Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/198/483/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 00:07:43+00:00

Document:
Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 198 › Louisville & N. R. Co. v. West Coast Co.
A common carrier may agree with such other carrier as it may choose to forward beyond its own line goods it has transported to its terminus, and, if it has adequate terminal facilities at a sea port sufficient for all freight destined for that place, it is not obliged to allow other and competing carriers to load and discharge at a wharf owned by it and erected for facilitating the transportation of through freight to points beyond that place.
The fact that a wharf is built by a railroad company on what might be the extension of a public street, under permissions of the municipality, does not, in the absence of express stipulations, make it a public wharf or affect the company's right of sole occupancy or power of regulation thereof.
transportation of plaintiff's property, as stated in the declaration.
The action was brought in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Northern District of Florida.
The plaintiff's declaration contains two counts, which are substantially the same, and it is therein averred that the plaintiff is a citizen of Florida and the defendant is a citizen of Kentucky, and that the latter is a common carrier, and carries goods into Pensacola over its railroad, and, among them, the goods of the plaintiff. The course of business between the two companies has been for the plaintiff to obtain transportation of its turpentine and rosin from its yard near Pensacola, and its warehouse in that city, by means of a switch, built for that purpose by the defendant, to defendant's main line, and thence to the wharf of defendant (which plaintiff alleged was a public wharf) by means of the cars and upon the railroad of the defendant. The wharf extended into the Bay of Pensacola, and was used by defendant (and by persons bringing goods over the defendant's railway to and into Pensacola) for the purpose of shipping such goods from the wharf to vessels destined for other ports. After defendant had transported the goods of the plaintiff to the wharf of defendant, the plaintiff had been accustomed to ship to other ports by vessels, with the managers of which plaintiff had contracts of carriage; that in the midst of the prosecution of such business defendant had notified plaintiff that it would thereafter refuse, and it did thereafter refuse, to allow plaintiff to transport its goods to the wharf for the purpose of there loading them on such vessels as above mentioned, and refused to permit the wharf and railway of defendant to be used in the prosecution of plaintiff's business insofar as the prosecution would involve the use of the vessels chosen by the plaintiff for the shipment of the goods from Pensacola to the damage of the plaintiff, as set forth in the declaration.
"The defendant, withdrawing all former pleas, pleads to the first and second counts of the declaration as follows:"
"1. That the defendant has adequate depots and yards in the City of Pensacola for the receipt and delivery of all merchandise committed to it for transportation to and delivery at Pensacola. That neither its charter nor any statutory law has compelled or required, or compels or requires, it to construct or maintain the wharf mentioned in the declaration, but that it constructed the same at an expense to it of tens of thousands of dollars for the purpose of providing facilities for the transaction of its business with such vessels as it might permit to come to and lie at said wharf to take cargo. That no business has ever been done at said wharf except the transportation by the defendant, in cars on its railroad over said wharf, to and from vessels lying at the said wharf, of goods brought or to be transported by said vessels and the loading and unloading thereat of such vessels. That, in accordance with such purpose, it made and promulgated, upon the construction of said wharf, and more than five years prior to the bringing of this suit, rules and regulations by which it limited the use of its wharves, including the wharf mentioned in the declaration,"
"to traffic handled by vessels in regular lines running in connection with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, and vessels belonging to, or consigned to, Gulf Transit Company"
into the 'certain vessels' mentioned in the declaration, and still are in force and operation. That the said 'certain vessels' were not regular lines running in connection with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, nor were they belonging to, or consigned to, Gulf Transit Company, nor had they made any special arrangements with the defendant for the use of the said wharf; but that said vessels constituted an independent line between New York and Pensacola, and New York and Mobile, Alabama, carrying merchandise between the said points, and would have come in competition with a line of steamers with which the defendant was then negotiating for regular service in the transportation of merchandise to and from New York and Pensacola in connection and under traffic arrangements with defendant, and such service has since been established, and a line of steamers is now regularly transporting merchandise between said points in such connection and under such traffic arrangements, and was also in competition with the defendant itself, which was at said time, and had been for a long time prior thereto, engaged in a like business between said points, carrying goods by its line of railroad from Pensacola and Mobile to River Junction, Florida, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Montgomery, Alabama, and there delivering the same to a connecting carrier and other carriers connecting therewith, transporting goods to the City of New York, and receiving from said connecting carriers at the points aforesaid, and transporting to Pensacola and Mobile goods shipped from New York to Pensacola and Mobile."
