State ex rel. Railroad & Warehouse Commission v. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company

• Citation: 37 N.W. 782,38 Minn. 281
• Parties: State of Minnesota ex rel. Railroad & Warehouse Commission v. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company
• Decision Date: 20 April 1888
• Court: Supreme Court of Minnesota (US)

37 N.W. 782

38 Minn. 281

State of Minnesota ex rel. Railroad & Warehouse Commission v. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company

Supreme Court of Minnesota

April 20, 1888

Original proceeding by mandamus, to compel the respondent to obey an order of the railroad and warehouse commission in regard to its milk rates between Faribault and Owatonna and St. Paul and Minneapolis. The information and the alternative writ, after setting out the organization of the commission the appointment and qualification of the commissioners and their secretary, and the authority given the commission by Laws 1887, c. 10, to compel common carriers to adopt such rates as the commission shall declare equal and reasonable and the provision in the act subjecting any common carrier in case of neglect to comply with the rates fixed by the commission, to a writ of mandamus to be issued by any judge of this court on application of the commission, proceed substantially as follows: Respondent is a Wisconsin corporation, and a common carrier by rail from Owatonna, Faribault, Dundas, Northfield and Farmington, to the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, all in this state, and owns and operates a line of railway extending from Calmar, in Iowa, to Leroy in this state, and thence, through Owatonna and Faribault, and the other points named, to St. Paul and Minneapolis, and known as the Iowa and Minnesota division of its railway. It holds its right of way under the provisions of section 4, article 10, of the constitution of the state, and is bound to carry the mineral, agricultural, and other products or manufactures on equal and reasonable terms.

On the 22d of June, 1887, the Board of Trades Union of Farmington Northfield, Faribault and Owatonna, an association composed of the boards of trade of those places, filed with the commission a petition in writing, complaining, among other things, that the respondent, being such common carrier as before stated, charges for transportation of milk to St. Paul and Minneapolis four cents per gallon from Owatonna, and three cents per gallon from Faribault, Dundas, Northfield and Farmington, and that such charges are unreasonably high, and subject the traffic in milk between those points to unreasonable prejudice and disadvantage, and praying that such rates be declared unreasonable, and that respondent be compelled to change them and adopt such rates as the commission shall declare to be equal and reasonable. A copy of the petition is annexed to and made a part of the information and writ. On filing the petition, a statement of the charges which were made was, on June 29, 1887, sent by the commission to the respondent, and on July 6, 1887, the respondent was called on by the commission to satisfy the complaint or answer it in writing at the office of the commission in the capital at St. Paul, on July 13, 1887. The respondent did not satisfy the complaint within the time specified, but filed with the commission its written answer, a copy of which is attached to the information and writ, stating that its rates were unreasonably low; that 25 per cent. more for the same commodity is charged into New York for equal distances and one hundred times larger volume in favor of New York; that the rate of one-tenth per cent. per gallon on milk handled on passenger trains one mile is not unreasonable, is not first class rates by freight train, and was made low to encourage the trade, under the hope and promise that when the trade was fostered it would be advanced. At the time and place appointed for hearing the petition, the petitioner and the respondent both appeared, and the commission proceeded to investigate the complaint, and upon such investigation the commission found that the respondent's charges for transporting milk over its Iowa & Minnesota division from Owatonna and Faribault to St. Paul and Minneapolis were 3 cents per gallon in ten-gallon cans, and that such rates were unequal and unreasonable, and found that the company's tariff of rates for such transportation, filed and published by respondent as provided by Laws 1887, c. 10, was unequal and unreasonable; and the commission declared that a rate of 2 1/2 cents per gallon in ten-gallon cans was and is an equal and reasonable rate for the service. After completing its investigation, the commission, on August 4, 1887, made a report in writing, which included the findings of fact on which it based its conclusion, together with its recommendation as to what tariff should be substituted for the tariff which it had found unequal and unreasonable, and also a specification of the rates which the commission declared to be equal and reasonable. A copy of the report is annexed to the information and writ; it is addressed to the respondent, and is as follows:

"STATE OF MINNESOTA.

