Ross v. Kansas City, St. J. & C. B. R. Co.

• Citation: 111 Mo. 18,19 S.W. 541
• Parties: ROSS et al. v. KANSAS CITY, ST. J. & C. B. R. Co.
• Decision Date: 23 May 1892
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Missouri

19 S.W. 541

111 Mo. 18

ROSS et al. v. KANSAS CITY, ST. J. & C. B. R. Co.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 1.

May 23, 1892.

RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS — INTERPRETATION OF LAW — "CAR-LOAD" LOTS.

Where the term "car load," as used in Rev. St. 1879, § 833, providing for the appointment of railroad commissioners, the division of freights into certain classes, and the fixing of maximum rates at so much per "car load" for each class, has been construed by the commissioners, whose duty it is to enforce the said statute, as meaning, in the light of existing usage, 10 tons instead of all that a car can safely carry, this construction, being reasonable and just, will be upheld, especially where it has been acted upon long enough to have become a rule.

Appeal from circuit court, Buchanan county; HENRY M. RAMEY, Judge.

Suit by John A. Ross and others against the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad Company to recover the statutory penalty for freight overcharges. Judgment for plaintiffs. Defendant appeals. Reversed.

Spencer, Burnes & Mosman, for appellant. Jas. W. Boyd and Benj. Phillip, for respondents.

BLACK, J.

The plaintiffs, Ross and Todd, brought this suit to recover the statutory penalty of three times the amount of alleged overcharges paid by them to defendant for hauling several hundred cords of wood to St. Joseph between the 1st day of July, 1883, and the 25th March, 1886. The petition contained 234 counts. Plaintiffs withdrew or took a nonsuit as to some 50 odd counts, and recovered judgment on the others, and the defendant appealed.

The proof shows that the cord wood was all shipped from points on the defendant's road to St. Joseph; the distance in all cases being less than 25 miles. In some instances the wood was not shipped from any regular station, but from points on the road where it had been piled with the knowledge and consent of the defendant. In such cases the defendant sent out a special train, and made a special charge of $25 for "engine services" in addition to the usual freight charges. As the trial court, by the instructions given, excluded these special charges in computing the overcharges, it is not necessary to give them any further notice. The defendant made out from time to time what are called "expense bills," and presented them to the plaintiffs for payment, and they paid the charges thus made. Each of these bills represents a car, and the charges are extended according to the weight of the wood, the price charged for carriage ranging from 3½ to 4 cents per 100 pounds. One of these bills will serve as a sample for all. It reads: "Weight, 2,800; rate, 375; total to pay, $10.50." The defendant put in evidence portions of the "Fourth Annual Report of the Railroad Commissioners of the State of Missouri for the Year 1878," addressed to the general assembly. In this report the commissioners say: "The laws of Missouri recognize 2,000 pounds as a ton, but in regard to some articles, particularly iron, custom allowed 2,240 pounds to the ton. Custom has established ten tons or twenty thousand pounds as a car load, but in many freights, especially lumber, custom allows 12 tons or 24,000 pounds to the car; the weight of lumber being estimated from the number of feet. To avoid confusion, therefore, the commissioners published, in connection with their table of classification, that they recognize 2,000 pounds as a legal ton, and ten tons as a car load. See Appendices C and D." The part of Appendix C read in evidence is in these words: "Classification of freights established by railroad commissioners of Missouri. This classification to be in force on all the railroads in Missouri from and after July 10, 1878. Explanations: The classes are 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J; and the expressions `1½,' `D1,' and `3x1' mean one and a half times the first, double first, and three times first class. The commissioners recognize 2,000 pounds as a legal ton, and ten tons a car load." The defendant insists that it had the right and was in duty bound to make its charges in accordance with the construction placed upon the law by the railroad commissioners, fixing ten tons or 20,000 pounds as a car load. If correct in this contention, then this action must fail; for the amount charged did not in any case exceed $8 per 20,000 pounds. The plaintiff insists that, when the law speaks of a car load, it means all the wood hauled in one car, and hence the defendant was guilty of making overcharges.

The act of 1875, which provides for the appointment of a board of railroad commissioners, divides freights transported into four general classes, "to be designated, first, second, third, and fourth classes, and into special classes, to be designated as classes D, E, F, G, H, I, and J." Section 833, Rev. St. 1879. The statute does...