Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/226/491/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 02:07:29+00:00

Document:
The constitutional power of Congress to regulate commerce among the states and with foreign nations comprehends power to regulate contracts between shipper and carrier of shipments in such commerce in regard to liability for loss or damage to articles carried.
Until Congress has legislated upon that subject, the liability of a carrier, although engaged in interstate commerce, for loss or damage to property carried, may be regulated by law of the state.
Since the decisions of this Court in Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway v. Solan, 169 U. S. 133, and Pennsylvania Railroad v. Hughes, 191 U. S. 477, Congress has by § 20 of the Hepburn Act of June 29, 1906, 34 Stat. 584, c. 3591, known as the Carmack Amendment, legislated directly upon the carrier's liability for loss of and damage to interstate shipments, and this legislation supersedes all regulations and policies of a particular state upon the same subject.
Only the silence of Congress authorizes the exercise of the police power of the state upon the subject of contracts with carriers for interstate shipments, and when Congress exercises its authority, the regulating power of the state is at an end.
In enacting the Carmack Amendment, it is evident that Congress intended to adopt a uniform rule as to the liability imposed upon interstate carriers by state regulations of bills of lading, and to relieve such contracts from the diverse regulation to which they had theretofore been subject.
A proviso reserving certain rights of action will not be construed as nullifying the statute itself and maintaining the existing confusion which it was the purpose of Congress to put an end to, and so held that the proviso in the Carmack Amendment related to remedies under existing federal law at the time of this action, and not to any state law.
A rational interpretation will be given to a statute and a proviso, and not one by which the statute will, through the proviso, destroy itself.
negligence or that of his employees, but the rigor of this rule may be modified by a fair, reasonable and just agreement with the shipper which does not include exemption from such negligence, and the right to receive compensation commensurate with the risk involves the right to agree upon rates proportionate with the value of the property transported.
An interstate carrier may, by a fair, open, and reasonable agreement limit the amount recoverable by the shipper to an agreed value made for the purpose of obtaining the lower of two or more rates proportioned to the amount of risk.
A limitation of liability based upon an agreed value to obtain a lower rate does not conflict with any sound principle of public policy, and it is not conformable to plain principles of justice that a shipper may understate value in order to reduce the rate and then recover a larger value in case of loss.
The provisions of the Carmack Amendment are not violated by a plain provision in a bill of lading basing the charges on value of article transported and charging higher rates for increasing liability as value is declared, and so held as to express rates filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission.
This was an action in the Circuit Court of Kenton County, Kentucky, against the express company, to recover the full market value of a small package containing a diamond ring which was delivered by the plaintiff below to the express company at its office in Cincinnati, Ohio, consigned to J. W. Clendenning at Augusta, Georgia. The package was never delivered.
The express company made defense by answer. The plaintiff demurred to the answer as not containing a defense, which demurrer was sustained. The company declined to further plead, whereupon the circuit court gave judgment for the sum of $137.52, being the full value of the ring and interest. A writ of error was sued out from this Court to the Circuit Court of Kenton County, that being the highest court of the state in which a decision could be had.
That the defendant was an express company engaged in interstate commerce within the provisions of the Act of Congress of June 29, 1906; that, in obedience to that act, it had duly filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission schedules showing its rates and charges from Cincinnati to Augusta, Georgia, which schedules showed that its rates and charges, when the value of the property to be carried was in excess of fifty dollars, were graduated reasonably, according to the value, and that the lawful rate upon the package of the plaintiff from Cincinnati to Augusta was twenty-five cents if the value was fifty dollars or less, and was fifty-five cents if its value was one hundred twenty-five dollars.
"In consideration of the rate charged for carrying said property, which is regulated by the value thereof, and is based upon a valuation of not exceeding fifty dollars unless a greater value is declared, the shipper agrees that the value of said property is not more than fifty dollars, unless a greater value is stated herein, and that the company shall not be liable, in any event, for more than the value so stated, nor for more than fifty dollars if no value is stated herein. "
The answer relies upon the Act of Congress of June 29, 1906, being an act to amend the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, as the only regulation applicable to an interstate shipment, and avers that the limitation of value, declared in its bill of lading, was valid and obligatory under that act. This defense was denied. This constitutes the federal question and gives this Court jurisdiction.
