Decker v. City of Wichita

202 P. 89, 109 Kan. 796, 1921 Kan. LEXIS 371
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedNovember 12, 1921
DocketNo. 23,846
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 202 P. 89 (Decker v. City of Wichita) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Decker v. City of Wichita, 202 P. 89, 109 Kan. 796, 1921 Kan. LEXIS 371 (kan 1921).

Opinion

[797]*797The opinion of the court was delivered by

Johnston, C. J.:

The plaintiffs who owned and operated motor busses or jitneys in Wichita brought this proceeding against the officers of the city to enjoin them from enforcing a city ordinance which provides for licensing and regulating motor vehicles carrying passengers for fares. A restraining order was issued when the action was begun, but upon an application for a temporary injunction the court sustained a demurrer to plaintiffs’ petition and denied their application.

The ordinance in question is an amendment of the one which was under consideration in Desser v. City of Wichita, 96 Kan. 820, 153 Pac. 1194. The amendment made a substantial reduction in license fees taxed against those operating motor vehicles, and it is provided that those operating the motor vehicles for hire shall not solicit or receive passengers on certain paved streets of the city, which it appears are the streets on which street railroads are operated, and those over which the principal traffic of the city is carried on. It provides that all streets other than those within the restricted zone whether paved or not might be traversed at will by the licensees.

The contention of plaintiffs is that the exclusion of motor vehicles from the streets of a particular section of the city is an invasion of their rights and deprives them of their property and the use of it, in violation of the constitution. It is further insisted that the regulation excluding plaintiffs from soliciting or receiving passengers in and near the business center of the city and upon the streets over which the street railroad was operating is so unreasonable as to be invalid.-

Apart from an objection as to the title of the ordinance, and the manner in which it was passed, the points made and considered as to the validity of the ordinance are substantially the same as were presented and considered in Desser v. City of Wichita, supra. It was contended there as here that, the regulation practically drove plaintiffs from the streets of the restricted zone and gave a monopoly of the business to the streetcar company, and was manifestly passed for the benefit of that company. It was there held that it was competent for the city to regulate the use of the streets and adopt any measures [798]*798necessary to the protection of the traveling public, and to that end it might extend privileges to those using one means- of transportation and exclude those employing other means. This distinction is riot made merely to benefit one utility and exclude the other, but as the opinion in the Desser case shows, it is permitted only on the theory that it will benefit the public. The fact that a measure passed for the public welfare may incidentally benefit the street-railway company does not affect the validity of the measure. If continuous and adequate transportation in the city can best be secured by extending privileges to one utility and restricting the service of another, the granting to one and withholding from the other cannot be regarded as an unlawful discrimination. On this question it has been said:

“The right of a citizen to travel upon the highway and transport his property thereon, in the ordinary course of life and business, differs radically and obviously from that of one who makes the highway his place of business and uses it for private gain, in the running of a stage coach or omnibus. The former is the usual and ordinary right of a citizen, a common right, a right common to all, while the latter is special, unusual and extraordinary. As to the former, the extent of legislative power is that of regulation; but, as to the latter, its power is broader, the right may be wholly denied, or it may be permitted to some and denied to others, because of its extraordinary nature. This distinction, elementary and fundamental in character, is recognized by all the authorities.” (Ex Parte M. T. Dickey, 76 W. Va. 576, 579.)

In Greene v. City of San Antonio, (Tex. Civ. App.) 178 S. W. 6, the court in considering a jitney ordinance remarked:

“No man has the right to use a street for the prosecution of his private business, and his use for that purpose may be prohibited or regulated as the state or municipality may deem best for the public good.” (P. 7.)

(See, also, Thielke v. Albee, 76 Ore. 449; Cummins v. Jones, 79 Ore. 276; Gill v. City of Dallas, [Tex. Civ. App.] 209 S. W. 209.)

It is argued, that it stifles competition, but competition between utilities serving an urban community may be impractical and injurious to the public. If the maintenance of two systems of transportation, where one is sufficient to accommodate the public, makes the operation of both unprofitable with the result that they .could not provide proper equipment or furnish adequate service to the public, and both were heading [799]*799towards bankruptcy, there would be good reasons for the city to select the one best able to furnish adequate service and give it an exclusive privilege. In such cases regulation is deemed to serve a better purpose than competition. (Schaake v. Dolley, 85 Kan. 598, 118 Pac. 80.) It was also held -in the Desser case that whether the public welfare would be best subserved by extending privileges to the street railway company and withholding them from those operating jitneys, was a legislative and not a judicial question. It belonged to the city commission to determine the course which would best subserve the public interest, promote the convenience, safety and welfare of the traveling public, and would assure continued and adequate service. Interference by the court with the determination is not" permissible even if it should think that the decision had not been wisely made. That would be an exercise of a legislative function and the substitution of the court’s opinion for the discretion and judgment of the tribunal vested with such discretion and power. (City of Emporia v. Railway Co., 88 Kan. 611, 129 Pac. 161.)

The decision in the Desser case is controlling and it is deemed unnecessary to repeat the arguments therein or to refer to the numerous authorities there cited. In the decision of this case the trial court took the opinion in that case as a guide, and its application was well stated by the learned judge. Among other things he said:

“But the court’s work in deciding the question has been easy, for the reason that the principles on which the decision must rest have already been laid down by our own supreme court, as well as many other courts of last resort.”

After quoting at some length portions of the opinion in the Desser case the court proceeded:

“Further quotations might be added but the above are sufficient from which to deduce the principle of the case. Matters of municipal transportation are matters of public interest and the rights of an individual in conducting such business are subservient to that public interest. The right to determine what will best serve the public interest' rests with the legislative branch of the municipal government and it is primarily the judge of what will best serve that interest subject- only to that fundamental test which rests at the very foundation of all our law, the test of reasonableness.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Capitol Cable, Inc. v. City of Topeka
495 P.2d 885 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1972)
Godlove v. City of Topeka
81 P.2d 39 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1938)
Brown v. City of Topeka
74 P.2d 142 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1937)
Harper v. City of Wichita Falls
105 S.W.2d 743 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1937)
Furstenberg v. Omaha & Council Bluffs Street Railway Co.
272 N.W. 756 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1937)
City of Norton v. Lowden
84 F.2d 663 (Tenth Circuit, 1936)
City of Wichita v. Home Cab Co.
42 P.2d 972 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1935)
Peoples Taxicab Co. v. City of Wichita
34 P.2d 545 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1934)
Dallas Taxicab Co. v. City of Dallas
68 S.W.2d 359 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1934)
City of Coffeyville v. Vakas
22 P.2d 428 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1933)
Eastern Ohio Transport Corp. v. Bridgeport
185 N.E. 891 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1932)
Huffman v. City of Columbia
144 S.E. 157 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 1928)
Tandy v. City of Wichita
266 P. 930 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1928)
State v. Lefebvre
219 N.W. 167 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1928)
Red Star Motor Drivers' Ass'n v. City of Detroit
208 N.W. 602 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1926)
Denny v. City of Muncie
149 N.E. 639 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1925)
Schlesinger v. City of Atlanta
129 S.E. 861 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1925)
Slocum v. City of Wichita
217 P. 297 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1923)
Vanderwerker v. City of Superior
192 N.W. 60 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1923)
City of San Antonio v. Fetzer
241 S.W. 1034 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1922)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
202 P. 89, 109 Kan. 796, 1921 Kan. LEXIS 371, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/decker-v-city-of-wichita-kan-1921.