119 Ark. 239 | Ark. | 1915
In Atlantic Coast Line v. North Carolina Corporation Commission, 206 U. S. 1, the court said:
“The elementary proposition that railroads from tbe public nature of tbe business by them carried on and tbe interest which tbe public have in tbeir operation are subject, as to tbeir State business, to (State regulation, which may be exerted either directly by tbe legislative authority or by administrative bodies endowed with power to that end, is not ¡and ¡could not be successfully questioned in view of the long line of authorities sustaining that doctrine. ’ ’
Amendment No. 4 to our 'Constitution conferred upon the Legislature the right to create a railroad commission, and pursuant to that authority ¡an act was passed creating such a commission and ■ defining the duties thereof.
Section 6704 of Kirby’s Digest provides that it shall be the duty of every company operating a railroad in the State which runs passenger trains to fun at least one of its passenger trains each way daily.
The fact, as above indicated, that the order made by the Railroad 'Commission was likely to cause pecuniary loss to the railroad company was not of itself sufficient to make the order arbitrary and unreasonable; but this fact was a circumstance to be considered in determining whether or not the order was arbitrary and unreasonable.
The railroad company operated its trains from August, 1913, to some time in November of that year at this loss. This was at a season of the year when traffic over railroads in this State is usually heaviest. So, under the peculiar facts of this case, the track of the railroad is so short, and the business done by it so small that it would be unreasonable to require it to operate a train for freight and passengers. If the business done over the whole line of the road shows that to compel the operation of trains would be to entail a serious and continued loss,, it would be unreasonable to prescribe and demand it, and it would not be required.
The record shows that the railroad company has no means whatever with which to operate its line of road and is unable to procure any for that purpose. It can not even sell its road for the cost of its rails and rolling stock. The record does not show that this lack of means resulted from any mismanagement of the railroad.
From the views we have expressed it follows that the decree will be .affirmed.