Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co. v. Chapman

Citations

• 133 Ill. 96
• 8 L.R.A. 508
• 24 N.E. 417
• 1890 Ill. LEXIS 1098

Syllabus

<p>1. Carriers — limiting liability by contract — the statute construed. The act of March 27, 1874, relating to common carriers, and section 33 of chapter 114, on the same subject, do not prohibit common carriers from limiting their common law liability by contract with the owner of property delivered for transportation. They only prohibit the limitation of the carrier’s liability by a stipulation or clause expressed in the receipt given for the property.</p> <p>2. A railway carrier in many respects may, by express contract, limit its strict common law liability. It may, by special contract, limit its liability to such damage or loss as may occur on its own line of carriage, and against loss by fire without its fault; and its liability may thus be limited as an insurer, and against other loss not attributable to its negligence or that of its servants; and it may require the value of goods offered for transportation to be fixed by the shipper, to protect itself against fraud in case of loss.</p> <p>3. But in this State a common carrier can not, even by express contract, exempt itself from liability resulting from gross negligence or willful misconduct committed by itself, or its servants or employes; nor can it limit its liability in amount, as against damages resulting from such negligence.</p> <p>4. Nor does the law authorize common carriers to fix, arbitrarily, the value of goods delivered to them for transportation, and thereby limit their liability in case of a loss. If the value is agreed on, and the contract of shipment is based on such value, the amount thus fixed would ordinarily determine the liability of the carrier. But if untruthfully given in respect to property that the carrier had less opportunity to inspect or know the value of than the shipper, it would not estop the carrier from showing the value was less than that fixed.</p> <p>5. A railway company, on the delivery of a number of horses to it for transportation, gave to the owner’s agent a contrac