"Office of Board of Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners,

"St. Paul, August 4, 1887.

"To the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company:

"Gentlemen: It appearing from your schedule of rates and charges for the transportation of milk over and upon the Iowa & Minnesota division of your road, that you charge, collect, and receive for the transportation of milk over and upon said line, from Owatonna and Faribault to the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, three cents per gallon in ten-gallon cans, and from Dundas, Northfield, and Farmington to said cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, two and one-half cents per gallon, in cans of like capacity; and complaint having been made that such rates and charges are unequal and unreasonable, and that the services performed by you in such transportation are not reasonably worth the said sums charged therefor; and this commission having thereupon, pursuant to the provisions of section eight of an act entitled 'An Act to regulate common carriers, and creating the Railroad and Warehouse Commission of the State of Minnesota, and defining the duties of such commission in relation to common carriers,' approved March 7, 1887, examined the cause and reasonableness or said complaint, and finding, pursuant to subdivision (e) of said section, that your said tariff of rates, so far as appertains to the transportation of milk to the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis from the other places above named, and in so much as said tariff provides for or requires the charging or collection of a greater compensation than two and one-half cents per gallon, is unreasonable and excessive:

"Therefore said commission recommends and directs that you, the said Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, shall alter and change your said schedule by the adoption and substitution of a rate not to exceed two and one-half cents per gallon for the services aforesaid, from the cities of Owatonna and Faribault, or either of them, to said St. Paul and Minneapolis.

"The commission, as at present advised, approves of the custom and arrangement which, it is informed, has been adopted and is now in use by the Minnesota & Northwestern R. R. Co., of collecting two and one-half cents per gallon on all milk transported by it, regardless of distance; but this expression of opinion is no part of the decision, notice, or order in this case.

"By order of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission,

"E. S. Warner, Secretary."

The report was entered of record by the commission, and a copy furnished to the complainants and to the respondent, with a notice to respondent to desist from charging or receiving such unequal or unreasonable rates. The respondent for more than ten days after such notice neglected to substitute for its tariff that recommended by the commission, whereupon the commission made, published, and posted at all the stations of respondent's line in this state, prior to November 12, 1887, the tariff recommended by it, of which the following is a copy:

"CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL RAILWAY COMPANY,

"(Iowa & Minnesota Division.)

"Freight Tariff on Milk from Owatonna and Faribault to St.

Paul and Minneapolis,

"Taking effect October 15, 1887.

"State of Minnesota,

"Office of Railroad and Warehouse Commission,

"St. Paul, October 13, 1887.

"Whereas, at a regular meeting of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission of the State of Minnesota, held at the office of said commission in the city of St. Paul, on the 4th day of August last, and pursuant to section eight (8) of chapter ten (10) of the General Laws of said State, passed and enacted at the 25th session of the Legislature thereof, A. D. 1887, a notice or order was made and issued by said commission, and duly served upon said company, of which the following is a copy namely:"

(Here follows a copy of the report and notice to respondent already set forth.)

"And whereas said railway company have, for more than ten days since the service of said order upon them as aforesaid, neglected and refused to substitute such tariff of rates, or to adopt such rate and charge, as in and by said notice and order said company was recommended and directed to do, and do still so neglect and refuse:

"Now therefore we, the said Commission, do hereby publish and declare the said tariff of rates and the said charges for such transportation, namely: Two and one-half cents per gallon, in ten (10) gallon cans, from either the Owatonna station or the Faribault station, on said road, to either the city of St. Paul or Minneapolis as, and to be, the legal, equal, and reasonable maximum charge and compensation for such service, and that the same is now in force and effect, in lieu and place of the charges and compensation heretofore demanded and received therefor by said rail way company.

"By order of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission,

(Seal) "E. S. Warner, Secretary."

The respondent neglects and refuses to carry out the recommendation so made,...