Northern Pac. Ry. Co. v. Lee

199 F. 621, 1912 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1228
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedSeptember 9, 1912
DocketNos. 1,093, 1,094
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 199 F. 621 (Northern Pac. Ry. Co. v. Lee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Northern Pac. Ry. Co. v. Lee, 199 F. 621, 1912 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1228 (W.D. Wash. 1912).

Opinion

CUSHMAN, District Judge.

These cases are now before the court upon demurrers to the complaints. They were heard together, and will be considered and disposed of in the same way.

The bill in case No. 1,094 alleges: That complainant is operating as one system lines of railroad in the state of Washington and other states, and is engaged in state and interstate commerce. That the greater part of its business in said state is interstate; the same cars being used for both interstate and intrastate commerce. That defendants Fee, Jones, and Wilson constitute the Public Service Commission of the state of Washington. That the defendant Tanner is its Attorney General. That the defendants Hyde and Carman are intrastate shippers of the state of Washington, sued as representatives of that class of shippers.

That in February, 1912, said Commission made an order requiring complainant to cease making charges under its freight tariffs throughout the state, and thereafter to charge only lower rates [623]*623fixed in the Commission’s order. That complainant has complied with the order to avoid numerous suits and the risk of large penalties, which penalties might have aggregated more than $100,000 a day.

That the rates lowered by the Commission were on freight in classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, A, B, C, D, and E, according to complainant’s classification of freight products, and excluded “lower class, or commodity rates * * * specifically established.”

That the Commission found complainant’s property used as a common carrier in the state of the value of $127,250,000. This was conceded by the bill to be approximately true. The value of the property is alleged to be:

For state business......................................... $70,648,971 00
For interstate' business.................................... $56,603,029 00
For state freight business..................................$43,480,949 00
For state passenger business............................... $27,168,022 00
For interstate freight business............................. $39,833,444 00
For interstate passenger business........................... $16,707,585 00
That for the'fiscal year ending June 30, 1911, its revenues in the state of Washington, under the old tariff, were:
From state freight business.................................$6,435,416 35
From interstate freight business............................. $5,877,130 10
Miscellaneous freight earnings............................... $ 561,050 41
Intrastate proportion miscellaneous freight earnings..........$ 292,806 60
Interstate proportion miscellaneous freight, earnings..........$ 268,243 81
Revenues received on account of hire of freight equipment.... $ 038,379 65
Intrastate proportion of same...............................$ 333,163 96
Interstate proportion of same...............................$ 305,215 09
Revenues from intrastate passenger business.................. $3,654,988 04
From interstate passenger business.......................... $2,255,824 06
Miscellaneous passenger earnings............................ $ 867,420 50
Intrastate proportion of same...............................$ 536,378 14
Interstate proportion of the same............................ $ 331,042 36
Rental passenger equipment..................................$ 336,647 69
Intrastate proportion of same................................$ 208,169 4.7
Interstate proportion of same................................ $ 328,478 22
Received from operations connected with passenger service----$ 124,500 04
Intrastate proportion of same................................ $ 76,985 84
Interstate proportion of same............................... $ 47,514 20

That for the same year the operating expenses for the state of Washington were $13,280,609.31, segregated as follows:

For carrying freight......................................... $8,502,079 84
For carrying passengers..................................... $4,778,529 47
The ton miles carried intrastate freight were.................. 420,662,143
The ton miles interstate freight carried were.................. 738,963,'823

That one ton mile, intrastate freight, costs 2% times as much as one ton mile interstate freight. That, therefore, of the total freight expense—

The proportion intrastate would be..........................$4,993,356 51
The j>roportion interstate would be.......................... $3,508,723 33

Eor the same period — ■

The intrastate passenger miles were........................... 328,783,847
The interstate passenger miles were........................... 105,843,492

[624]*624That the intrastate passenger miles cost 15 per cent, more than the interstate passenger miles. That, therefore, of the total expense for carrying passengers—

The proportion for intrastate service was....................$2,786,838 39
The proportion for interstate service was....................$1,991,691 08

That for said year the taxes paid were chargeable as follows, segregated on the basis of revenue:

Against intrastate freight earnings........................... $ 442,SSI 65
Against interstate freight earnings........................... $ 405,729 45
'Against intrastate passenger earnings....:................... $ 276,723 92
Against interstate passenger earnings..............•.____■.____$ 170,7S8 72
The total earnings, as shown for intrastate freight and freight
equipment, was— ----:........:......................1.. $7,041,3S6 91
The total expense and taxes chargeable against the same was.. $5,436,238 16 Leaving an income of----::..............;................1. $1,G05,14S 75

That this income only amounts to 3.692 per cent, on 'the part of .the property, assignable to intrastate freight business.

The total intrastate passenger earnings, including rental, and hire, of passenger equipment, were.....................$4,476,521 49
The total taxes and expenses chargeable against the same were ..................................................... $3,063,562 31

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
199 F. 621, 1912 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1228, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/northern-pac-ry-co-v-lee-wawd-1912.