Arkansas Natural Gas Co. v. Arkansas Railroad Commission

Citations

• 261 U.S. 379
• 43 S. Ct. 387
• 67 L. Ed. 705
• 1923 U.S. LEXIS 2569

Syllabus

<p>1. The power of a State to abrogate private contracts touching the rates of public utilities exists only as an incident to' the regulation of such utilities and their rates in the public interest. P. 382.</p> <p>2. A statute will be construed if possible to uphold it as constitutional. P. 383. r</p> <p>3. A statute of Arkansas, transferring to the Railroad Commissipn jurisdiction formerly possessed by the Corporation Commission, including pending cases, but denying power ta\\modify or impair existing contracts for supplying natural gas, éonstrued as not singling out a particular gas company whose • claim, that divisional rates fixed by contract between .it and distributers were inadequate, was pending before the latter Commission. Id: ,</p> <p>4. An exception in a statute will not be taken as intended !and operating to work an arbitrary discrimination against a particular party, when it may be construed as a general qne and nothing appears to prove either that there are not other' cases within its purview or that it is based on arbitrary classification. P. 384.</p>