Fort Smith Co v. Mills

• Decision Date: 01 June 1920
• Docket Number: No. 42,42
• Citation: 40 S.Ct. 526,64 L.Ed. 862,253 U.S. 206
• Parties: FORT SMITH & W. R. CO. et al. v. MILLS et al
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

253 U.S. 206

40 S.Ct. 526

64 L.Ed. 862

FORT SMITH & W. R. CO. et al.

v MILLS et al.

No. 42.

Argued December 13, 1917.

Decided June 1, 1920.

Messrs. A. C. Dustin and C. M. Horn, both of Cleveland, Ohio, for appellants.

Mr. Assistant Attorney General Frierson, for appellees.

Mr. Justice HOLMES delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is a bill in equity brought by the Fort Smith and Western Railroad Company and the trustee of a mortgage given to secure bonds of that road, to enjoin the receiver of the road from conforming to the Act of September 3, 5, 1916, c. 436; 39 Stat. 721 (Comp. St. §§ 8680a-8680d), in respect of hours of service and wages, and to enjoin the District Attorney of the United States from proceeding to enforce the Act. The bill alleges that the physical property is worth over $7,000,000, but that no dividends ever have been paid upon the stock, that no interest has been paid upon the bonds since October 1, 1907, and that there is a yearly deficit in the earnings of the road. The receiver was appointed in proceedings to foreclose the mortgage. The bill further alleges that the railroad now (1917) is being carried on under an agreement with the men which the men desire to keep, but that the receiver, yielding to the threats of the District Attorney to prosecute him unless he does so, purposes to substitute the much more onerous terms of the Act. It is set up that the Act if construed to apply to this case is void under the Fift Amendment to the Constitution. The bill was dismissed by the District Court, on motion, for want of equity, and the plaintiffs appealed.

The Act in question, known as the Adamson Law, was passed to meet the emergency created by the threat of a general railroad strike. It fixed eight hours as a day's work and provided that for some months, pending an investigation, the compensation of employees of railroads subject to the Act to Regulate Commerce should not be 'reduced below the present standard day's wage,' and that time in excess of eight hours should be paid for pro rata at the same rate. The time has expired long since but the rights of the parties require a decision of the case.

In Wilson v. New, 243 U. S. 332, 37 Sup. Ct. 298, 61 L. Ed. 755, L. R. A. 1017E, 938, Ann. Cas. 1918A, 1024, it was decided that the Act was within the constitutional power of Congress to regulate commerce among the States; that since, by virtue of the organic interdependence of different parts of the Union, not only comfort but life would be endangered on a large scale if interstate railroad traffic suddenly stopped, Congress could meet the danger of such a stoppage by legislation, and that, in view of the public interest, the mere fact that it required an expenditure to tide the country over the trouble would not of itself alone show a taking of property without due process of law. It was held that these principles applied...