Railroad Commission of Ohio v. Worthington

• Decision Date: 27 May 1912
• Docket Number: Nos. 776 and 505,s. 776 and 505
• Citation: 32 S.Ct. 653,225 U.S. 101,56 L.Ed. 1004
• Parties: RAILROAD COMMISSION OF OHIO, Appt., v. B. A. WORTHINGTON, Receiver of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad Company. ,
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

225 U.S. 101

32 S.Ct. 653

56 L.Ed. 1004

RAILROAD COMMISSION OF OHIO, Appt.,

v B. A. WORTHINGTON, Receiver of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad Company.

Nos. 776 and 505,

Argued April 15 and 16, 1912.

Decided May 27, 1912.

Mr. Timothy S. Hogan, Attorney General of Ohio, and Messrs. T. H. Hogsett, Charles C. Marshall, and Frank Davis, Jr., for appellant.

Messrs. W. M. Duncan and William B. Sanders for appellee.

Mr. Justice Day delivered the opinion of the court:

The case originated in a bill filed in the United States circuit court for the northern district of Ohio, eastern division, against the Railroad Commission of Ohio and other parties, to enjoin the enforcement of an order of the commission, fixing and establishing a rate of 70 cents a ton on what is called 'lake-cargo coal,' transported from the No. 8 coal field, in eastern Ohio, to the ports of Huron and Cleveland, Ohio, on Lake Erie, for carriage thence by lake vessels. A permanent injunction was granted in the circuit court against the enforcement of the rate, on the ground that it was a regulation of interstate commerce. An appeal was taken to the circuit court of appeals for the sixth circuit, and that court affirmed the decree of the circuit court. 110 C. C. A. 85, 187 Fed. 965. From the decree of the circuit court of appeals an appeal was taken to this court. An appeal was also prayed and allowed from the circuit court directly to this court, being case No. 505 on the docket of this term, which is submitted with the present case. A petition for a writ of certiorari to review the decree of the circuit court of appeals has also been filed and submitted upon briefs.

The first question to be dealt with is one of jurisdiction. The question of the jurisdiction of the circuit court of appeals was raised and decided in that court, which held that it had jurisdiction of the case, also intimating that there were grounds of jurisdiction which might have warranted a direct appeal to this court, and that court allowed the present appeal to this court.

The argument that the jurisdiction of the circuit court of appeals is final is based upon the contention that, as Worthington, the complainant in the present case, was appointed receiver of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad Company in a suit in equity in the circuit court of the United States for the northern district of Ohio, eastern division, wherein jurisdiction depended upon diversity of citizenship, and since the jurisdiction to entertain an appeal in an ancillary proceeding is that of the original case, therefore, under the circuit court of appeals act the decree of the court of appeals is final. It is undoubtedly true that in cases of intervention in foreclosure suits, where jurisdiction depends upon diverse citizenship, jurisdiction of the intervening petition is determined by that of the original case. It is equally true that petitions in original proceedings to enforce rights and to protect the exercise of the jurisdiction of the court take their jurisdiction from that of the original case (St. Louis, K. C. & C. R. Co. v. Wabash R. Co. 217 U. S. 247, 54 L. ed. 752, 30 Sup. Ct. Rep. 510), and the many previous cases in this court therein cited.

An examination of the bill in this case, which was filed under the authority of the circuit court, shows that the order of the commission was attacked, not only upon the ground that its findings were alleged to be unsupported by the testimony and to have been made upon improper consideration of the facts, but also because the order affected and interfered with interstate commerce, in which the complainant was engaged and over which the Railroad Commission of Ohio had no authority because of the commerce clause of the Federal Constitution. It further was alleged that the owners of the property constituting the receivership estate would be deprived thereof without due process of law; that they would be denied the equal protection of the laws, and that their property would be taken without compensation. It thus appears that jurisdiction was invoked, not only because that the present case is ancillary to the receivership suit, which depended upon diverse citizenship, but upon grounds which involve alleged infractions of the Federal Constitution and rights secured thereby. The case was therefore one which might have been taken to the circuit court of appeals, and the fact that it involved grounds which might have warranted a direct appeal to this court did not deprive the circuit court of appeals of jurisdiction. American Sugar Ref. Co. v. New Orleans, 181 U. S. 277, 45 L. ed. 859, 21 Sup. Ct. Rep. 646; Macfadden v. United States, 213 U. S. 288, 53 L. ed. 801, 29 Sup. Ct. Rep. 490.

The question, then, is: Is this one of the cases made final in the circuit court of appeals by the act creating that court? The 6th section of that act provides that the judgment of the circuit court of appeals 'shall be final in all cases in which the jurisdiction is dependent entirely upon the opposite parties to the suit or controversy being aliens and citizens of the United States or citizens of different states; also in all cases arising under the patent laws, under the revenue laws, and under the criminal laws, and in admiralty cases.' [26 Stat. at L. 828, chap. 517, U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 550.] In all other cases there is a right of review by this court if the matter in controversy exceeds $1,000. It is averred in the bill and admitted in the answer that the amount in dispute exceeds in value the sum of $5,000. The case is therefore one not made final in the circuit court of appeals, and the appeal to this court was properly allowed. Spreckels Sugar Ref. Co. v. McClain, 192 U. S. 397, 48 L. ed. 496, 24 Sup. Ct. Rep. 376; Macfadden v. United States, 213 U. S. 288, 294, 53 L. ed. 801, 802, 29 Sup. Ct. Rep. 490; Standard Paint Co. v. Trinidad Asphalt Mfg. Co. 220 U. S. 446, 460, 55 L. ed. 536, 543, 31 Sup. Ct. Rep. 456.

Case No. 505 is dismissed and the petition for writ of certiorari is denied.

Coming now to the merits of the case, the circuit court found the facts to be as follows:

'It appears that bituminous coal, such as is mined in the No. 8 district, is classified by the complainant, for tariff purposes, as (a) railway fuel, being coal sold to railroad companies; (b) lake-cargo coal, that is, coal intended for shipment by lake to points in the northwest; and (c) commercial coal, comprising coal for commercial and domestic use, not included in the first two classes.

'The No. 8 coal district of Ohio is situated in Jefferson, Harrison, and Belmont counties, and the members of the Pittsburg Vein Operators' Association of Ohio are interested in mining coal in that district. The traffic is large, about 400,000 tons of lake-cargo coal being shipped over the complainant's railroad from that district in 1909, and transhipped by vessel to points in the northwest.

'At and prior to the time of the complaint being lodged with the Railroad Commission by the Operators' Association, the tariff rate in force on the complainant's railroad on lake-cargo coal from the No. 8 district to Huron and Cleveland, Ohio, f. o. b. vessel, was 90 cents per ton. The rate covers, in addition to the rail transportation, the service of unloading the coal from the cars into vessels and trimming it in the holds of the vessels, so that they can safely proceed.

'The rate on commercial coal to Huron or Cleveland is $1 per ton.

'The vessels for lake-cargo coal are generally furnished by the operators, but the coal is sometimes sold f. o. b. vessel, the title to the coal in that case passing to the purchaser upon being properly loaded into the vessel.

'The coal in question is shipped from the mines to Huron or Cleveland, principally Huron, where the complainant has large dock facilities and expensive machinery and...