Seaboard Air Line Railway v. Seegers
| Decision Date | 04 November 1907 |
| Docket Number | No. 15,15 |
| Citation | 28 S.Ct. 28,207 U.S. 73,52 L.Ed. 108 |
| Parties | SEABOARD AIR LINE RAILWAY, Plff. in Err., v. A. L. SEEGERS and W. B. Seegers, Doing Business as Seegers Bros |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Messrs. W. F. Stevenson, Edward McIver, and Stevenson & Matheson for plaintiff in error.
No counsel appeared for defendant in error.
[Argument of Counsel from pages 73-75 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice Brewer delivered the opinion of the court:
The question in this case is the constitutionality of § 2 of an act of the state of South Carolina, approved February 23, 1903 (24 Stat. at L. 81), which reads:
The difference between the value of the goods shipped and the freight charges, $1.75, and the amount of the penalty, $50, naturally excites attention. The supreme court of the state held the section constitutional,—a decision conclusive so far as the state Constitution is concerned,—and therefore we are limited to a consideration of its alleged conflict with the Constitution of the United States. The shipment was wholly intrastate, being from Columbia, South Carolina, to McBee, South Carolina, and undoubtedly subject to the control of the state. It is, of course, unnecessary to consider the validity of the statute when applied to a shipment from without the state.
It is contended that the equal protection of the laws, guaranteed by the 1st section of the 14th Amendment, is denied. The power of classification is conceded, but this will not uphold one that is purely arbitrary. There must be some substantial foundation and basis therefor. It is asserted that this is merely legislation to compel carriers to pay their debts within a given time, by an unreasonable penalty for any delay, while no one else is so punished, and that there is no excuse for such distinction. We have had before us several cases involving classification statutes, and while the principles upon which classifications may rightfully be made are clear and easily stated, yet the application of those principles to the different cases is often attended with much difficulty. See, among others, on the general principles of classification, Barbier v. Connolly, 113 U. S. 27, 28 L. ed. 923, 5 Sup. Ct. Rep. 357; Bell's Gap R. Co. v. Pennsylvania, 134 U. S. 232, 33 L. ed. 892, 10 Sup. Ct. Rep. 533, and of cases making application of those principles: Gulf, C. & S. F. R. Co. v. Ellis, 165 U. S. 150, 41 L. ed. 666, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 255; Atchison, T. & S. F. R. Co. v. Matthews, 174 U. S. 96, 43 L. ed. 909, 19 Sup. Ct. Rep. 609, and cases cited in the opinion; Erb v. Morasch, 177 U. S. 584, 44 L. ed. 897, 20 Sup. Ct. Rep. 819; Fidelity Mut. Life Asso. v. Mettler, 185 U. S. 308, 46...
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