Public Service Commission v. Lake Erie & Western Railroad

133 N.E. 492, 191 Ind. 436, 1922 Ind. LEXIS 2
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 6, 1922
DocketNo. 23,498
StatusPublished

This text of 133 N.E. 492 (Public Service Commission v. Lake Erie & Western Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Public Service Commission v. Lake Erie & Western Railroad, 133 N.E. 492, 191 Ind. 436, 1922 Ind. LEXIS 2 (Ind. 1922).

Opinion

Willoughby, J.

This was an action commenced by appellee in the Marion County Superior Court to set aside and have declared null and void an order of the appellant, Public Service Commission of Indiana, as follows:

[437]*437“It is therefore ordered by the Public Service Commission of Indiana, that the Lake Erie & Western Railroad Compand and the Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Railway Company file with this Commission joint rates for the transportation of all kinds of freight in carload lots between points in Indiana on the lines of the Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Railway Company to and from points in Indiana on the lines of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company and make said rates effective in not more than sixty (60) days from this date.
“That said rates be reasonable and just rates.
“That said Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company receive from said Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Railway Company all carload freight moving under such joint tariffs or any joint tariffs fixed by this commission destined to points in Indiana on the line of road of said Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company and deliver to said Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Railway Company all such carload freight originating at points in Indiana on the line of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company destined to points in Indiana on the line of the Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Railway Company.
“That said Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Railway Company shall, receive from and deliver to said Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company all freight moving in carload lots from points in Indiana on one of said roads to points in Indiana on the line of the'other of said roads.
“Said Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Railway Company is ordered to supply a sufficient number of cars and engines to promptly meet the requirements of the traffic originated on its line and to move promptly and deliver to destination all carload freight transferred to it for delivery to points on its line.”

[438]*438To the complaint of appellee the appellants filed a general denial. A trial upon the issues thus formed resulted in a finding by the Marion Superior Court in favor of the appellee. The following judgment was rendered:

“It is therefore considered and adjudged by the court that the order of the Public Service Commission of Indiana, entered on the 30th day of April, 1917, a copy of which is set out in the amended and supplemental complaint herein, is null and void and that it be and is hereby set aside and rescinded and that the defendants and each of them be and they are each hereby perpetually enjoined from enforcing or attempting to enforce said order.”

A motion for a new trial was overruled and exceptions taken, and the appellants each severally and separately made a motion to modify the order and judgment of the court. This motion was also overruled. Appellants appeal and assign errors as follows: (1.)- The court erred in overruling appellants’ motion for a new trial; (2.) the court erred in overruling appellants’ motion to modify the judgment.

The only specifications in the motion for new trial are: First, the decision of the court in said cause is not sustained by sufficient evidence; and second, the decision of the court in said cause is contrary to law.

It is conceded that the Chicago, Lake Shore and South Bend Railway is an electric interurban railway. It will hereinafter be referred to as the “interurban.”

. It is claimed by appellants that the findings of fact made by the Public Service Commission upon which the order is based are conclusive on the Marion Superior Court. We do not think that this claim is justified by reason or authority.

[439]*4391. [438]*438The court in which the action is brought does not sit as a court of review to correct errors of the commission; [439]*439but on the contrary the court in such action is required to hear the case de novo and determine it from the evidence adduced at the trial. The statutes provide that all such actions shall be tried and determined as other civil actions. See, §10052z2 Burns 1914, Acts 1913 p. 167; §5536 Bums 1914, Acts 1913 p. 820.

In Public Service Commission v. Cleveland, etc., R. Co. (1918), 188 Ind. 197, 121 N. E. 116, the court said: “Appellee filed this action in the Marion Circuit Court asking to have said order annulled and set aside. The trial in the circuit court resulted in a finding and judgment in favor of the plaintiff by which the order of the commission was adjudged to be null and void. The Public Service Commission appealed from this judgment, assigning as error that the trial court erred in overruling its motion for a new trial. The reasons assigned in the motion for a new trial were that the decision of the trial court was not sustained by sufficient evidence, and that such decision was contrary to law.

“In support of the reasons .thus assigned, it is asserted by appellant that the findings of fact made by the Public Service Commission, upon which an order is based, are conclusive on the court if there is substantial evidence to sustain such findings. It seeks to invoke the same rule in favor of findings of the commission which obtains in courts of appeal and error in favor of the findings of trial courts. This contention cannot be sustained, as it is out of harmony with the entire spirit of the act under which such proceedings are conducted. By §6 of the Railroad Commission Act (Acts 1913 p. 820, §5536 Burns 1914), it is provided that any carrier or other party, dissatisfied with any final order made by the commission, may, after its ruling on petition for rehearing and within twenty days from the date of such ruling, begin an action against the commission in any [440]*440court of competent jurisdiction in any county of this state into or through which any carrier operates to suspend or set aside any such order. It is evident that the court in which such an action is brought does not sit as a court of review to correct errors of the commission; but, on the contrary, it is clear that the court in such action shall hear the case de novo and determine it from the evidence adduced at the trial. The same section of the act provides that, in all actions in the courts of this state authorized by this act, the rules of evidence shall be the same as in the trial of civil cases as now provided by law, excepting as otherwise provided in this act. Under similar statutes, it has been decided that the court in an action brought to set aside an order of the commission was not bound by the findings of the commission, but that it was the duty of the court to determine the case from a consideration of the evidence adduced.”

See, Interstate, etc., Commission v. Louisville, etc., R. Co. (1918), 227 U. S. 88, 33 Sup. Ct. 185, 57 L. Ed. 431; Oregon R., etc., Co. v. Fairchild (1912), 224 U. S. 510, 32 Sup. Ct. 535, 56 L. Ed. 863; Ind. Harbor Belt R. Co. v. Public Service Com. (1918), 187 Ind.

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

Related

Int. Com. Comm. v. Louis. & Nash. RR
227 U.S. 88 (Supreme Court, 1913)
Poehlmann v. Kennedy
48 Cal. 201 (California Supreme Court, 1874)
People ex rel. Akin v. Kipley
48 N.E. 688 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1897)
Murphy v. Teter
56 Ind. 545 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1877)
Hay v. State ex rel. McClanrahan
58 Ind. 337 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1877)
Ricketts v. Dorrell
59 Ind. 427 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1877)
Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad v. Public Service Commission
121 N.E. 540 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1918)
Borror v. Carrier
73 N.E. 123 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1905)
Douglas v. Indianapolis & Northwestern Traction Co.
76 N.E. 892 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1906)
Zink v. Zink
106 N.E. 381 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1914)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
133 N.E. 492, 191 Ind. 436, 1922 Ind. LEXIS 2, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/public-service-commission-v-lake-erie-western-railroad-ind-1922.