Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1911-05-15
ANOTHER BLOW
FOR RAILROADS
Z
Absolute Duty to Obey Pro-
visions Of Safety Appli-
ance Acts
SUPREME COURT DECISION
Not Merely Due Diligence Will
Go in Observing Laws
Demands.

roads coming within the terms of the
Safety Appliance Acts of Congress OF
1898 and 1908, are under an absolute
duty to keep in repair automatic
couplers and other appliances pre-
scribed by law and not merely duty
to exercise reasonable diligence in
repairing. Such was the decision to-
day of the supreme court of the Uni.
ted States.
Story Of the Case.
Washington, D. c., May 15.-By an
odd coincidence, number of vital
questions concerning the scope of the
Safety Appliance Acts of Congress
came before the Supreme Court of
the United States about the same
time and were heard together. 4
| One of these arose in the sujf Of
F. M. Delk, brakeman of the St,1ouis
and San Francisco Railroa1 Com
pany, for injuries suffered while at
tempting to manipulate defective
coupler of car on switch in Mem
phis, Tenn. The United States Cir
cult Court of Appeals fSr the Sixth
Circuit finally decided against Delk
on the ground that while the railroad
was under an absolute duty to equip
cars with automatic couplers and
other appliances required by the Safe.
ty Appliance Acts, yet it was only un-
der the common law duty to exercise
reasonable diligence when it came
to repairing the appliances. Delk had
contended that the acts changed the
common law duty so as to make the
railroads absolutely liable for not re
4 pairing appliances required by the
statutes, as we'll as for not equipping
cars with the appliances.
Il The direct reverse of this holding
was announced by the United States
: Circuit Court of Appeals for the
Eighth Circuit, when the United
States sought to recover from the Chi
cago, Burlington & Quincy Railway
Company $100 for each of four alleget
j. violations of the acts. There it wa
held that the railway company wal
under an absolute obligation to keel
J the safety appliances with which
; their cars must be equipped in repair
The railroad claimed that the cour
held them liable, Notwithstanding th'
icompany did not know it's cars wert
out of repair and had no intention tt
violate the law.
Another question was passed upoI
by the United States District Court O
Colorado, when it held that the Colo
RADIO and Northwestern Railroad Com
pany, narrow gauge railroad entire
ily within Boulder county, Colo, an,
said to be using locomotives and car
equipped with the old link and phi
couplers was liable to the governmen
for violation of the law. In so doin
the court held that it was not neces
sary to order to bring a connecting
carrier within the Safety Applianc
Acts for it to have an arrangement fo
a continuous transportation or shil
ment with the preceding carrier. TIL
courts had always held that such ha
been necessary to bring carrie
, within the interstate commerce &C
q of 1887.
: The United States District Cour
for Northern Alabama went even
D step further. 1t held that the Unite
States was entitled to penalty fror
! the Southern Railway Company fo
alleged violation OF the Safety Appl
: ance law in case where shipmen
originating and ending within tn
state of Alabama, was carried in
car not properly equipped. Th
court held that this was violation {
the law because the car was use
!, sometimes for interstate commerc,
. and therefore was an instrumentalit
OF interstate commerce.