Mississippi Public Service Commission v. Illinois Cent. R. Co., 40981

• Decision Date: 02 February 1959
• Docket Number: No. 40981,40981
• Citation: 235 Miss. 46,108 So.2d 573
• Parties: MISSISSIPPI PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION (Town of Lorman, Mississippi), v. ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD CO. et al.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 573

108 So.2d 573

235 Miss. 46

MISSISSIPPI PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION (Town of Lorman, Mississippi), v. ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD CO. et al.

No. 40981.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

Feb. 2, 1959.

Joe T. Patterson, Atty. Gen., by Wade H. Creekmore, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellant.

Byrd, Wise & Smith, Jackson, for appellees.

KYLE, Justice.

The appellees, the Illinois Central Railroad Company and the Railway Express Agency, Inc., filed their join petition with the Mississippi Public Service Commission on February 14, 1957, seeking-authority to discontinue their agencies at Lorman in Jefferson County, during the first eight months of each year, and to establish in lieu thereof during that period a prepay station at said point. The petitioners alleged in their petition that the business at the Lorman station had steadily declined during the last several years; that the type of freight, both carload and less than carload shipments, could be handled by the operation of a prepay station without undue burden upon the general public; that the public convenience and necessity no longer required the services of an agent for the full year at said point, and that it would be to the best interest of the general public that the agencies be discontinued, except during the cotton shipping season each year. Protests against the discontinuance of the existing agencies were filed by citizens of the Lorman community, and a hearing was had before the Public Service Commission on August 21, 1957.

It was agreed by all parties at the beginning of the hearing that if the petition of the railroad company was granted, the petition of the express agency would also be granted, and if the petition of the railroad company was denied, the express agency application would also be denied. Three witnesses testified for the railroad company. Four witnesses testified for the protestants, and three other witnesses who were present to testify for the protestants stated to the Commission that the statements made by the other witnesses were substantially correct. At the conclusion of the hearing the Commission took the matter under advisement, and on September 5, 1957, entered an order denying the petition. The Commission made no detailed findings of fact, but merely stated in its order that, from the evidence, the Commission was of the opinion that it was in the public interest that the petition be denied. From that order the petitioners prosecuted an appeal to the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, and on March 14, 1958, that court entered a judgment reversing the order of the Public Service Commission and authorizing the railroad company and the express agency to discontinue their agencies at Lorman during the first eight months of each year.

The case is now before us on appeal by the Public Service Commission from the above mentioned judgment of the circuit court.

As stated by this Court in the case of Citizens of Stringer v. Gulf M. & O. R. Co., 1956, 90 So.2d 25, the paramount questions presented for our decision are (1) whether the public convenience and necessity would be reasonably met by the substitution of a prepay station in lieu of an agency station at Lorman, and (2) whether the finding and order of the Commission to the contrary are supported by substantial evidence or are purely arbitrary and capricious. There is also presented the further question whether the requirement as to public convenience and necessity is such as to impose upon the appellees the duty of maintaining the agency station even though to do so would result in financial loss to the appellees. The power of a court of competent jurisdiction to review the order of the Commission in a case of this kind, to determine whether it is supported by substantial evidence or is purely arbitrary and capricious, is well settled by the decisions of this Court. Dixie Greyhound Lines, Inc., v. Mississippi Public Service Commission, 190 Miss. 704, 200 So. 579, 1 So.2d 489; Tri-State Transit Co. v. Dixie Greyhound Lines, 197 Miss. 37, 19 So.2d 441; Citizens of Stringer v. Gulf M. & O. R. Co., supra.

The rule is also well settled that the findings of the Commission under Section 7815, Code of 1942 Rec., are prima facie correct, and that the reviewing court can not substitute its judgment for that of the Commission where there is a substantial basis in the evidence for such finding. Tri-State Transit Co. v. Dixie Greyhound Lines, Inc., supra; Cobb Bros. Const. Co. v. Gulf M. & O. R. Co., 213 Miss. 706, 57 So.2d 570; West Bros., Inc. v. Illinois Central R. Co., 222 Miss. 335, 75 So.2d 723. Where the essential facts are not contradicted, the reviewing court may determine as a matter of law whether the same are sufficient to support the order of the Commission.

The record in this case shows that Lorman is an unincorporated community with a population of approximately 200 persons. The village is located in Jefferson County approximately 12 1/2 miles from Port Gibson and 8.4 miles from Fayette. Port Gibson, Lorman and Fayette are all located on U. S. highway No. 61, which is a paved highway. There is no bank or industrial plant located at Lorman. The commercial establishments consist of a general mercantile store, a rural electric power association headquarters and two gasoline filling stations, one of which is a combination service station, bus station and post office. The railroad agent at Lorman handles the business of the express agency. The railroad company maintains open agencies at Port Gibson and Fayette, and also at Harriston, which is located 7 miles south of Lorman. The company operates a local freight train through Lorman which renders northbound service on Saturday, southbound service on Sunday, and service in both directions on other week days. There is no passenger train service at Lorman. Continental Trailways provides bus transportation for passengers, and Delta Truck Lines and other truck operators offer freight service at Lorman. The U. S. mail at Lorman is handled by truck.

J. P. Hoff, trainmaster for the Vicksburg district, testified that the railroad company wished to operate the station at Lorman as a prepay station during the first eight months of the year, and as an open station with an agent in charge during the last four months while the cotton crop is being harvested. Hoff explained that a prepay station is a station which has no agent assigned to it. When an agency station has been converted into a prepay station outbound carload shipments are handled in much the same manner as before. The freight train conductor is authorized to sign bills of lading for such shipments, or the shipper may obtain a bill of lading from an adjoining agency and the conductor will then be notified to move the car. In the case of an inbound carload shipment, the car is set out at the usual unloading point and the bill of lading moving with the car goes to a designated agency for handling, and the agency notifies the consignee by telephone or postal notice. As to less than carload lot shipments, Hoff...