97 So. 859 | La. | 1923
Lead Opinion
On December 8, 1922, the Public Service Commission of Louisiana issued an order or citation “to the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana and other common carrier pipe lines in the state of Louisiana” to show cause, at such time and place as might be thereafter fixed:
(2) Why it and all other common carriers of oil within the state of Louisiana “should not be prohibited from owning or operating, directly or indirectly, any oil well, oil leases or oil holdings in the company engaged in the transportation of oil, and why they should not be compelled to divest .themselves of the legal and equitable ownership of any such interest or properties”;
(3) Why they should not be prohibited from any unjust discrimination in favor of the carriage, transportation, storage, or delivery of crude oil, in their possession or control, or in which they may be interested directly or indirectly; and
(4) Why rates and charges for the carriage, transportation, storage, and delivery of crude oil in the state of Louisiana should not be prescribed.
On January 22, 1923, the Commission gave notice that on February 7, 1923, at 10 o’clock a. m., in the council chamber at the city hall in the city of New Orleans, it would proceed to consider the case of “Louisiana Public Service Commission v. Standard Oil Company of Louisiana et al., No. 197” (which was also the number borne by the order or citation just above referred to), and would hear the matters and things embraced within the order first mentioned.
On February 7, /1923, the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana appeared and excepted to the jurisdiction of the Commission, upon the grounds:
(1) That its jurisdiction was limited to common carrier pipe lines, of which exceptor was not one;
(2) That defendant was a private enterprise and not so engaged; and,
(.3) That it had never so held itself out to the public.
On the same day, it filed with the Commission .a petition, in which it set out that on January 13, 1923, it had sold its pipe line property to the Standard Pipe Line Company, Incorporated, and that it was therefore no longer owner thereof; and, in view of the fact that it had at no time engaged in the common carrier pipe line business, asked to be discharged from the proceeding.
On the 14th of April, 1923, the Commission filed a 10 page declaration or finding of fact, which bore the same style (No. 197) as the foregoing proceeding, and in which a purported history of the doings and operations of the Standard Oil ‘Company of Louisiana was set forth. In response thereto, on a date not shown by the record, the Standard Oil Company filed an exception to the said finding of fact or declaration, in which it complained that it had not been given an opportunity to be heard as to the matters therein found and announced, and concluding with the reservation of its right to appeal from any orders or decrees which the Commission might render against it.
On April 25, 1923, the Commission issued another order to the said company, bearing the same style and number, commanding it to show cause at the city of New Orleans, on February 4, 1923, why it should not be declared a public utility and regulated accordingly. At the same time, an order was addressed to said company, A. Iv. Gordon, secretary, and D. R. Weller, president, to appear in New Orleans on May 4th, and produce for the Commission the following:
“(1) Information and data, either oral or in writing or both, showing the number of barrels of oil transported for the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana by the Standard Pipe Line Company, Incorporated, during the month of March, 1923, showing the number of barrels transported from each station to the point of destination; and (2) The number of barrels of oil shipped by the Standard Oil Company from points outside of Louisiana to points of destination in the state for the month of*563 March, 1923, thus separating the intrastate shipments from the interstate( shipments.”
And it was further ordered to show cause why it should not be held in contempt if it failed to furnish the data and information therein requested; and further, if it should not allow an inspection of its books and records as per order of the Oommission by Mark Wolff, his associates and other- agents or employés of the Commission, then that it should also show cause why it should not be adjudged in contempt for such failure.
On April 28th, another order (in No. 197) was issued to the Standard Oil Company to “produce its books and (papers which deal with the operation of the refinery at Baton Rouge, so far as the same may show the persons and parties for whom oils have been refined by the said refinery, the amount of oils refined and the charges therefor.”
On the same date a further order was issued in which the Commission declared that, finding it necessary to have an inspection of the books and records of the Standard Pipe Line Company, Incorporated, and the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana, and the same being necessary to assist the Commission in prescribing proper rules, regulations and charges, it directed:
“That the Standard Pipe Line Company, Incorporated, and the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana do produce for and allow an inspection of the books and papers of the respective concerns, which have to do, in so far as concerns the Standard Pipe Line, Incorporated, with the value of its property, and amount of oil transported by it, its earnings and expenses, and so far as affects the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana, the books and papers which now show the cost and value of the pipe line system transferred by it to the Standard Pipe Line Company, Incorporated, the amount of oil which it transports through said line, the charges and expenses of the said transporting of the same, so far as may be determined from their records.
“It is ordered that the production of said books and records-herein enumerated be made by the said concerns depositing same in the office of the Commission in Baton Rouge within five days from this date, or by- producing them at a convenient- place satisfactory to Mark Wolff, or to any associate which he designates, said parties being employed by this Commission to make the inspection aforesaid.”
On April 30th, the Commission ordered D. R. Weller, president, to appear at the council chamber of the city hall in the city of New Orleans on May 4, 1923, and “to produce all of the books, records and papers and accounts of any and every nature whatsoever relating to and bearing upon this case, which may be in your custody, possession and control.”
