Wabash Valley Coach Co. v. Arrow Coach Lines, 28660

• Decision Date: 08 November 1950
• Docket Number: No. 28660,28660
• Citation: 94 N.E.2d 753,228 Ind. 609
• Parties: WABASH VALLEY COACH CO. v. ARROW COACH LINES, Inc., et al.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Page 753

94 N.E.2d 753

228 Ind. 609

WABASH VALLEY COACH CO. v. ARROW COACH LINES, Inc., et al.

No. 28660.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

Nov. 8, 1950

Thomas P. Gallagher, Terre Haute, for appellant.

J. Emmett McManamon, Atty. Gen., Clyde H. Jones, Ch. Counsel Public Service Comm., Indianapolis, Ewing Emison, Vincennes, John S. Powell, Indianapolis, for Arrow Coach Lines Inc.

JASPER, Judge.

Appellant brought this action to vacate and set aside as illegal and to enjoin the enforcement of, an order of the Public Service Commission of Indiana authorizing appellee, Arrow Coach Lines, Inc., to operate busses over certain routes upon which appellant was operating busses under a certificate of public convenience and necessity. This order was made in a controversial proceeding before the Commission wherein appellant was the adversary party. Appellee, Arrow Coach Lines, Inc., was granted a certificate of public convenience and necessity between Princeton and Evansville, Indiana, over the routes in competition with appellant.

There was a trial, special findings of fact, conclusions of law, and judgment for appellees.

Appellant assigns as error the overruling of its motion for a new trial and error in the conclusions of law.

It is the contention of appellant that the order granting a certificate of public convenience and necessity to appellee, Arrow Coach Lines, Inc., failed to make any findings of fact upon which the order was based, and is therefore illegal.

The pertinent part of the order of the Public Service Commission is as follows:

'The Commission, having examined the application, having considered the evidence and being duly advised in the premises, is of the opinion and now finds that upon surrender for cancellation of certificate No. 2120-A, 1, or an affidavit in lieu thereof, the application be granted as hereinafter set out, and it will be so ordered.

'It is therefore ordered by the Public Service Commission of Indiana that order approved in this cause May 15, 1947, be set aside and held for naught and that upon surrender for cancellation of certificate No. 2120-A, 1, issued to Sumner Chevrolet Company, Inc., 402 North Hart Street, Princeton, Indiana, or an affidavit in lieu thereof, a certificate of public convenience and necessity be issued to Arrow Coach Lines, Inc., 301 North Main Street, Princeton, Indiana, to operate motor vehicles as a common carrier of persons, intrastate, as follows towit:

'Passengers and their baggage, and express, mail and newspapers in the same vehicle with passengers.

'Between Princeton, Indiana, and Evansville, Indiana, over the following route:

'Between Princeton, Indiana, and the intersection of U. S. Highway #41 and Indiana Highway #168 via U. S. Highway #41; between the intersection of U. S. Highway #41 and Indiana Highway #168 and Fort Branch, Indiana, via Indiana Highway #168; between Fort Branch, Indiana, and Haubstadt, Indiana, via County Road; between Haubstadt, Indiana, and the intersection of U. S. Highway #41 and Indiana Highway #68 via Indiana Highway #68; between the intersection of U. S. Highway #41 and Indiana Highway #68 and Evansville, Indiana, via U. S. Highway #41, serving all intermediate points.

'It is further ordered that the applicant be and it is hereby authorized to serve all intermediate points on the above described route except that no authority is granted herein to transport any passenger between Evansville and the junction of U. S. Highway #41 and Indiana Highway #57 when the entire trip of said passenger lies between said points, either on outbound trips or inbound trips, and no passengers are to be picked up within the corporate limits of the City of Evansville, Indiana, who are to be discharged within the corporate limits of the City of Evansville, Indiana, either on outbound trips or inbound trips.'

The finding upon which the order herein sought to be vacated is based, as above set out, recites only that the application is granted, and that a certificate of public convenience and necessity be issued to Arrow Coach Lines, Inc.; and there are no findings of fact set out in the order upon which an order for a certificate of public convenience and necessity could be based. Kosciusko County, etc. v. Public Service Comm., 1948, 225 Ind. 666, 77 N.E.2d 572. The finding that a certificate of public convenience and necessity should be granted is simply a conclusion from all the evidence without any special finding of fact upon which the conclusion can be reached. The Public Service Commission should find the ultimate facts specifically and not generally. The findings of fact must be specific enough to enable the court to review intelligently the Commission's decision. Kosciusko County, etc., v. Public Service Comm., supra.

In speaking of an administrative agency, in the case of Wichita Railroad & Light Co. v. Public Utilities Commission, 1922, 260 U.S. 48, 59, 43 S.Ct. 51, 55, 67 L.Ed. 124, 130, the court said: 'In creating such an administrative agency, the Legislature, to prevent its being a pure delegation of legislative power, must enjoin upon it a certain course of procedure and certain rules of decision in the performance of its function. It is a wholesome and necessary principle that such an agency must pursue the procedure and rules enjoined, and show a substantial compliance therewith to give...