Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co. v. Tompkins

Citations

• 176 U.S. 167
• 20 S. Ct. 336
• 44 L. Ed. 417
• 1900 U.S. LEXIS 1729

Syllabus

<p>The State of South Dakota having passed an act providing for the appointment of a board of railroad commissioners, and authorizing that board to make a schedule of reasonable maximum fares and charges for the transportation of passengers, freight and cars on the railroads within the State, provided that the maximum charge for the carriage of passengers on roads bf the standard gauge should not be greater than three cents per mile ; and that board having acted in accordance with-the statute, and having published its schedule of maximum charges, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company filed the bill in this case in the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of South Dakota, seeking to restrain the enforcement of the schedule. The railroad commissioners answered fully, and testimony was taken before an examiner upon the issues made by the pleadings. This testimony was reported without findings of fact or conclusion of law. The case went to hearing. The Judge, without the aid of a master, examined the pleadings and the.mass of proof. He made findings of fact and conclusions •of la.w; delivered an opinion 5 and rendéred a decree dismissing the bill. This court is of opinion:</p> <p>(1) That neither the findings made by the court, nor such facts as are stated in its opinion, are sufficient to warrant a conclusion upon the question whether the rates prescribed by the defendants were unreasonable or not, and that the process by which the court came to its conclusion is not one which can be relied upon;</p> <p>(2) That there was error in the failure to find the cost of doing the local business, and that only by a comparison between the gross receipts and the cost of doing the business, ascertaining thus the net earnings, can the true effect of the reduction of rates be determined;</p> <p>(3) That the better practice would be to refer the testimony, when ■ taken, to the most competent and reliable master, general or special, that can be found, to m