Crutchfield and Woolfolk v. Director General of Railroads

• Decision Date: 28 May 1921
• Citation: 239 Mass. 84
• Parties: CRUTCHFIELD AND WOOLFOLK v. DIRECTOR GENERAL OF RAILROADS.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

239 Mass. 84

CRUTCHFIELD AND WOOLFOLK v. DIRECTOR GENERAL OF RAILROADS.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk.

May 28, 1921

March 30, 1921.

Present: RUGG, C.

J., DE COURCY PIERCE, CARROLL, & JENNEY, JJ.

Carrier, Of goods In interstate commerce. Interstate Commerce Act. Contract Validity. If goods are shipped from the State of Washington to the State of

Pennsylvania under a bill of lading containing the provision, "The amount of any loss or damage for which any carrier is liable shall be computed on the basis of the value of the property at the place and time of shipment under this bill of lading including the freight charges, if paid," and through negligence of a connecting carrier while in the course of the shipment the goods are destroyed in the State of

Connecticut and the value of the property at the place and time of shipment is greater than that at the place and time of destination, the shipper is entitled under Section 20 of the interstate commerce act (34

U.S. Sts. at Large, 595), as amended by 38 U.S. Sts. at Large, 1197; 39 U.S. Sts. at Large, 442, to recover only the value of the property at the time and place when and where they should have been delivered.

CONTRACT against the Director General of Railroads for pears of the plaintiff negligently destroyed while being transported on the line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad at Vernon in the State of Connecticut. Writ dated October 15, 1919.

In the Superior Court, the action was heard by Thayer, J., without a jury, upon an agreed statement of facts. Material facts are described in the opinion. The plaintiff asked for the following rulings:

"1. Upon all the evidence the plaintiff is entitled to recover $963.85 with interest from August 30, 1918.

"2. Upon all the evidence the plaintiff is entitled to recover the invoice value of the shipment at the place of shipment.

"3. Under Section 3 of the bill of lading the plaintiff in case of destruction of the property shipped is entitled to recover the value of the property at the place and time of shipment.

"4. That the plaintiff is entitled to recover the value of the property at the time and place of shipment irrespective of the value of the property at the time of its destruction.

"5. That the phrase, `The amount of any loss or damage for which any carrier is liable shall be computed on the basis of the value of the property at the place and time of shipment under this bill of lading,' means that in case of loss or destruction of the property the shipper is entitled to recover the value of the property at the time and place of shipment."

The rulings were refused. The judge found for the plaintiff in the sum of $500, the value of the pears at the place of destination; and the plaintiff alleged exceptions.

Material portions of Section 20 of the Interstate Commerce Act (34 U.S. Sts. at Large, 595), as amended by 38 U.S. Sts. at Large, 1197; 39 U.S. Sts. at Large, 442, are as follows:

"That any common carrier, railroad, or transportation company subject to the provisions of this act receiving property for transportation . . . shall issue a receipt or bill of lading therefor, and shall be liable to the lawful holder thereof for any loss, damage, or injury to such property caused by it or by any common carrier, railroad, or transportation company to which such property may be delivered or over whose line or lines such property may pass . . . when transported on a through bill of lading, and no contract, receipt, rule, regulation, or other limitation of any character whatsoever, shall exempt such common carrier, railroad, or transportation company from the liability hereby imposed; and any such common carrier, railroad, or transportation company so receiving property for transportation . . . shall be liable to the lawful holder of said receipt or bill of lading or to any party entitled to recover thereon, whether such receipt or bill of lading has been issued or not, for the full actual loss, damage, or injury to such property caused by it or by such common carrier, railroad, or transportation company to which such property may be delivered or over whose line or lines such property may pass . . ., notwithstanding any limitation of liability or limitation of the amount of recovery or representation or agreement as to value in any such receipt or bill of lading, or in any contract, rule, regulation, or in any tariff filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission; and any such limitation, without respect to the manner or form in which it is sought to be made is hereby declared to be unlawful and void: . . . Provided, however, That the provisions hereof respecting liability for full actual loss, damage, or injury, notwithstanding any limitation of liability or recovery or representation or agreement or release as to value, and declaring any such limitation to be unlawful and void, shall not apply, first to baggage . . .; second, to property, except ordinary live stock, received for transportation concerning which the carrier shall have been or shall hereafter be expressly authorized or required by order of the Interstate Commerce Commission to establish and maintain rates dependent upon the value declared in writing by the shipper or agreed upon in writing as the released value of the property, in which case such declaration or agreement shall have no other effect than to limit liability and recovery to an amount not exceeding the value so declared or released. . . . and the Commission is hereby empowered to make such order in cases where rates dependent upon and varying with declared or agreed values would, in its opinion, be just and reasonable under the circumstances and conditions surrounding the transportation . . .; Provided further, That nothing in this section shall deprive any holder of such receipt or bill of lading of any remedy or right of action which he has under the existing law: . . ."

J. B. Jacobs, for the plaintiff. A. W. Blackman, for the defendant.

PIERCE, J. This is an action for loss of a carload of pears purchased by the plaintiff and delivered on August 12, 1918, to the Great Northern Railroad at Wenatchee, Washington, in apparently good order and condition, under a consignment to the plaintiff at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The car arrived at Pittsburg on August 23, 1918, and delivery was tendered by the carrier to ...