Railroad Commission Cases Stone v. Farmers Loan Trust Co Same v. Illinois Cent Co

• Court: U.S. Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: WAITE; BLATCHFORD; HARLAN; FIELD
• Citation: Railroad Commission Cases Stone v. Farmers Loan Trust Co Same v. Illinois Cent Co, 6 S.Ct. 1191, 116 U.S. 307, 29 L.Ed. 636 (1886)
• Decision Date: 04 January 1886
• Parties: RAILROAD COMMISSION CASES. STONE and others v. FARMERS' LOAN & TRUST CO. SAME v. ILLINOIS CENT. R. CO. Filed

6 S.Ct. 1191

116 U.S. 307

29 L.Ed. 636

RAILROAD COMMISSION CASES.

STONE and others

v. FARMERS' LOAN & TRUST CO.

SAME

v. ILLINOIS CENT. R. CO.

Filed January 4, 1886.

This is a suit brought by the Farmers' Loan & Trust Company, a New York corporation, to enjoin the railroad commission of Mississippi from enforcing against the Mobile & Ohio Railroad Company the provisions of the statute of Mississippi passed March 11, 1884, entitled 'An act to provide for the regulation of freight and passenger rates on railroads in this state, and to create a commission to supervise the same, and for other purposes.' That act is as follows:

'Section 1. Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of Mississippi, that the track of every railroad in this state is a public highway, over which all persons have equal rights of transportation for passengers and freights on the payment of just compensation to the owner of the railroad for such transportation; and any person or corporation engaged in transporting passengers or freights over any railroad in this state, who shall exact, receive, or demand more than the rate specified in any bill of lading issued by such person or corporation, or who, for his or its advantage, or for the advantage of any connecting line, or for any person or locality, shall make any discrimination, in transportation, against any individual, locality, or corporation, shall be guilty of extortion.'

Sections 2 and 3 relate to the punishment of those so guilty, and their liability in double damages to parties injured. Sections 4 and 5 provide for the appointment of three commissioners, to be known as the 'Railroad Commission of the State of Mississippi,' prescribe their qualifications and tenure of office, fix their salaries, and subject them to penalties and punishment for violation of duty. Section 6 is as follows:

'Sec. 6. Be it further enacted, that it shall be the duty of all persons or corporations who shall own or operate a railroad in this state, within thirty days after the passage of this act, to furnish the commission with its tariff of charges for transportation of every kind; and it shall be the duty of said commission to revise said tariff of charges so furnished, and determine whether or not, and in what particular, if any, said charges are more than just compensation for the services to be rendered, and whether or not unjust discrimination is made in such tariff of charges against any person, locality, or corporation; and when said charges are corrected, as approved by said commission, the commission shall then append a certificate of its approval to said tariff of charges; but in revising or establishing any and every tariff of charges it shall be the duty of said commission to take into consideration the character and nature of the service to be performed, and the entire business of such railroad, together with its earnings from the passenger and other traffic, and shall so revise such tariffs as to allow a fair and just return on the value of such railroad, its appurtenances and equipments, and it shall be the duty of said commission to exercise a watchful and careful supervision over every such tariff of charges, and continue such tariff of charges from time to time as justice to the public and each of said railroad companies may require, and to increase or reduce any of said rates according as experience and business operations may show to be just; and said commission shall accordingly fix tariffs of charges for those railroads failing to furnish tariffs as above required. And it shall be the duty of said railroad companies, or persons operating any railroad in this state, to post at each of its depots all rates, schedules, and tariffs for the transportation of passengers and freights made or approved by said railroad commission, with said certificate of approval, within ten days after said approval, in some conspicuous place at such depot; and it shall be unlawful for any such person or corporation to make any rebate or reduction from such tariff in favor of any person, locality, or corporation which shall not be made in favor of all other persons, localities, or corporations by a change in such published rates, except as may be allowed by the commission; and when any change is contemplated to be made in the schedule of passenger or freight rates of any railroad by the commission, said commission shall give the person or corporation operating or managing said railroad notice in writing at least ten days before such change of the time and place at which such change will be considered.'

