Donner Steel Co. v. Interstate Commerce Commission

285 F. 955, 52 App. D.C. 221, 1923 U.S. App. LEXIS 2639
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedJanuary 2, 1923
DocketNo. 3786
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 285 F. 955 (Donner Steel Co. v. Interstate Commerce Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Donner Steel Co. v. Interstate Commerce Commission, 285 F. 955, 52 App. D.C. 221, 1923 U.S. App. LEXIS 2639 (D.C. Cir. 1923).

Opinion

VAN ORSDEL, Associate Justice.

The appeal is from an order of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, dismissing appellant’s [956]*956petition for a writ of mandamus or certiorari to review a decision of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

It appears that appellant, Donner Steel Company, operates two steel plants in or near the city of Buffalo, N. Y., within what is known as the Buffalo rate district. A complaint was filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission against certain carriers operating lines of railway in the Buffalo district. The complaint charged violations, by the railway companies, of sections 1, 2, and 3 of the Interstate Commerce Act (24 Stat. 379 [Comp. St. §§ 8563,. 8564, 8565]), to the damage of ‘appellant to the extent of $498,000. The damage is alleged to have arisen from the refusal of the railway companies to spot cars at appellant’s plants, or to pay appellant the reasonable cost of spotting its own cars. The companies had performed this service for three of, appellant’s competitors within the Buffalo rate district — the Buffalo Union Furnace Company, Wickwire Steel Company, and Lackawanna Steel Company. It also appears that the capital stock of the principal line of railway serving appellant’s plants was owned by the Lackawanna Steel Company.

Section 3 of the Interstate Commerce Act (Comp. St. § 8565),. among other things, provides:

“That it shall be unlawful for any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act to make or give any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person, company, firm, corporation, or locality, or any particular description of traffic, in any respect whatsoever, or to subject any particular person, company, firm, corporation, or locality, or any particular description of traffic, to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect whatsoever.”

Section 8 of the act (Comp. St. § 8572) provides:

“That in case any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act shall do, cause to be done, or permit to be done any act, matter, or thing in this act prohibited or declared to be unlawful, or shall omit to do any act, matter, or thing in this act required to be done, such common carrier shall be liable-to the person or persons injured thereby for the full amount of damages sustained in consequence of any such violation of the provisions of this act.”

It is further provided in the act that any person, company, or corporation, claiming to be damaged, as above provided, may bring suit, either before the Interstate Commerce Commission or in any District Court of the United States of competent jurisdiction. The plaintiff, however, is required to elect his forum. If the proceeding is brought before the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Commission, after hearing, shall make a report in writing of its conclusions—

“together with its decision, order, or requirement in the premises; and in case damages are awarded such report shall include the findings of fact on which the award is made.” Comp. St. § 8582.

Appellant selected its forum and submitted its proofs. After hearing the case, the Interstate Commerce Commission issued a report and order stating, among other things, as follows:

“Upon the record before us we find no violation of section 1 of the act, but we are of opinion and find that the practice of the defendants to spot cars or to make an allowance for spotting cars for or at the plants of the Lackawanna Steel Company, the Buffalo Union Furnace Company, and the Wickwire[957]*957Steel Company, complainant’s competitors in the Buffalo rate district, while refusing to spot cars or to make an allowance therefor at the plants of complainant in said district, has been, is, and for the future will be, unduly prejudicial to complainant, in violation of section 3 of the act.”

On the question of damages, the Commission found, among other thing's, as follows:

“The only damage alleged by complainant is loss of profits. * * We are of opinion, and find, that the complainant has not shown that its profits would have been any greater, had the existing discrimination and prejudice been, removed, or that it has suffered any damage of which such discrimination and prejudice are the proximate cause.”

This finding seems to be based upon the hjqpothesis that, during the period covered by the discrimination complained of, the prices of commodities sold by appellant and its competitors were abnormally high; that there was a large demand for pig iron, the principal commodity sold; that appellant’s competitors were not able to, and did not, control the buying or selling markets; that appellant’s witnesses testified that in fixing selling prices appellant—

“considered all overhead expenses, including the interchange service at its plant; that it sometimes made the market, and possibly undersold its competitors; and that one of its competitors at times had to scale its prices in order to meet those of complainant”

It is not clear, however, how this could operate to equalize profits, since the additional expense which appellant was compelled to sustain, under any circumstances, would operate to that extent to reduce its profits.

It affirmatively appears that appellant had no advantage over its competitors in cost of raw materials and production of the same kind and quality of finished products. The cost of the marketable product was the same, and it sold its goods in the same market as the goods of its competitors were sold. Discrimination resulted from the extra spotting charge, increasing to that extent the cost of transportation. It also appears that appellant was never able to pass this expense on to its customers, hence it increased its expenses by that amount over the expense incurred by its competitors. That this increased expense was sustained by appellant is directly deducidle from the finding of fact, by the Commission, that—

“all iron and steel plants in the Buffalo rate district are on an exact parity with respect to freight rates, inbound as well as outbound.”

It is contended that this established a tangible and measurable item of damage, according to the rules of law established by the decisions of the Commission. National Malleable Castings Co. v. P. & L. E. R. R. Co., 51 Interst. Com. Com’n R. 537; Stewart Iron Co. v. Pa. Co., 47 Interst. Com. Com’n R. 512; Buffalo Union Furnace Co. v. L. S. & M. S. Ry. Co., 44 Interst. Com. Com’n R. 267. In the latter case, which is in all points analogous to the case at bar, the Commission found as follows:

“The furnace company was in competition with the Lackawanna Steel Company, the Cleveland Furnace Company, and many other iron manufacturers located in Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio. There was competition [958]*958between these manufacturers in the purchase of coal, coke, limestone, iron ore, and various other materials. Other furnaces in the Buffalo-Black .Rock switching district received their raw materials at the same line-haul rate, and the cars consigned to certain of these furnaces were spotted by the trunk lines or allowances for spotting were made to the industrial roads. The transportation charges paid by the furnace company were higher than those paid by its competitors for a service substantially similar in all respects.

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Bluebook (online)
285 F. 955, 52 App. D.C. 221, 1923 U.S. App. LEXIS 2639, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/donner-steel-co-v-interstate-commerce-commission-cadc-1923.