State ex rel. Caster v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.

Citations

• 102 Kan. 318
• 170 P. 26
• 1918 Kan. LEXIS 38

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Utilities Commission, — Order May be Enforced by Mandamus. This'court hás jurisdiction to enforce by mandamus an order of the utilities commission, notwithstanding the pendency in the district court of an action to enjoin its enforcement.</p> <p>2. Same — Telephone Service Discontinued — ■Restoration Ordered — Order Not Enforced by Mandamus. In mandamus to require a public utility to reestablish a service or practice which it has discontinued without the consent of the utilities commission, no inquiry will ordinarily be made into the question' whether such service or practice is one which the utility should bei or,could be compelled to maintain permanently, that being a question to be passed upon in the first instance by the commission; but where the utility has already, in a proceeding before the commission to which it was made a party, shown to that tribunal the existence of facts that would have compelled the granting of such consent if it had been asked, obedience to an order of the commission directing the restoration of. the service will not be compelled by mandamus, merely because of the failure of the utility to procure such consent in advance.</p> <p>S. Telephone Company — Gratuitous Service — Discriminating Practice. The gratuitous allowance by one telephone company of the use by another company of a line owned by it, constitutes a discriminating practice forbidden by the statute, and therefore is not one which the utilities commission can require to be continued.</p> <p>4. Same — Dismantling Telephone Line — Another' Efficient Line Established. The dismantling of a direct telephone line between two places does not constitute an objectionable change in a practice pertaining to service, where the company owning it has established another line, although not a direct one, between such places, by means of which all business between them is efficiently handled, without detriment to the public or to individuals.</p>