Under the law of Kentucky, this contract, limiting the plaintiff's recovery to the agreed or declared value, was invalid, and the shipper was entitled to recover the actual value, "unless," as said in Adams Express Company v. Walker, 119 Ky. 121, and affirmed in Southern Express Company v. Fox & Logan, 131 Ky. 257, "sufficient facts are shown, independently of the special contract, to avoid the contract for fraud, or to create an estoppel at common law."
governed by the local law of the state, or by the acts of Congress regulating interstate commerce.
"They are not, in themselves, regulations of interstate commerce, although they control in some degree the conduct and the liability of those engaged in such commerce. So long as Congress has not legislated upon the particular subject, they are rather to be regarded as legislation in aid of such commerce, and as a rightful exercise of the police power of the state to regulate the relative rights and duties of all persons and corporations within its limits. "
"contract, receipt, rule, or regulation which shall exempt any railway from liability as a common carrier, which would exist had no contract, receipt, rule, or regulation been made or entered into."
of the law relied upon, we fail to find any such provision therein. The sections of the Interstate Commerce Law relied upon by the learned counsel for plaintiff in error, 24 Stat. 379, 382, c. 104; 25 Stat. 855, c. 382, provide for equal facilities to shippers for the interchange of traffic, for nondiscrimination in freight rates, for keeping schedules of rates open to public inspection, for posting the same in public places, with certain particulars as to charges, rules, and regulations, for the publication of joint tariff rates for continuous transportation over one or more lines, to be made public when directed by the Interstate Commerce Commission, against advances in joint tariff rates except after ten days' notice to the Commission; against reduction of joint tariff rates except after three days' like notice, making it unlawful for any party to a joint tariff to receive or demand a greater or less compensation for the transportation of property between points as to which a joint tariff is made different than is specified in the schedule filed with the Commission, giving remedies for the enforcement of the foregoing provisions, and providing penalties for their violation, making it unlawful to prevent continuous carriage, and providing that no break of bulk, stoppage, or interruption by the carrier, unless made in good faith, for some necessary purpose, without intention to evade the act, shall prevent the carriage of freights from being treated as one continuous carriage from the place of shipment to the place of destination."
valid objection to the state's enforcing its own regulations upon the subject, although it may to this extent indirectly affect interstate commerce contracts of carriage?"
This amendment came under consideration in Atlantic Coast Line v. Riverside Mills, 219 U. S. 186, but the opinion and judgment was confined to that provision of the act which made the initial carrier liable for a loss upon the line of a connecting carrier, the property having been received under a bill of lading which confined the liability of the initial carrier to loss occurring upon its own line.
First: it affirmatively requires the initial carrier to issue "a receipt or bill of lading therefor," when it receives "property for transportation from a point in one state to a point in another."
Second: such initial carrier is made "liable to the lawful holder thereof for any loss, damage, or injury to such property caused by it."
"any common carrier, railroad, or transportation company to which such property may be delivered, or over whose line or lines such property may pass."
Fourth: it affirmatively declares that "no contract, receipt, rule, or regulation shall exempt such common carrier, railroad, or transportation company from the liability hereby imposed."
Prior to that amendment, the rule of carriers' liability, for an interstate shipment of property, as enforced in both federal and state courts, was either that of the general common law, as declared by this Court and enforced in the federal courts throughout the United States, Hart v. Pennsylvania Railroad, 112 U. S. 331, or that determined by the supposed public policy of a particular state, Pennsylvania Railroad v. Hughes, 191 U. S. 477, or that prescribed by statute law of a particular state, Chicago &c. Railroad v. Solan, 169 U. S. 133.
