A. J. Phillips Co. v. Grand Trunk Western Railway Co.

Citations

• 236 U.S. 662
• 35 S. Ct. 444
• 59 L. Ed. 774
• 1915 U.S. LEXIS 1722

Syllabus

<p>A finding by the Interstate Commerce Commission in a general investigation that an advance in a rate on a specified commodity between specified points is unreasonable inures to the benefit of every shipper who has paid the unjust rate, provided however, that he asserts his claim against the carrier within the time fixed by law.</p> <p>A shipper who paid charges prior to the passage of the Hepburn Act and did not commence proceedings until more than one year after the passage of that act cannot recover on the strength of a finding of the Interstate Commerce Commission made in a general proceeding to which he was not a party that the rate paid was unreasonable.</p> <p>The Conformity Act (Rev. Stat. 914) does not apply to a state rule of practice prohibiting taking advantage of the statute of limitations by general demurrer to a cause arising under a Federal statute expressly limiting the time within which the right created by the statute can be asserted — in which case the lapse of time not only bars the remedy but destroys the liability.</p> <p>The prohibitions of the Interstate Commerce Act against unjust dis-criminations relate not only to inequality of facilities but also to giving preferences by means of consent judgments or waivers of defenses open to the carrier.</p> <p>Qucere, whether connecting carriers participating in a haul, the advanced rate for which was held by the Commission to be excessive but who were not responsible for advancing the rate, could be held jointly and severally responsible for reparation before they had been heard by the Commission.</p>