State ex rel. R.R. & Warehouse Comm'n v. Adams Exp. Co.

• Decision Date: 20 November 1896
• Citation: 68 N.W. 1085,66 Minn. 271
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE EX REL. RAILROAD & WAREHOUSE COMMISSION v ADAMS EXP. CO.

66 Minn. 271

68 N.W. 1085

STATE EX REL. RAILROAD & WAREHOUSE COMMISSIONvADAMS EXP. CO.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Nov. 20, 1896.

(Syllabus by the Court.)

1. That part of Gen. St. 1894, § 399, which provides that the courts may direct the manner in which notice may be given to the common carrier proceeded against, is not violative of the constitutional provision which forbids the delegation of legislative powers to the judiciary. Nor have legislative powers been delegated in section 5979, which provides that the court or judge allowing a writ of mandamus shall direct the manner of serving the same.

2. The provision in Gen. St. 1894, § 399, which authorizes the court to direct service to be made upon the agents or servants of the carrier is not open to the objection that by such service an attempt is made to obtain jurisdiction over the carrier without due process of law.

3. At common law the courts have always possessed the right and authority to direct the manner of service of writs of mandamus, and with respect to service upon private corporations the rule has been that service should be made on the head officer or upon the select body or person within the corporation whose province it is to put in motion the machinery necessary to secure performance of the duty.

4. No reason exists why the rule above stated should not be applicable when service is to be made upon a joint-stock association.

5. In the case at bar an alternative writ of mandamus was issued, on the relation of the state railroad and warehouse commission, to compel the Adams Express Company, a nonresident, joint-stock association engaged in business in this state as a common carrier, to print and keep for public inspection schedules showing the classification, rates, fares, and charges for the transportation of property of all kinds and classes in force and charged by it in the state, and to file a copy of such schedule with the commission. When allowing the writ, the court directed that service be made upon one J. W. Owen, general agent of the company. Service was actually made upon Owen, but on the return day it was shown that he was not a general agent, but simply the local agent at St. Paul. No claim was made that the company had a general manager or general agent in this state, or any officer or agent superior to Owen; and it clearly appeared that all of the officers named in the articles of association, and all of the shareholders, were nonresidents of the state, and not within its borders. Held, that the service was sufficient to confer jurisdiction upon the court issuing the writ to proceed with the hearing.

Appeal from district court, Ramsey county; J. J. Egan, Judge.

Mandamus by the state, on the relation of the railroad and warehouse commission, against the Adams Express Company. Motion to quash the writ denied, and defendant appeals. Affirmed.

Henry M. Farnam, for appellant.

H. M. Childs, Atty. Gen., and Geo. B. Edgerton, for respondent.

COLLINS, J.

This was a proceeding, by an alternative writ of mandamus, to compel the Adams Express Company, doing business as a common carrier in this state, to print, and keep for public inspection, schedules showing the classification, rates, fares, and charges for the transportation of property of all kinds and classes in force and charged by it in this state, and to file a copy of such schedules with the railroad and warehouse commission. The writ was issued on the relation of the commission, relying on the provisions of Laws 1895, c. 152, and the several laws therein referred to; and, when allowed by the court, it was ordered that service be made by delivering to, and leaving a copy of the writ of the petition and of the order for service with, J. W. Owen, general agent of the company. On the return day the company appeared specially, and moved to quash the writ on the ground that the court had not acquired jurisdiction over the company; such motion being based on all of the proceedings, and two affidavits, from which it appeared that Owen, on whom service had been made, was the local agent at St. Paul, and not the general agent, and that the company was not a corporation, but a joint-stock association, organized in the state of New York, composed of a large number of shareholding members, all nonresidents. The motion being denied, the company appeals.

In directing that service be made in a certain specified way, the court below observed the requirements of Gen. St. 1894, § 5979, which provides that the court or judge, by an indorsement on the writ of mandamus, shall allow the same, designate the return day, and direct the manner of serving a copy of the writ, of the allowance thereof, and of any order or direction of the court, indorsed on the writ. It is also provided, by section 399, that whenever a common carrier refuses or neglects to obey any lawful order or requirement of the commission, made under the provisions of the statute under which it acts, an application may be made to the court, alleging such disobedience, and the court is given power to hear and determine the matter on short notice to the carrier; such notice to be served on the carrier, his or its officers, agents, or servants, in such manner as the court shall direct. That the regulation of the business conducted by common carriers is one over which the legislature has full power to act, and that ample authority can by law be conferred upon the railroad and warehouse commission to call on any carrier doing business within our...