New York Ex Rel. Pennsylvania R. Co. v. Knight
192 U.S. 21
SCOTUS
1904
Check Treatment
Mr. Justice Brewer,

after making the foregoing statement, delivered the opinion of the court. ■

The contention of the company is that this cab service- is merely an extension and therefore a part of its interstate transportation; that it is not carrying on a cab business generally in the city óf New York, but is merely furnishing the service to thоse who seek to take over its lines some interstate transportation, .thus commencing the transportation from their houses instead of from the "ferry landing, or like service to those who have already received such interstate transportation, thus completing the transportation to their placеs of destination; that the character of the business remains unchanged, although individuals may avail themselves of this sondee who do not intend or have not reсeived any interstate transportation, for they who ‍​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌‍thus use the service do so wrongfully and against the wish of the company. In other words, the company, to promote its general business, seeks only to complete the continuous transportation of interstate passengers to or from their residences оr hotels in New York city instead of commencing and ending such transportation at the ferry landing at Twenty-third street; the character of the service depеnds not on the action of the passenger, but on the purpose of the company in providing it, and the omission to include -the charge for the cab service in the -charges for other transportation arises from the practical difficulty of making such inclusion, and does not alter the fact that such cаb service is a part of the interstate transportation.

*26 To .hold the even balance between the Nation and the States in the exercise of thеir respective powers and rights, always difficult, is becoming more so through the growing complexity of social life, and business conditions. Into many relations and trаnsactions there enter elements of a national as well as those of a state character, and to determine in a given case which elеments dominate and assign the relation or transaction to the control of the Nation or of the State, is often most perplexing. And this case fully illustrates thе perplexities.

It is true that a passenger over the Pennsylvania Railroad to the city of New York does not in one sense fully complete his journey whеn he reaches the ferry landing on the New York side, but only when he is delivered at his temporary or permanent stopping place in the city. Looking ‍​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌‍at it frоm this standpoint the company’s cab service is simply one element in a continuous interstate transportation, and as such would be excluded from state and be subject to national control. The State may not tax for the privilege of doing an interstate commerce business. Atlantic & Pacific Telegraph Company v. Philadelphia, 190 U. S. 160. On the other hand, the cab sеrvice is exclusively rendered within the limits of the city. It is contracted and paid for independently of any contract or payment for strictly interstate transрortation. . The party receiving it Owes no legal duty of crossing the state line.

Undoubtedly, a single act of carriage or transportation wholly within a State may be part of a continuous interstate carriage or transportation. Goods shipped from Albany to Philadelphia may be carried by the New York Cеntral Railroad only within the limits of New York, and yet that service is an interstate carriage By reason thereof the Nation regulates ‍​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌‍that carriage, including the part performed by the New York company. But it does not follow therefrom that the New Y ork company is wholly relieved from state regulation and statе taxation, for a part of its work is carriage and transportation begun and ended within the State. So the Pennsylvania company, which is engaged largely in interstate *27 transportation, is amenable to state regulation and state taxation as to any of its service, which is wholly performed within the State and not аs a part of interstate transportation.- Wherever a separation in fact exists between transportation service wholly within the State and that between the States a like separation may be recognized between the control of the State and that of the Nation. Osborne v. Florida, 164 U. S. 650 ; Pullman Co. v. Adams, 189 U. S. 420.

As we have seen, the сab service is rendered wholly within the State and has no contractual or necessary relation to interstate transportation. It is either preliminary or' subsequent thereto. It is independently contracted for, and not necessarily connected therewith. But when ‍​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌‍service is wholly within a State, it is presumably subject to state control. The burden is on him who asserts that, though actually within, it is legally outside the State; and unless the interstate character is established, locality determines the question of jurisdiction. Coe v. Errol, 116 U. S. 517, though not in all respects similar, is very closely in point. In that case spruce logs had been drawn down from Wentworth’s Location in New Hampshire, and placed in Clear Stream, .also in New Hampshire, to be from thence floated down the Androscoggin River to the State of Maine, there to be manufactured and sold. After they had thus been drawn down and placed in Clear Stream, a tax was imposed upon them by the State of New Hampshire. The validity of that tax was challenged on the ground that the logs were in process of transportation from Wentworth’s Location in New Hampshire to the Statе of Maine. It was sustained by the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, and also by this court. In the course of the opinion Mr. Justice Bradley made these pertinent оbservations (p. 528):

“It is true, it was said in the case of The Daniel Ball, 10 Wall. 557, 565: 'Whenever a commodity has begun to move as an article of trade from one State to another, commerce in that ‍​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌‍commоdity between the States has commenced.’ But this movement does not begin until the articles have been *28 shipped or started for transportation from the.оne State to the other. The carrying of them in carts or other vehicles, or even floating them, to the depot where the journey is to commence is no part of that journey. That is all preliminary work, performed for the purpose of putting the property in a state of preparation and readiness for transportation. Until actually launched on its way to another State, or committed to a common carrier for transportation to suсh State, its destination is not fixed and certain. It may be sold or otherwise disposed of within the State, and never put in course of transportation out of the Stаte. Carrying it from the farm, or the forest, to the depot, is only an interior movement of the property, entirely within the State, for the purpose, it is true, but only for thе purpose, of putting it into a course of exportation; it is ho part of the exportation itself. Until shipped or started on its final journey out of the Stаte its exportation is a matter altogether in fieri, and not at all a fixed and certain thing.” Diamond Match Company v. Ontonagon, 188 U. S. 82; Detroit &c. Railway Company v. Interstate Commerce Commission, 21 C. C. A. 103; 43 U. S. App. 308; Interstate Commerce Commission v. Detroit &c. Railway Company, 167 U. S. 633.

As shown in the opinion from which we have just quoted, many things have more or less close relation to interstate commerce, which are not properly to be regarded as a part of it. If the cab which carries the passengers from the hotel to the ferry landing is engaged in interstate transportation, why is not the porter who carries the traveler’s trunk from his room to the carriage also so engaged ? If the сab service is interstate transportation, are the drivers of the cabs and the dealers who supply hay and grain for the horses also engaged in interstаte commerce? And where will the limit be placed?

We are of opinion that the cab service is an independent local service, preliminary or subsequent to any interstate transportation, and .therefore the judgment of the Supreme Court of the State of New York was correct, and it is

Affirmed.