United States v. Southern Pac. Co.

• Decision Date: 04 December 1907
• Citation: 157 F. 459
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of California
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. SOUTHERN PAC. CO.

157 F. 459

UNITED STATES v. SOUTHERN PAC. CO.

United States District Court, N.D. California.

December 4, 1907

A. P Black, Asst. U.S. Atty.

Charles J. Heggerty, for defendant.

DE HAVEN, District Judge (charging jury).

As you already know, several actions on which you are to find verdicts are being prosecuted by the United States against the Southern Pacific Company, charging it with a violation of Act June 29, 1906, c. 3594, Sec. 1, 34 Stat. 607 (U.S. Comp St. Supp. 1907, p. 918). That statute, so far as it is necessary for your information, provides that no railroad company carrying stock, such as 'cattle, sheep, and swine' between two states--

'shall confine the same in cars of any description for a period longer than 28 consecutive hours without unloading the same in a humane manner into properly equipped pens for rest water, and feeding, for a period of at least 5 consecutive hours, unless prevented by storm or other accidental or unavoidable causes which cannot be anticipated or avoided by the exercise of due diligence and foresight: Provided, that upon the written request of the owner or person in the custody of that particular shipment, which written request shall be separate and apart from any printed bill of lading or other railroad form, the time of confinement may be extended to 36 hours. In estimating such confinement, the time consumed in loading and unloading shall not be considered, but the time during which the animals have been confined without such rest, or food, or water on connecting roads shall be included, it being the intent of this act to prohibit their continuous confinement beyond the period of 28 hours, except upon the contingencies hereinbefore stated Provided, that it shall not be required that sheep be unloaded in the nighttime, but where the time expires in the nighttime in case of sheep the same may continue in transit to a suitable place for unloading, subject to the aforesaid limitation of 36 hours.'

The next section provides for the feeding of animals. Paragraph 3 provides: 'That any railroad, express company, car company, common carrier other than by water, or the receiver, trustee, or lessee of any of them, or the master or owner of any steam, sailing, or other vessel who knowingly and willfully fails to comply with the provisions of the two preceding sections shall for every failure be liable for and forfeit and pay a penalty of not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars.'

You are charged that under this act, in estimating the time of confinement of these animals in the cars of the defendant, you must not consider the time consumed in loading or unloading; in other words, the time consumed in loading these animals upon its cars, and unloading them out of its cars, shall not be included as a part of the time during which the defendant has the right to confine the animals in its cars. The object and purpose of the act of June 29, 1906, is to insure the humane treatment of animals in interstate transportation of animals upon cars. The words 'in the nighttime,' speaking about sheep--they are not required to unload sheep in the nighttime-- means that period of time between the termination of daylight on the evening of one day and the earliest dawn of the next morning.

You are charged that if you find from the evidence that the defendant was prevented by storm, or by other accidental or unavoidable causes which could not have been anticipated or avoided by the exercise of due diligence and foresight, from unloading for rest, water, and feeding the animals carried by it in its cars in any one or more of these cases, then that the defendant has not violated the provisions of the act, in any such one or more cases in which you may so find, and in such case or cases your verdict should be for the defendant. You are further charged that you cannot find a verdict against the defendant in any of these cases of a violation of the provisions of the act of June 29, 1906, unless you find from the evidence that the defendant did knowingly and willfully fail to comply with the provisions of this act.

An unavoidable accident or occurrence is one which cannot be avoided by that degree of prudence, foresight, care, and caution which the law requires of every one under the circumstances of the particular case; that is, such care and caution as would have been exercised by a man of ordinary prudence under the circumstances of the particular case. A corporation can only act through its agents and its servants and must, therefore, be held to have knowledge of whatever is known to its agents engaged in the operation and running of its trains. A railroad may be said to knowingly and willfully fail to comply with the statute to which your attention has been called when those in charge of the train upon which any shipment of stock is being carried intentionally confine them for a longer period than the statute permits without unloading the same in a humane...