Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company v. Foley Brothers, Inc.

• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: DEVANEY, Chief Justice.
• Citation: Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company v. Foley Brothers, Inc., 254 N.W. 435, 191 Minn. 335 (Minn. 1934)
• Decision Date: 13 April 1934
• Docket Number: 29,690,29,691
• Parties: CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE, ST. PAUL & PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY AND STATE OF MINNESOTA v. FOLEY BROTHERS, INC. HALLETT CONSTRUCTION COMPANY v. SAME

254 N.W. 435

191 Minn. 335

CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE, ST. PAUL & PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY AND STATE OF MINNESOTA v. FOLEY BROTHERS, INC.

HALLETT CONSTRUCTION COMPANY v. SAME

Nos. 29,690, 29,691

Supreme Court of Minnesota

April 13, 1934

Proceeding before the railroad and warehouse commission upon the application of Hallett Construction Company, Chicago Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company, and Chicago Great Western Railroad Company for authority to publish a four-cent rate per 100 pounds on the hauling between designated points of sand, gravel, and crushed rock. Objection to publication of the rate was made by Foley Brothers, Inc. Upon hearing, the commission granted authority to publish the rate, and Foley Brothers, Inc. appealed to the district court for Ramsey county. The matter was heard before Richard A. Walsh, Judge, who made findings of fact and as conclusions of law held the publication of the rate discriminatory against Foley Brothers, Inc. and vacated the order of the commission. From an order denying their motion for a new trial Hallett Construction Company, Chicago Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company, and the state by its attorney general appealed. Reversed.

SYLLABUS

Carrier -- freight rate schedule -- distance tariff and long-and-short-haul statutes.

Order of railroad and warehouse commission considered and found to comply with the Cashman distance tariff act (1 Mason Minn. St. 1927, § 4838) and with so-called long-and-short-haul statute (1 Mason Minn. St. 1927, § 4837).

Carrier -- distance tariff act -- discrimination.

Purpose of Cashman act was to prevent unjust discrimination. Competitor is not discriminated against where freight rate to which it objects is higher than its own.

Carrier -- distance tariff act -- zones and rate-fixing.

Zones under the distance tariff may vary in different cases to suit the exigencies of the particular movement of particular goods. Rate-fixing rests to a great extent in the sound discretion of the railroad and warehouse commission.

Railroad and warehouse commission -- order -- appeal -- burden of proof.

On appeal from order of railroad and warehouse commission, burden is on appellant to show that finding of commission is not supported by the evidence.

Harry H. Peterson, Attorney General, and Harry W. Oehler, Deputy Attorney General, for appellant state of Minnesota.

F. W. Root, C. O. Newcomb, and A. C. Erdall, for appellant Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company.

Boutelle, Bowen & Flanagan, for appellant Hallett Construction Company.

O'Brien, Horn & Stringer and McNeil V. Seymour, for respondent.

OPINION

DEVANEY, Chief Justice.

This action is the outgrowth of an informal application of the Hallett Construction Company, the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company, and the Chicago, Great Western Railroad Company for authority to publish a rate of four cents per 100 pounds on sand, gravel, and crushed rock to be hauled from a number of producing points to a number of points located adjacent to the southern Minnesota division of the two railroads. Appellant Hallett Construction Company had secured a contract to furnish road building material for state highway No. 9. This road was to be constructed near Spring Valley, Minnesota. Hallett Construction Company owned a gravel plant at Lakeland, Minnesota, from which it hoped to supply the material for this work. The prevailing freight rate from Lakeland to Spring Valley of six cents per 100 pounds prohibited rail shipment. The railroad companies, desirous of the business, agreed to publish a rate of four cents per 100 pounds from Lakeland and like points to Spring Valley. Respondent, Foley Brothers, Inc., owned a rock crushing plant at Preston, Minnesota. The rate from Preston to Spring Valley was three cents per 100 pounds. Upon application for the four-cent rate by Hallett Construction Company and the railroads, Foley Brothers, Inc. appeared by attorney at a hearing had in September, 1932, and duly objected to the publication of such rate. The railroad and warehouse commission, pursuant to such hearing, made an order granting authority to publish the four-cent rate. Foley Brothers, Inc. appealed from that order to the district court of Ramsey county. The district court of Ramsey county vacated the order of the railroad and warehouse commission, and from a denial of their motion for a new trial appellants perfected this appeal.

1 Mason Minn. St. 1927, § 4650, provides:

"Any party to a proceeding before the commission, or any party affected by any order thereof, or the state of Minnesota, by the attorney general, may appeal therefrom to the district court of the county in which the complainants, or a majority of them, reside, or in case * * * of train service, to the district court of one of the counties through which the train runs * * *."

Appellants contend that Foley Brothers, Inc. is neither a "party to a proceeding before the commission" or a "party affected by any order thereof," and, further, that if Foley Brothers, Inc. was entitled to appeal at all, it should have appealed to the district court of Crow Wing, and not a Ramsey, county. Because of the view we take on the succeeding question, however, we will assume in accordance with respondent's contention that Foley Brothers, Inc. was a party affected and that the appeal properly was brought to the district court of Ramsey county.

The controlling question in the case is whether the order of the railroad and warehouse commission was made in accordance with the distance tariff law. L. 1913, c. 90, § 1 (amended L 1919, c. 235, § 1, now 1 Mason Minn. St. 1927, § 4838) known as the Cashman act, requires rates to be...