refusal was solely because the said vessels were not of either of the classes provided for by the rules aforesaid, nor had made special arrangements with the defendant, and would have been, as aforesaid, in competition with the lines of vessels connecting with the defendant, running to and from New York, and was, as aforesaid, in competition with the defendant itself in its rail transportation aforesaid, to and from New York city, and that the defendant was then, and at all times had been, ready and willing to give, and did give, to the plaintiff the same facilities for shipping naval stores to New York, or any other port, over defendant's said wharf as it gave to any and all other shippers; that the unloading by the plaintiff of its said goods into said vessels necessarily involves the lying at, attachment to, and use of the said wharf, one of the terminals of the defendant, by the said vessels; that the said wharf was not at the time mentioned in the declaration, and has never been, a public wharf, unless the facts set forth hereinbefore in this plea constituted it such."
This plea was in substance the same as the third plea which defendant had theretofore interposed, and which the circuit court of appeals had held bad. The plaintiff again demurred. The circuit court sustained the demurrer, in accordance with the decision of the circuit court of appeals, and gave leave to the defendant to amend as it might be advised. The defendant refused to amend. Judgment was then entered against it by default, and direction given to proceed with the case for the purpose of having plaintiff's damages assessed. A trial by jury upon the question of damages was had, and the jury found a verdict for the plaintiff for $1,000, upon which judgment was duly entered.
The defendant then sued out a writ of error to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which court, adhering to the views expressed by it on the former appeal, affirmed the judgment, 128 F. 1020, and the defendant thereupon applied to this Court for a writ of certiorari, which was granted, and the case is now here.
correct. Subsequently to the decision of the circuit court of appeals, and after the case was remanded to the circuit court, it appears by the record before us that the defendant withdrew all its former pleas, and filed the single plea set forth in the foregoing statement of facts. To this plea no replication was filed. Counsel for the plaintiff admits that neither the declaration nor the plea contains any averment that the wharf in question was an extension of a public street. If we assume what is without doubt the fact -- that the wharf was built at the foot of a public street in the City of Pensacola and was carried out into the deep water of the bay some hundreds of yards -- we must also assume the fact mentioned in the brief of the defendant, and substantially set forth in the former replication, that the building and maintaining of the wharf were authorized by authority from the City of Pensacola and also from the State of Florida. These facts will therefore be taken as admitted in order that the case may be discussed upon the facts as they really exist.
"but only that defendant would not permit plaintiff's goods to be at, from, or by means of defendant's wharf loaded upon, or delivered to, the said vessels,"
use it, including, at any rate, those who were engaged in traffic handled by vessels belonging to regular lines running in connection with the defendant, and also including vessels belonging or consigned to the Gulf Transit Company, an agent of defendant, together with those who were using the wharf under some special arrangements between them and the defendant. All this, the plaintiff contends, amounted to making the wharf a public one, or at least that it thereby became a facility to the use of which the public as a public had a right on payment of reasonable compensation. If plaintiff chose to employ, for the further transportation of its goods, the vessels with the managers of which the defendant had some business arrangement or contract, it is not denied that the defendant would and did permit such transportation. In this respect, there is no allegation that the plaintiff did not have equal facilities with all other shippers. Defendant's plea avers that it did give to plaintiff the same facilities for shipping its goods over defendant's wharf that it gave to any or all shippers. In brief, the fact seems to be that the only complaint of the plaintiff is that defendant will not permit competing vessels to make use of its wharf for the purpose of such competition.
turn upon the character of the use of the wharf, whether it is public or private.
The argument upon the part of plaintiff is, in substance, this: true, defendant has erected a wharf, which is not in fact intended or used as the terminus of its road at Pensacola, adequate yards and depots having been furnished by the defendant for all goods and passengers destined to Pensacola only; but the wharf has been erected to enable defendant to more conveniently carry out contracts for transportation beyond its own line, which it was not compelled to make, and which it could carry out by such agencies as it chose; but the plaintiff, having goods destined for points outside of Florida, insists upon its right to use the road of defendant not to carry these goods to Pensacola, but to defendant's wharf, so that plaintiff may there transfer them into vessels which it has arranged to take them; in order to do this, it is necessary that defendant be compelled to share its possession of its own wharf with the managers of these other vessels; for this possession plaintiff is prepared to make reasonable compensation. The right on the part of the plaintiff is urged as the result of the action of defendant in permitting the use of the wharf as stated in the plea. By such use, it is contended that the defendant in effect dedicated the wharf to the public, or at least, has granted to the public an interest in the use of the wharf.