"Some states allow carriers to exempt themselves from all or a part of the common law liability by rule, regulation, or contract; others did not. The federal courts sitting in the various states were following the local rule, a carrier being held liable in one court when, under the same state of facts, he would be exempt from liability in another. Hence, this branch of interstate commerce was being subjected to such a diversity of legislative and judicial holding that it was practically impossible for a shipper engaged in a business that extended beyond the confines of his own state, or a carrier whose lines were extensive, to know, without considerable investigation and trouble, and even then oftentimes with but little certainty, what would be the carrier's actual responsibility as to goods delivered to it for transportation from one state to another. The congressional action has made an end to this diversity, for the national law is paramount, and supersedes all state laws as to the rights and liabilities and exemptions created by such transactions. This was doubtless the purpose of the law, and this purpose will be effectuated, and not impaired or destroyed, by the state courts' obeying and enforcing the provisions of the federal statute where applicable to the fact in such cases as shall come before them."
the subject, and supersede all state regulation with reference to it. Only the silence of Congress authorized the exercise of the police power of the state upon the subject of such contracts. But when Congress acted in such a way as to manifest a purpose to exercise its conceded authority, the regulating power of the state ceased to exist. Northern Pacific Ry. v. Washington, 222 U. S. 370; Southern Railway v. Reid, 222 U. S. 424; Mondou v. Railroad, 223 U. S. 1.
To hold that the liability therein declared may be increased or diminished by local regulation or local views of public policy will either make the provision less than supreme, or indicate that Congress has not shown a purpose to take possession of the subject. The first would be unthinkable, and the latter would be to revert to the uncertainties and diversities of rulings which led to the amendment. The duty to issue a bill of lading and the liability thereby assumed are covered in full, and though there is no reference to the effect upon state regulation, it is evident that Congress intended to adopt a uniform rule and relieve such contracts from the diverse regulation to which they had been theretofore subject.
carrier to whom the property may be delivered," and plainly implies a liability for some default in its common law duty as a common carrier.
What this Court said of the § 22 of this Act of 1887 in the case of Texas & Pac. Ry. v. Abilene Cotton Mills, 204 U. S. 426, is applicable to this contention. It was claimed that that section continued in force all rights and remedies under the common law or other statutes. But this Court said of that contention what must be said of the proviso in the § 20, that it was evidently only intended to continue in existence such other rights or remedies for the redress of some specific wrong or injury, whether given by the Interstate Commerce Act, or by state statute, or common law, not inconsistent with the rules and regulations prescribed by the provisions of this act. Again, it was said of the same clause, in the same case, that it could not in reason be construed as continuing in a shipper a common law right the existence of which would be inconsistent with the provisions of the act. In other words, the act cannot be said to destroy itself.
destroy the act itself. One illustration would be a right to a remedy against a succeeding carrier, in preference to proceeding against the primary carrier, for a loss or damage incurred upon the line of the former. The liability of such succeeding carrier in the route would be that imposed by this statute, and for which the first carrier might have been made liable.
"In consideration of the rate charged for carrying said property, which is regulated by the value thereof, and is based upon a valuation of not exceeding fifty dollars unless a greater value is declared, the shipper agrees that the value of said property is not more than fifty dollars, unless a greater value is stated herein, and that the company shall not be liable, in any event, for more than the value so stated, nor for more than fifty dollars if no value is stated herein."
The answer states that the schedules which the express company had filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission showed rates based upon valuations, and that the lawful and established rate for such a shipment as that made by the plaintiff from Cincinnati to Augusta, having a value not in excess of fifty dollars, was twenty-five cents, while for the same package, if its value had been declared to be one hundred twenty-five dollars, the amount for which the plaintiff sues as the actual value, the lawful charge, according to the rate filed and published, would have been fifty-five cents. It is further averred that the package was sealed, and its contents and actual value unknown to the defendant's agent.
was based upon a valuation of fifty dollars unless a greater value should be stated therein. The knowledge of the shipper that the rate was based upon the value is to be presumed from the terms of the bill of lading and of the published schedules filed with the Commission. That presumption is strengthened by the fact that across the top of this bill of lading there was this statement in bold type: "This company's charge is based upon the value of the property, which must be declared by the shipper."
