not liable for attorney fees. The plaintiff [Vosburg] recovered a judgment against the defendant for a violation of this statute, including an attorney fee, and the defendant appeals on the ground that the provision relating to attorney fees denies it the equal protection of the law guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.'

Upon a review of certain decisions of this court, viz., Gulf, C. & S. F. R. Co. v. Ellis, 165 U. S. 150, 41 L. ed. 666, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 255; Atchison, T. & S. F. R. Co. v. Matthews, 174 U. S. 96, 43 L. ed. 909, 19 Sup. Ct. Rep. 609; Fidelity Mut. L. Asso. v. Mettler, 185 U. S. 308, 46 L. ed. 922, 22 Sup. Ct. Rep. 662, and Farmers' & M. Ins. Co. v. Dobney, 189 U. S. 301, 47 L. ed. 821, 23 Sup. Ct. Rep. 565, the state court held (p. 130), that since the act in question is a police regulation prescribing duties properly enforceable by penalties in the form of per diem forfeits and attorney fees recoverable in suitable actions, and because of the control of railroad companies over their cars, their capacity to disturb and obstruct trade, and the helplessness of shippers when cars are carelessly or arbitrarily withheld, railroad companies might properly be placed in a class by themselves for the purpose of securing sufficient car service, and that the equal protection of the law required no more than that all railway companies should be penalized alike. The court, in conclusion, said: 'It is true that shippers may offend somewhat by failing to make expeditious use of cars when furnished them. Whether or not they too shall be penalized, and if so to what extent, is a fit subject for legislative consideration. But the railroad companies cannot complain if the legislature chooses to exempt shippers from any punishment, or chooses to prescribe some penalty suitable to the nature of their delinquency, but different from that imposed upon the companies themselves.'

The enactment in question is commonly called the 'reciprocal' or 'mutual' demurrage law. (82 Kan. 260, 108 Pac. 137 85 Kan. 282, 116 Pac. 906.) It provides that a railway company failing to furnish cars upon proper application shall pay, to the party applying, '$5 per day for each car failed to be furnished as exemplary damages, . . . and all actual damages that such applicant may sustain for each car failed to be furnished, together with reasonable attorney fees.' At the same time it requires the applicant to load the cars within forty-eight hours after they are placed, 'and upon failure to do so he shall pay to the company the sum of $5 per day for each car not used, while held subject to the applicant's order. . . . And if the said applicant shall not use such cars so ordered by him, and shall so notify the said company or its agent, he shall forfeit and pay to the said railroad company, in addition to the penalty herein prescribed, the actual damages that such company may sustain by the said failure of the said applicant to use said cars.' [Gen. Stat. 1909, §§ 7203, 7204.]

We agree that this legislation is properly to be regarded as a police regulation, and in that respect differs from the act that was under consideration in the Ellis Case, supra, which simply imposed a penalty upon railroad corporations for a failure to pay certain debts. But we cannot at all agree that a police regulation is not, like any other law, subject to the 'equal protection' clause of the 14th Amendment. Nothing to that effect was held or intimated in any of the cases referred to. The constitutional guaranty entitles all persons and corporations within the jurisdiction of the state to the protection of equal laws, in this as in other departments of legislation. It does not prevent classification,...