We are of opinion that the wharf was not a public one, but that it was a mere facility, erected by and belonging to defendant and used by it, in connection with that part of its road forming an extension from its regular depot and yards in Pensacola, to the wharf for the purpose of more conveniently procuring the transportation of goods beyond its own line, and that defendant need not share such facility with the public or with any carriers other than those it chose for the purpose of effecting such further transportation.
goods by vessels of its own selection, and that defendant shall surrender possession of enough of its wharf to enable plaintiff to do so.
such other carrier as it may choose to forward beyond its own line the goods which it had transported to its own terminus. See also Central Stock Yards Co. v. L. & N. Railway Co., 192 U. S. 568, 192 U. S. 571; Kentucky &c. Co. v. L. & N. R. Co., 37 F. 567; Oregon &c. Co. v. Northern Pacific R. Co., 51 F. 465; Ilwaco &c. Co. v. Oregon &c. Co., 57 F. 673.
The cases cited did not involve rights of parties to a wharf situated in a harbor, but we think that the right of one carrier to enter into arrangements with another carrier to forward its goods, and to refuse to do so with others, or to permit such others to avail themselves of the facilities constructed by the original carrier for that purpose, is not altered because the facility so constructed by it happens to be a wharf in the harbor of a city instead of some structure on land. The wharf may be a private one, and its owner may permit those only to have access to it that it may choose. A private wharf may exist on the shores of a navigable river or lake, or in a harbor of a city from which access is obtained directly to the sea. Dutton v. Strong, 1 Black 23, 66 U. S. 32.
It is to be remembered that the wharf was not, in strictness, the terminus of defendant for unloading its goods for Pensacola. The defendant had other depots and yards for that purpose. The main use of the wharf was only for the purpose of sending the goods brought by defendant, to other ports as a continuation of their carriage beyond the line of the defendant's road. How much space, if any, it might devote to other vessels, with the managers of which it might make special arrangements, would naturally be for the defendant to decide, as also the particular terms of such arrangements. The conveniences of the wharf are, of course, necessarily limited.
connection instead of a weak one -- one that will give assurance of permanent business, instead of one that can offer only occasional shipment. If the free use is incompatible with the certain regular use by the steamer, or lines of steamers, with which the carrier is aligned, it is too clear for further reasoning that such carrier has the right to accept the latter and thereby exclude the former."
The reasons for permitting such use of the wharf are manifold. Without it, the commerce of the country in the large cities would be cramped, if not very greatly damaged, by the uncertainty of finding quarters for the regular and swift unloading and loading of the vessels. But the capacity of a wharf is necessarily limited, and if the wharf were open to all comers in their turn, there could be no certainty as to any particular vessels' being able to reach the wharf at any definite time, and consequently there would be a like uncertainty as to when such vessel would be able to depart with its load. One unexpected so-called tramp vessel might, by arriving a few hours in advance, take possession of all that was left of the wharf for the purpose of loading, and thus prevent the regular steamer, arriving a little later, from coming to the dock, unloading its cargo, and then loading with goods from the railroad. In this way, there would be confusion in time and in the possession of the wharf by the different vessels, and its value for the purpose for which it was erected would be greatly reduced, if not wholly destroyed.
companies were not bound to furnish, in the absence of a statute, to all independent express companies equal facilities for doing an express business upon their passenger trains.
These observations answer the contention of plaintiff that defendant, by erecting the wharf and using it in the way it does, has thereby devoted its property to a public use, and that it has thereby granted to the public an interest in such use within the principle laid down in Munn v. Illinois, 94 U. S. 113. It has not devoted its wharf to the use of the public insofar as to thereby grant to every vessel the right to occupy its private property upon making compensation to defendant for the exercise of such right. The reasons we have already endeavored to give.
The judgments of the circuit court of appeals and of the Circuit Court for the Northern District of Florida are reversed, and the case remanded to the latter court for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.