Mulberry Hill Coal Co. v. Illinois Cent. R. Co.
| Decision Date | 17 December 1912 |
| Citation | 257 Ill. 80,100 N.E. 151 |
| Parties | MULBERRY HILL COAL CO. v. ILLINOIS CENT. R. CO. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from Circuit Court, St. Clair County; Louis Bernreuter, Judge.
Action on the case by the Mulberry Hill Coal Company against the Illinois Central Railroad Company. From judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals. Affirmed.
Kramer, Kramer & Campbell, of East St. Louis (John G. Drennan, of Chicago, of counsel), for appellant.
J. O. Miller and Winkelmann & Ogle, all of Belleville, for appellee.
This is an action on the case, brought by the Mulberry Hill Coal Company, appellee, against the Illinois Central Railroad Company, appellant, to recover damages on account of the failure of appellant to furnish cars at the coal mine of appellee within a reasonable time after the same were required for the transportation of coal. At the trial before the court and a jury the appellant, at the close of all the evidence, moved the court to dismiss the suit on the ground that section 22 of the act in relation to fencing and operating railroads (Hurd's Rev. St. 1911, c. 114, § 84), requiring railroad corporations to furnish cars within a reasonable time for the transportation of property offered for such transportation, is null and void, because it is repugnant to the commerce clause of the Constitution of the United States. The court denied the motion, and after a verdict rendered judgment for $716.92, the amount of money lost by the appellee in consequence of the failure of the appellant to comply with the statute. An appeal was taken to this court upon the ground that the validity of the statute is involved.
That part of section 22 in question is as follows: ‘Every railroad corporation in the state shall furnish, start and run cars for the transportation of such passengers and property as shall, within a reasonable time previous thereto, be ready or be offered for transportation at the several stations on its railroads and at the junctions of other railroads, and at such stopping places as may be established for receiving and discharging way passengers and freights.’ It was proved at the trial that the railroad of the appellant extends through a number of states, and that it is engaged in commerce between them, and therefore it is contended that the statute, as applied in this case, is a burden upon interstate commerce. Congress has exclusive control over interstate commerce, and respecting that subject its authority is paramount; but we are not able to discover that this statute either regulates interstate commerce or its instrumentalities or burdens such commerce in any way. The only requirement of the statute, as applied in this case or any other case, is that the railroad corporation shall furnish cars, within a reasonable time after they are required, to transport the property offered for transportation, and what would be a reasonable time in any case would depend upon all the circumstances and conditions existing, including the requirements of the interstate commerce carried on by the corporation. Congress has exclusive jurisdiction over interstate...
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...by this court, and in each case the decision was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States. Mulberry Hill Coal Co. v. Illinois Central Railroad Co., 257 Ill. 80, 100 N. E. 151, was an action on the case for a failure to furnish cars at the coal mine of the plaintiff within a reason......