Atlantic Coast Line Railroad v. Riverside Mills

Citations

• 219 U.S. 186
• 31 S. Ct. 164
• 55 L. Ed. 167
• 1911 U.S. LEXIS 1630

Syllabus

<p>A provision in a bill of lading issued by the initial carrier, that it should not be liable for loss or damage not -occurring on its portion of the route, is not a contract of exemption from its own liability as a carrier, but a provision of non-assumption of the liabilities of others and at common law relieves it of such liabilities.</p> <p>The general rule adopted by this court is that, in the absence of legislation, a carrier, unless there be a special contract, is only bound to carry over its own line and then deliver to a connecting carrier; it may, however, contract to carry beyond its line, and if it does so its common-law carrier liability extends over the entire route.</p> <p>It was not only the legal elements of the situation, but also the fact that the business prosperity of the country largely depends on through rates and routes of transportation, that induced Congress to enact such regulations in regard to the duties and liabilities of interstate carriers as would relieve shippers whose goods were damaged from the burden of proving where the loss occurred.</p> <p>There is no absolute freedom of contract. The Government may deny liberty of contract by regulating'or forbidding every contract reasonably calculated to injuriously affect public interests.</p> <p>The United States is a Government of limited and delegated powers but in respect to the powers delegated, including that to regulate commerce between .the States, the power is absolute except as limited by other provisions of the Constitution.</p> <p>Congress has power to prohibit a carrier engaged in interstate commerce from limiting by contract its liability beyond its own line, and the Carmack amendment of January 29, 1906, c. 3691,34 Stat. 584, 595, to § 20 of the Interstate Commerce Act, making such carriers liable for loss or- damage to merchandise received for interstate transportation beyond their own lines, notwithstanding any contract of exemption in the bill of lading, is a valid exerci