That a common carrier cannot exempt himself from liability for his own negligence or that of his servants is elementary. York Mfg. Co. v. Illinois Central Railroad, 3 Wall. 107; Railroad Company v. Lockwood, 17 Wall. 357; Bank of Kentucky v. Adams Express Company, 93 U. S. 174; Hart v. Pennsylvania Railroad, 112 U. S. 331, 112 U. S. 338. The rule of the common law did not limit his liability to loss and damage due to his own negligence or that of his servants. That rule went beyond this, and he was liable for any loss or damage which resulted from human agency, or any cause not the Act of God or the public enemy. But the rigor of this liability might be modified through any fair, reasonable, and just agreement with the shipper which did not include exemption against the negligence of the carrier or his servants. The inherent right to receive a compensation commensurate with the risk involved the right to protect himself from fraud and imposition by reasonable rules and regulations, and the right to agree upon a rate proportionate to the value of the property transported.
charges proportioned to the amount of the risk. York Mfg. Co. v. Railroad, 3 Wall. 107; Railroad v. Lockwood, 17 Wall. 357; Hart v. Pennsylvania Railroad, cited above; Phoenix Ins. Co. v. Erie & W. Trans. Co., 117 U. S. 312, 117 U. S. 322; Steam Co. v. Phenix Ins. Co., 129 U. S. 397, 129 U. S. 442; New York, L. E. & W. Ry. v. Estill, 147 U. S. 591, 147 U. S. 619; Primrose v. W. U. Tel. Co., 154 U. S. 1, 154 U. S. 15; Chicago &c. Ry. v. Solan, 169 U. S. 133, 169 U. S. 135; Calderon v. Atlas Steamship Company, 170 U. S. 272, 170 U. S. 278; Pennsylvania Railroad v. Hughes, 191 U. S. 477, 191 U. S. 485.
carrier must respond for negligence up to that value. It is just and reasonable that such a contract, fairly entered into, and where there is no deceit practiced on the shipper, should be upheld. There is no violation of public policy. On the contrary, it would be unjust and unreasonable, and would be repugnant to the soundest principles of fair dealing and of the freedom of contracting, and thus in conflict with public policy, if a shipper should be allowed to reap the benefit of the contract if there is no loss, and to repudiate it in case of loss."
as a carrier. It is not in any proper sense a contract exempting him from liability for the loss, damage, or injury to the property, as the shipper describes it in stating its value for the purpose of determining for what the carrier shall be accountable upon his undertaking, and what price the shipper shall pay for the service and for the risk of loss which the carrier assumes."
"The language of the enactment does not disclose any intent to abrogate the right of common carriers to regulate their charges for carriage by the value of the goods, or to agree with the shipper upon a valuation of the property carried. It has been the uniform practice of transportation companies in this country to make their charges dependent upon the value of the property carried, and the propriety of this practice and the legality of contracts signed by the shipper, agreeing upon a valuation of the property, were distinctly upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in Hart v. Penn. R. Co., 112 U. S. 331, 112 U. S. 341."
To the same effect are the cases of Travis v. Wells, Fargo Co., 79 N.J.L. 83; Fielder v. Adams Express Co., 69 W.Va. 138; Larsen v. Oregon Short Line,38 Utah 130. See also Atkinson v. New York Transfer Co. 76 N.J.L. 608, as to the general rule.
That a carrier rate may be graduated by value, and that a stipulation limiting recovery to an agreed value, made to adjust the rate, is recognized by the Interstate Commerce Commission, see 13 I.C.C. 550.
The demurrer to the answer of the defendant below should have been overruled. For this reason, the judgment is reversed, with direction to overrule the demurrer, and for such further proceedings as are not inconsistent with this opinion.
"That any common carrier, railroad, or transportation company receiving property for transportation from a point in one state to a point in another state shall issue a receipt or bill of lading therefor, and shall be liable to the lawful holder thereof for any loss, damage, or injury to such property caused by it or by any common carrier, railroad, or transportation company to which such property may be delivered, or over whose line or lines such property may pass, and no contract, receipt, rule, or regulation shall exempt such common carrier, railroad, or transportation company from the liability hereby imposed: Provided, That nothing in this section shall deprive any holder of such receipt or bill of lading of any remedy or right of action which he has under existing law."
"That the common carrier, railroad, or transportation company issuing such receipt or bill of lading shall be entitled to recover from the common carrier, railroad. or transportation company on whose line the loss, damage, or injury shall have been sustained the amount of such loss, damage, or injury, as it may be required to pay to the owners of such property, as may be evidenced by any receipt, judgment, or transcript thereof."

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