State v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co.
| Decision Date | 15 February 1921 |
| Citation | 81 Fla. 168,87 So. 773 |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE et rel. RAILROAD COM'RS v. ATLANTIC COAST LINE R. CO. et al. |
Application for mandamus by the State, on the relation of the Railroad Commissioners, against the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company and another.
Writ denied.
Syllabus by the Court
State Railroad Commission held to have no jurisdiction as to physical connections between rail and water carriers. Entire and exclusive jurisdiction over the matter of requiring physical connection between rail and water carriers has been given by Congress to the Interstate Commerce Commission, and there is no field for the operation of state laws, or control by the State Railroad Commission, over the same subject-matter.
Right of state as to physical connection between rail and water carriers ceased upon exercise of power by Congress. Until Congress gave to the Interstate Commerce Commission entire and exclusive jurisdiction over the matter of physical connection between rail and water carriers, the state had full power and jurisdiction over the subject; but when Congress exercised the power, and lodged the entire and exclusive jurisdiction over it in the Interstate Commerce Commission, the right of the state over the same subject-matter was extinguished.
State legislation becomes inoperative when field covered by Congress. A concurrent power of the federal and state governments may be exercised by the states until the same field is covered by Congress, and when that is done, state legislation on the subject becomes inoperative and ineffective.
Test as to concurrent or exclusive power of federal and state governments stated. The test is not whether the state legislation is in conflict with the details of the federal law or supplements it, but whether the state has any jurisdiction of a subject over which Congress has exerted its exclusive control.
D. C. McMullen, of Tampa, and Dozier A. De Vane, of Tallahassee, for relators.
W. E Kay, of Jacksonville, for Atlantic Coast Line R. Co.
Kay Adams & Ragland, of Jacksonville, for Clyde S. S. Co.
The opinion in this case on the order overruling a demurrer to the return, denying motions to strike portions of the return and denying a peremptory writ on the pleadings herein, was predicated upon the theory that the mandamus sought by the Railroad Commissioners was to require the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company and the Clyde Steamship Company to rebuild and repair the wharf adjacent to and lying immediately between the depot of the rail carrier and river, where the water carrier, at a period some years before the application for mandamus, had been in the habit of landing. State ex rel. Railroad Commissioners v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Co. and Clyde Steamship Co., 77 Fla. 366, 81 So. 498. In that opinion we referred to the authority given the Florida Railroad Commission 'to require railroads and water carriers serving any given point or community as common carriers of freight and passengers to rpovide such reasonable physical connection as may be necessary to properly facilitate the transfer of freight or passengers from one of said carriers to the other.' And 'to require * * * the establishment of landings and wharves at which water carriers may be required to stop; to designate the location and require the erection of such freight and passenger depots, houses, platforms and wharves with all necessary conveniences as to the safety, convenience and comfort of passengers and the proper handling, care, protection and prompt delivery and transportation of freight may require.' But the question here involved was not determined. We said:
We quote again from the opinion:
It was contended by the respondents that the Panama Canal Act (U. S. Comp. St. § 8569, subd. 14) gave to the Interstate Commerce Commission exclusive jurisdiction over the subject-matter of requiring physical connection between railroad and water carriers, and this question was not decided in the opinion on the order overruling the demurrer to the return.
It is now contended for the respondents that since that decision was rendered, an amendment to the Federal Canal Act on February 28, 1920 (41 Stat. 456), makes it quite clear that the Interstate Commerce Commission is given exclusive jurisdiction of this subject-matter, and that Congress having acted and lodged jurisdiction over the subject in the Interstate Commerce Commission, there is no field for the operation of the state law on the same subject.
The alternative writ commanded the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company and Clyde Steamship Company and each of them 'to rebuild and repair the wharf adjacent to and lying immediately between the depot of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company and the St. Johns river in Astor, Florida, by placing the same in such condition that freight or passengers can be safely, securely and conveniently transferred over the said wharf from one of said carriers to the other, and in all respects to comply with, observe and obey the said Order No. 549 as above set forth.'
The Railroad Commissioners' Order No. 549 referred to in the alternative writ is entitled 'In the Matter of Physical Connections at Astor, Florida,' and after reciting the notice and other matters of inducement, proceeds
'And the Commissioners having made physical examination of the location with a view to determining the practicability of providing such connections, do find that the convenience of shippers and passengers to and from a large section of Lake county, together with the possibility of a large increase in traffic when necessary physical connections are provided, entirely justifies the requirement of such physical connections; and further find that the most economical and practical method of providing such physical connections, is to rebuild and repair the wharf adjacent to and lying immediately between the depot of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company and the St. Johns River in Astor, where physical connections were formerly maintained between the said carriers.'
The petition upon which the Railroad Commissioners held a hearing, as a result of which they issued their Order No. 549, recites:
'That if there were some physical connection between said depot and the dock of said steamship line so that freight could be transferred from one to the other, then freight shipped from Jacksonville in the afternoon would arrive at Astor at about 3:30 the next morning and could then be delivered at Astor or transferred along said railway as far as Leesburg and even beyond and thus arrive at its destination at a reasonable time after its shipment.'
The petition prays:
'That said railway company and said steamship line be required to make such reasonable physical connections between the depot of said railway company and the dock occupied or that shall be occupied by said steamship line as may be necessary to properly facilitate the transfer of freight and passengers from one to the other.'
It is quite clear from the petition and Order No. 549 of the Railroad Commission that the alternative writ was invoked to require the Clyde Steamship Company and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company to make physical connections at the steamboat landing on the St. Johns river and the Atlantic Coast Line Railway at Astor.
That something more is intended than the mere rebuilding and repairing of the wharf at Astor is apparent from the fact that the writ is addressed to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company and the Clyde Steamship Company, although the wharf in question belongs solely to the Atlantic Coast Line Railway, and in addition to rebuilding and repairing the wharf they are required to place 'the same in such condition that freight or passengers can be safely, securely and conveniently transported from the said wharf from one of said carriers to the other, as prescribed by said order, and in all respects to fully comply with, observe and obey the said Order No. 549, as aforesaid.'
The testimony taken in this case, after the order of this court overruling the demurrer to the return, shows that the purpose of this mandamus proceeding is to establish physical connection between the lines of the rail carrier, the Atlantic Coast Line Railway, and the dock at which interchange of passengers or property is to be made.
Mr. R C. Dunn, one of the Railroad Commissioners, testified that a hearing was held at Astor in 1917 'in...
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