In re John B. James

• Decision Date: 06 January 1926
• Citation: 132 A. 40,99 Vt. 265
• Parties: IN RE JOHN B. JAMES
• Court: Vermont Supreme Court

132 A. 40

99 Vt. 265

IN RE JOHN B. JAMES

Supreme Court of Vermont

January 6, 1926

November 1925.

APPEAL from decision and order of Public Service Commission Bennington County, denying petition of John B. James for certificate to operate certain motor bus line. Petition was opposed by the Vermont Company, a competing electric trolley line. The petitioner appeals. The opinion states the case.

The order of the Public Service Commission denying petitioner's application is affirmed. Let the result be certified to that Commission.

James K. Batchelder for the petitioner.

Robert E. Healy for trolley company.

Present WATSON, C. J., POWERS, TAYLOR, SLACK, and BUTLER, JJ.

OPINION

SLACK

The petitioner made application to the Public Service Commission, in accordance with the provisions of Act No. 74 of the Laws of 1925, § 2, for a certificate authorizing him to operate motor busses on the public highway in and between the villages of Bennington and North Bennington in this State. After due notice and hearing on the merits of his application, the Commission found and stated the facts, and made an order denying the application. From that order this appeal was taken.

Whether the questions relied upon by the petitioner are raised in such a manner as to require consideration we do not pause to determine, since, although this matter is called to our attention in the brief of the Vermont Company, it was in effect waived on oral argument.

The findings, in part, are these: The Vermont Company, a duly chartered and organized corporation, owns and operates an electric trolley line which runs from the western boundary of the State, where it connects with the line of the Berkshire Street Railway Company, through the villages of North Bennington and Bennington to some point in Massachusetts. This line has been in operation about twenty-eight years and is used not only for passenger traffic but also for hauling freight from sidings of the Rutland Railroad to the manufacturing plants of several companies, and because of its connection with the Berkshire Street Railway it furnishes passenger service to points in New York and Massachusetts. The service furnished by that company is regular and satisfactory. The petitioner began operating motor busses in and between the villages of North Bennington and Bennington in February, 1922, and continued such operation, we infer, until Act No. 74 of the Laws of 1925 became effective. From the North Bennington post office to the end of the trolley line on Branch Street in the village of Bennington, a distance of about 6.5 miles, the route over which petitioner has operated, and desires to operate, is identical with the trolley line, both being on the same highway, except for about a mile where the two routes are from one to four blocks apart. The Vermont Company never has paid any dividends and has defaulted the interest on its bonded indebtedness for the last four or five years. Its earnings are very materially less on that section of its road between North Bennington and Bennington than on any other portion of its route.

The Commission concludes its decision and order in the following language: "Taking into consideration the service rendered by the Vermont Company as compared with that rendered by the petitioner, especially the fact that the electric road is a connecting line between points in Massachusetts and New York and that it is used by several manufacturing companies as a freight carrier, we are of the opinion that its continuous and successful operation is of much greater importance in promoting the general good of the State than are the operations of the petitioner. We hold that the petitioner's operations are seriously competing with those of the Vermont Company and that the transportation requirements between Bennington and North Bennington do not demand the operation of both services and that the trolley line can meet all reasonable public demands. For the above reasons we find that the general good of the State will not be promoted by the operation of petitioner's busses between Bennington and North Bennington and therefore deny the petition."

None of the findings were excepted to, nor is it claimed that they do not fully sustain the order; but the petitioner insists that the Commission had no authority to deny his application because the operation of his busses, if permitted, would be in competition with the Vermont Company's business, because the powers conferred upon the Commission by Act No. 74 of the Laws of 1925 are subject to the limitation contained in G. L. 5068, since by Act No. 86 of the same session motor vehicles used as common carriers were added to the public utilities over which the Commission is given general supervision by G. L. 5056.

Chapter 216 of the General Laws, which comprises sections 5055 to 5068 inclusive, relates to the powers and duties of the Public Service Commission respecting certain public service companies. Section 5055 defines the meaning of the word "company" or "companies" as used in that chapter. Section 5056 enumerates the different businesses over which the Commission is given general supervisory powers. Other sections of the chapter define the jurisdiction of the Commission, prescribe the mode of procedure, etc. Section 5068 provides that: "The construction placed upon any statute shall not be such as to give the public service commission power to prevent or restrict competition or limit the number of persons or companies who may engage in the business of furnishing light, heat, power, or any other business subject to supervision under the provisions of this chapter, in any town."

By Act No. 86 of the Laws of 1925, which is amendatory of section 5056, motor vehicles used as common carriers are added to the businesses enumerated in that section, and, consequently, the Commission's authority over them is subject to the limitation respecting competition contained in section 5068, unless such limitation is rendered inapplicable by the provisions of Act No. 74.

Act No. 74 is entitled, "An Act relating to public service motor vehicles operating over fixed routes." Section 1 provides: "Every person, association or corporation owning or operating a motor bus, which indiscriminately carries passengers, freight or express, for hire, regularly over a fixed route or between fixed termini * * * * is hereby declared a common carrier and subject to the jurisdiction of the public service commission, and, while so operating, to such reasonable rules and regulations as said commission may prescribe with respect to routes, fares, schedules, continuity of service and the convenience and safety of passengers and the public." Section 2 provides: "A person, association or corporation shall not operate such a motor bus * * * until the owner thereof shall have obtained a certificate from the public service commission specifying the route over which such motor bus * * * may operate, the number of passengers which such motor bus may carry at any one time, the service that such motor bus * * * shall furnish, and that the operation of such motor bus * * * over such route will promote the general good of the state," etc.

The legislative history of Acts Nos. 74 and 86 shows that both originated in the Senate--in fact were introduced by the same senator. The former was Senate Bill No. 16 and the latter was Senate Bill No. 41. No. 16 was introduced January 23, was ordered to a third reading in the form in which it passed February 17, passed the Senate the day following, passed the House March 17, and was approved March 18. No. 41 was introduced February 9, was ordered to a third reading February 17, passed the Senate the day following, passed the House March 12, and was approved March 16. Those sections of Act No. 74 here involved took effect, by special provision, from its passage. Act No. 86 took effect, under the general law (G. L. 38), June 1.

While it must be admitted that the situation thus presented is somewhat novel, we think that the difficulty arising therefrom is more imaginary than real.

In the first place, did Act No. 74 repeal Act No. 86? This question must be answered in the negative. The action of both houses respecting these measures, as above indicated, was such as to admit of no other conclusion. It will not be supposed that the Legislature, whose proceedings are presumed to be conducted with wisdom and deliberation, with these measures concurrently before it, gravely and solemnly passed them through all the various stages and sent them to the Governor, intending that the one, and that alone, should become a law of the land to which he happened last to affix his signature.

We must, therefore, consider the two statutes standing together and, if possible, ascertain and give effect to the legislative intent as thus expressed; because the intent is the vital part, the essence of the law-- "the spirit which gives life to a legislative enactment." Such intent must be first sought in the language of the statute itself, taken as a whole. If the evident intention to be gathered from the whole law is different from the literal import of the terms employed to express it in a particular part of the law, that intention should prevail, for that, in fact, is the will of the Legislature. If the language of the statute leaves the intent in doubt, the court may call to its aid extrinsic matters, such as the history of the statute's enactment, the previous law bearing on the subject, the...