Section 7 makes it unlawful for a company to grant reductions or rebates prohibited by the act, and fixes a penalty for so doing. Section 8 allows reduced rates for certain kinds of transportation. Section 9 is as follows:

'Sec. 9. Be it further enacted, that it shall be the duty of said commission to hear all complaints made by any person against any such tariff of rates so approved, on the ground that the same in any respect is for more than just compensation, or that such charges, or any of them, amount to or operate so as to effect unjust discrimination. Such complaint must be in writing, and specify the items in the tariff against which complaint is made. And if it appears to the commission that there may be justice in the complaint, or that the matter ought to be investigated, the commission shall forthwith furnish to the person or corporation operating the railroad a copy of the complaint, together with notice, which said notice shall be served as other legal process is now required by law to be served on railroad companies, that at a time and place stated in the notice that tariff, as to said items, will be revised by the commission; and at such time and place it shall be the duty of the commission to hear the parties to the controversy in person or by counsel, or both, and such evidence as may be offered, oral or in writing, and may examine witnesses on oath, conforming to the mode of proceedings, as nearly as may be convenient, to that required of arbitrators, giving such time and latitude to each side, and regulating the opening and conclusion of any argument, as the commission may consider best adapted to arrive at the truth; and when the hearing is concluded, the commission shall give notice of any change deemed proper by them to be made to the person or corporation operating the railroad: provided, in no instance shall any corporation, railroad, or person be criminally or civilly liable for the making of any charge or discrimination whatever, if the same is not in violation of the tariff of charges or rules and regulations prescribed by the commission.'

Sections 10 and 11 are unimportant in this case. The remainder of the statute is as follows:

'Sec. 12. Be it further enacted, that every person or corporation operating a railroad in this state shall furnish the said commission with all the information required relative to the management of their respective lines, and particularly with copies of all leases, contracts, and agreements for transportation with express, sleeping-car, or other companies to which they are parties.

'Sec. 13. Be it further enacted, that every railroad company shall, within twenty-four hours after the occurrence of any accident to a train, attended with serious personal injury on any portion of its line within the limits of this state, give notice of the same to the railroad commissioners, who, upon information of such accident, may repair or dispatch one or more of their number to the scene of said accident, and inquire into the facts and circumstances thereof, which shall be recorded in the minutes of their proceedings, and embraced in their annual report.

'Sec. 14. Be it further enacted, that the commission shall make annual reports to the governor on or before the first day of January in each year, for transmission to the legislature, of their doings for the year ending on the thirtieth day of September next preceding, containing such facts as will disclose the actual workings of the railway system in this state, and such suggestions as to the general railroad policy of the state as may seem to them appropriate.

'Sec. 15. Be it further enacted, that it shall be the duty of every railroad company, or person operating a railroad in this state, to make quarterly returns of the business of said railroad to the railroad commission of Mississippi, which returns shall embrace all the receipts and expenditures of said railroad, and to be made according to forms furnished by the said railroad commissioners for that purpose.

'Sec. 16. Be it further enacted, that the quarterly returns herein provided shall be made as aforesaid within thirty days after the end of each quarter to which they relate, and any railroad company, or persons operating any railroad in this state, which shall fail or refuse to make the quarterly returns as provided for in this act, shall forfeit to the state of Mississippi fifty dollars for every day of such refusal or neglect.

'Sec. 17. Be it further enacted, that the said quarterly returns shall be sworn to by one or more officers of said company, or of the persons operating the said railroad, who has knowledge of their truth, and any person knowingly swearing falsely to any statement in any of said quarterly reports shall be guilty of perjury.

'Sec. 18. Be it further enacted, that it shall be the duty of the commissioners to inspect the depots of the railroads operated in this state, and see that at least one comfortable and suitable reception-room is provided at each depot for the use and accommodation of persons desiring and awaiting transportation over their line, and any railroad company failing or refusing to provide such room, after sixty days' notice from the commissioners to provide the same, shall be liable to a penalty of not less than fifty dollars for each day they so fail or refuse to provide such room, and said...