On May 1, 1923, this suit for injunction was filed, and in it the plaintiff alleged that it was a strictly private enterprise, in no way under the control of the said Commission; that the Commission was without jurisdiction or -authority over it; and attached copies of the proceedings, orders, and documents above referred to to its petition. Thereupon, the court below issued a writ of injunction restraining the Commission, as follows:
“Pursuant to an order of the honorable court aforesaid, you, and each of you, are hereby enjoined and restrained from taking any action whatever to declare or declaring the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana a public service corporation; from issuing any orders in regard thereto; from exercising or attempting to exercise any jurisdiction over the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana, its officers, agents or employés; from interfering or attempting in any way to interfere with the property of the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana; from issuing or attempting to issue any orders, citations, subpoenas, citations, rules, or other decrees to the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana, its officers, agents, or employés, in proceeding entitled Louisiana Public Service Commission v. Standard Oil Company of Louisiana et al., No. 197 of the docket of said Commission; from exercising or attempting to exercise any control over the books, papers or documents of the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana; from interfering or attempting to interfere with any of the officers, agents, or employés of the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana; from securing or attempting in said proceedings to secure from its officers, agents, or*565 employés, any facts, knowledge, or information regarding the business or affairs of vohatsoever nature of the Standard, Oil Company of Lotdsiana; and from punishing or attempting to punish any of its officers, agents, or employés for refusing such information, or for disobeying any of the orders, subpoenas, or citations issued in said proceeding, or attempting to exercise any control or jurisdiction over said officers, agents, or employés in said proceeding; and from proceeding any further in said hearing, and i;aking or attempting to take any action whatsoever in said proceeding regarding the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana, its officers, agents, and other employés; and you are so enjoined, prohibited, and restrained until the further orders of this honorable court.”
We have italicised those portions of the writ which we shall hereafter consider.
Article 6, sections 3 to 9, inclusive, of the Constitution of Louisiana of 1921, creates and defines the powers of the Louisiana Public Service Commission. Section 4 provides:
“The Commission shall have and exercise all necessary power and authority to supervise, govern, regulate, and control all * * * common carrier pipe lines, * * * and other public utilities in the state of Louisiana, and to fix reasonable and just single and joint line rates, fares, tolls, or charges for the commodities furnished, or services rendered by such common carriers or public utilities, except as herein otherwise provided.
“The power, authority, and duties of the Commission shall affect and include all matters and things connected with, concerning, and growing out of the service to be given or rendered by the common carriers and public utilities hereby, or which may hereafter be made subject to supervision, regulation, and control by the Commission. The right of the Legislature to place other public utilities under the control of and confer other powers upon the Louisiana Public Service Commission respecting common carriers and public utilities is hereby declared to be unlimited by any provision of this Constitution.
“The said Commission shall have power to adopt and enforce such reasonable rules, regulations, and modes of procedure as it may deem proper for the discharge of its duties, and it may summon and compel the attendance of witnesses, swear witnesses, compel the production of books and papers, take testimony under commission, and punish for contempt as fully as is provided by law for the district courts.”
The first paragraph of section 5 declares that orders affecting rates; tolls, etc., shall go into effect at such time as may be fixed by the Commission, and remain in effect until set aside by the Commission, or the final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction ; provided, that if irreparable injury is shown, a temporary. restraining order, to remain in force until a hearing on an application for injunction, may he granted, but that no injunction shall issue until after five days’ notice to the said Commission, enjoining the enforcement of any such rate, toll, charge, etc.
A comparison of the two Constitutions would indicate that the one of 1921 studiously limits a resort to the courts to eases in which the order's and decrees of the Commission are assailed, and by this is meant orders and decrees which command a common carrier or public utility to perform or to desist from performing some act or thing
“That all pipe lines through which crude petroleum is conveyed from one point in the state to another point in the state are * * * common carriers, as hereinafter defined * * * ”
—and places them under the control and subject to the regulation of the Railroad Commission of Louisiana; and by section 3, the Commission would appear to have the power to determine the question of fact as to whether a pipe line is being used in the business of a common carrier of oil, subject to review by the courts, when a decree or order to that effect and directing it to comply with the rules and regulations of the Commission has been made. Therefore, if, as a matter of fact, the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana was engaged in the traffic of a common carrier pipe line, transporting oil for hire, as contemplated by the law, the Commission would have had the right to so find, and to render such orders thereon as it might think proper, and to that end, it has the power to use the processes afforded it by the Constitution and laws of this state.
Since the issuance of the injunction below, the trial judge has been elevated to this court, and the one who was assigned to his place merely sent up the record for our consideration. However, the plaintiff in suit, the party really concerned, has prepared a return to which is attached certain proceedings had after the issuance of the writ before the Commission, affecting the Standard Pipe Line Company, Incorporated, bearing the same number and style, and apparently being a part of the original proceeding against which this suit was instituted; the purpose being to show that the Commission did not consider itself restrained, in so far as the Standard Pipe Line Company, Incorporated, was concerned. However, in that very proceeding (the one had since the issuance of the writ) the chairman of the Commission states that the Commission cannot avail itself of the books and records of the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana, because of
Eor the reasons assigned, the writ of mandamus should be made absolute to the extent of requiring the lower court to dissolve or modify the wx-it. of injunction in this case, so as to permit the Louisiana Public Service Commission to proceed with a determination of any and all questions affecting the operation of a common carrier pipe line by either of the parties to said proceeding No. 197, styled Louisiana Public Service Commission v. Standard Oil Company of Louisiana et al., including the right to compel the production of books, records, papers, and documents, as well as all other relevant evidence bearing upon said issue, all within the limits of the law as hereinbefore pointed out; and it is accordingly ordered and decreed, reserving to the parties the right to further apply to the courts, in event of an abuse by the Commission of its powers.
Rehearing
On Application for Rehearing.
We think our opinion and decree make it sufficiently clear that the Public Service Commission is not to pursue any further inquiry into the affairs of the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana, in so far as affects the refining and sale of oil; but that it may inquire into the cost of construction and operation of its pipe line, and the quantity of oil transported therein, and the revenues derived therefrom, for the pur