Source: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/238/507
Timestamp: 2016-02-12 05:38:12
Document Index: 349052744

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 478', '§ 2', '§ 8657', '§ 237', '§ 1214', '§ 709']

CENTRAL VERMONT RAILWAY COMPANY, Plff. in Err., v. MARY THERESA WHITE, Administratrix of the Estate of Enoch L. White. | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute
Supreme Court aboutsearch liibulletin subscribe previews CENTRAL VERMONT RAILWAY COMPANY, Plff. in Err., v. MARY THERESA WHITE, Administratrix of the Estate of Enoch L. White.
238 U.S. 507 (35 S.Ct. 865, 59 L.Ed. 1433)
CENTRAL VERMONT RAILWAY COMPANY, Plff. in Err., v. MARY THERESA WHITE, Administratrix of the Estate of Enoch L. White.
[HTML] Mr. J. W. Redmond for plaintiff in error.
4. The defendant, however, insisted that White knew his train was behind time and running at a low rate of speed. The company contended that, in view of these circumstances, it was his duty, under the rules, to put out lighted fuses and torpedoes in order to give warning of the presence of train No. 401 on the track. On that theory the company asked the court to charge that the burden was on the administratrix to show that White was not guilty of contributory negligence. In considering that exception the supreme court of Vermont held that the defendant's contention was based on a correct statement of the state rule, but said: 'This case, however, is brought upon an act of Congress . . . which supersedes the laws of the state in so far as the latter cover the same field. . . . Consequently the question of the burden of proof respecting contributory negligence on the part of the injured employee is to be determined according to the provisions of that act,' citing Seaboard Air Line R. Co. v. Moore, 113 C. C. A. 668, 193 Fed. 1022, s. c. 228 U. S. 434, 57 L. ed. 907, 33 Sup. Ct. Rep. 580.
In this court the argument was devoted principally to a discussion of this rulingcounsel for the railroad company earnestly insisting that 'the lex fori must determine all questions of evidence, including that of the burden of proof. Whart. Confl. L. 3d ed. § 478b.' It was argued that there is nothing in the Federal statute indicating an intent to change the state rule as to the burden of proof, and it is claimed that because of the court's mistaken construction of the Federal act the railway company has been deprived of a right to which it was entitled under the laws of Vermont.
There can, of course, be no doubt of the general principle that matters respecting the remedysuch as the form of the action, sufficiency of the pleadings, rules of evidence, and the statute of limitationsdepend upon the law of the place where the suit is brought (M'Niel v. Holbrook, 12 Pet. 89, 9 L. ed. 1011). But matters of substance and procedure must not be confounded because they happen to have the same name. For example, the time within which a suit is to be brought is treated as pertaining to the remedy. But this is not so if, by the statute giving the cause of action, the lapse of time not only bars the remedy, but destroys the liability. A. J. Phillips Co. v. Grand Trunk Western R. Co. 236 U. S. 662, 59 L. ed. , 35 Sup. Ct. Rep. 444; Boyd v. Clark, 8 Fed. 849; Hallowell v. Harwich, 14 Mass. 188; Cooper v. Lyons, 9 Lea, 597 (2); Newcomb v. The Clermont No. 2, 3 G. Greene, 295. In that class of cases the law of the jurisdiction, creating the cause of action and fixing the time within which it must be asserted, would control even where the suit was brought in the courts of a state which gave a longer period within which to sue. So, too, as to the burden of proof. As long as the question involves a mere matter of procedure as to the time when and the order in which evidence should be submitted the state court can, in those and similar instances, follow their own practice even in the trial of suits arising under the Federal law.
The evidence showed a liability under the employers' liability act, and without stopping to discuss whether, on general principles, the motion should not have been overruled because the declaration was amendable to conform to the proof (Grand Trunk Western R. Co. v. Lindsay, 233 U. S. 48, 58 L. ed. 842, 34 Sup. Ct. Rep. 581, Ann. Cas. 1914C, 168; Toledo, St. L. & W. R. Co. v. Slavin, 236 U. S. 454, 59 L. ed. , 35 Sup. Ct. Rep. 306), it is sufficient to say that the supreme court of the state held that the defect in the original declaration had been cured by the charge in the plea and the admission in the replication that White was employed in interstate commerce. That decision on a matter of state pleading and practice is binding on this court.
Under Lord Campbell's act (9 & 10 Vict. chap. 93, § 2) and in a few of the American states the jury is required to apportion the damages in this class of cases. But even in those states the distribution is held to be of no concern to the defendant, and the failure to apportion the damages is held not to be reversible error (Norfolk & W. R. Co. v. Stevens, 97 Va. 631 (1), 634, 46 L.R.A. 367, 34 S. E. 525; International & G. N. R. Co. v. Lehman, Tex. Civ. App. , 72 S. W. 619),certainly not unless the defendant can show that it has been injured by such failure. The employers' liability act is substantially like Lord Campbell's act, except that it omits the requirement that the jury should apportion the damages. That omission clearly indicates an intention on the part of Congress to change what was the English practice so as to make the Federal statute conform to what was the rule in most of the states in which it was to operate. Those statutes, when silent on the subject, have generally been construed not to require juries to make an apportionment. Indeed, to make them do so would, in many cases, double the issues; for, in connection with the determination of negligence and damage, it would be necessary also to enter upon an investigation of the domestic affairs of the deceased,a matter for probate courts, and not for jurors. If, as in the McGinnis Case, the plaintiff sues for the benent of one who is not entitled to share in the recovery (Taylor v. Taylor, 232 U. S. 363, 58 L. ed. 638, 34 Sup. Ct. Rep. 350, 6 N. C. C. A. 436; North Carolina R. Co. v. Zachary, 232 U. S. 248, 58 L. ed. 591, 34 Sup. Ct. Rep. 305, Ann. Cas. 1914C, 159), and if her inclusion in the suit might increase the amount of the recovery, the defendant may raise the question in such mode as may be appropriate under the practice of the court in which the trial is had, so as to secure a ruling which will prevent a recovery for one not entitled to share in the benefits of the Federal act. But no such question was or could have been raised in the present case, since, as matter of law, the wife and minor children were all to be treated as entitled to share in the amount recovered for the death of the husband and father. 35 Stat. at L. 65, chap. 149, Comp. Stat. 1913, § 8657.
7. Assignments 25 and 27 relate to the refusal of the court to permit testimony as to the delivery and contents of the 'clearance card' and the refusal to permit the railway company to show that, under the Federal law, all engines, including 708, had been inspected and found to be in good condition. They both raise questions of general law. They involve no construction of the Federal statute, and neither directly nor indirectly affect any Federal right. Those assignments, therefore, under Judicial Code, § 237 36 Stat. at L. 1156, chap. 231, Comp. Stat. 1913, § 1214, Rev. Stat. § 709, will not be reviewed on a writ of error to a state court. Seaboard Air Line R. Co. v. Duvall. See also Chicago Junction R. Co. v. King, 222 U. S. 222, 56 L. ed. 173, 32 Sup. Ct. Rep. 79, and Yazoo & M. Valley R. Co. v. Wright, 235 U. S. 376, 59 L. ed. , 35 Sup. Ct. Rep. 130, which state the rule where similar cases are brought here by writ of error to a Federal court.