63 Fla. 274 | Fla. | 1912
— Respondents, by leave of court, filed the following amendment to the return as set out in the statement to the former opinion herein:
“The respondents, by leave of the Court first had and obtained, amend their return heretofore filed as follows:
Amend paragraph 8 so that it shall read as follows:
‘8. That the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company has operated and managed its roads lying in the State of Florida, including the line between Pensacola and River Junction, with the utmost economy, consistent with the safety and despatch of its passengers, and with the safe and prompt handling of its freights; that it has purchased supplies and equipments of the class and character required, as cheaply as it could get them; that its employes are paid as low wages as they would be employed at, taking into consideration their efficiency and ability to handle the trains of the said Louisville
And the said respondent says that the putting into effect of the said Order 346, producing the said result would be a deprivation by the State of Florida of the respondent of its property, without due process of law, and in violation of the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, and would deny to the said respondent the equal protection of the--LaAv, and thereby violate the proAdsions of the said Constitutional amendment.’
Amend paragraph 10 so that it shall read as follows:
‘10. That the Seaboard Air Line Railway has operated and managed its roads lying in the State of Florida, including the line between Jacksonville and Pensacola, with the utmost economy, consistent with the safety and despatch of its passengers, and with the safe and prompt handling of its freight; that it has purchased supplies and equipment of the class and character required, as cheaply as it could get them; that the employes are paid as low wages as they would be employed at, taking into consideration their efficiency and ability to handle the trains of the said Railway with despatch and safety; that all expenditures made in connection with and upon the said lines of railroad have been made as cheaply as possible; yet, that by and from the operation of the said road, conducted in the best manner known to this respondent, and, as it believes, in the most economical manner possible, the said respondent has not been able, by the operation of' its said lines in Florida, to receive from its business on said roads, and thereby
And this respondent says that the putting into effect of the said Order No. 346, producing the said result, would be a deprivation by the' State of Florida, of the said respondent of its property, without due process of law, and in violation of the provisions of the Fourteenth amendment of the Constitution of the United States, and would deny to the said respondent the equal protection of the law, and thereby violate the provisions of the said Constitutional amendment.’
Amend Paragraph 13, so that it shall read as follows :
‘13. That the number of passengers shown in paragraph 7, to have traveled on the line of said Louisville
That the inconvenience to the way passengers on the lines of the respondents, and the injury to them and to the communities, and to .respondents, as hereinbefore set forth, will result from the change of schedule proposed by Order No. 346, unless respondents put into operation local trains on the said lines, with schedules the same, or substantially the same as those now in force as to trains one and four on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company’s line, and 78 and 79 on the' Seaboard Air Line Railway’s line; that the addition of said local trains would not add to the number of passengers traveling on said lines, but would transfer to said additional trains by far the largest part of the passenger travel now using trains 1 and 4 and 78 and 79. That the addition of said
The averments of the amended return do not constitute a defense to the present writ under the principles announced in the former opinion herein. See State ex rel. v. Louisville & Nashville Ry. Co., 62 Fla. 315, 56 South. Rep. —. There is no statement that the enforcement of the order requiring the respondents to discontinue the hauling of freight cars on two designated regular trains that carry passengers, will result in a denial to the respondents of a reasonable compensation for the entire intrastate service rendered severally by the respondents, and will thereby amount to an unlawful taking of respondents property, even if that would be a defense to the writ requiring the performance of this particular public duty. Nor is it averred that the regulation will deny to the respondents a reasonable return for the real value of the property, management and labor actually and properly used by them in their intrastate business taken as a whole.
With slightly varying terms, it is severally averred that “the respondent has not been able, by the operation of its lines in Florida, to receive from its business on said roads, and thereby to realize, a sum sufficient to pay its operating expenses, and any interest, or any fair and reasonable return, upon the actual value of the property-devoted to and used in the public service, as a common carrier in Florida of interstate and intrastate passengers and freight, or even upon the actual
Although it is stated in general terms, without specific facts to support the averment, that the effect of the. order will be to deprive the respondents of a fair return for the actual value of the proportion of the property used in the intra-state service, it is not stated that this will result if the operating expenses are also properly apportioned. Besides this, it is not stated' what is' included in “operating expenses,” and they may include the value of the use of property that is used but not consumed in rendering the service, as well as the value of labor and management used, and of property used and consumed, in rendering the service. Some property such as fuel,
The averment that the observance of the schedule ordered by the railroad commissioners and the elimination of freight cars from the two trains will produce the result stated, is clearly insufficient as a defense, since this court in the former opinion herein expressly declined to enforce the schedule as made in the order of the railroad commissioners.
It is contended by the respondents that the real purpose of the writ is to obtain a more rapid schedule for the two trains for the convenience of passengers only, and that the discontinuance of freight cars as a part of the trains is a mere incident or means to attain the main object in view, viz: a more rapid schedule for passengers. This contention is not borne out by the pleadings. The first and apparently the main command of the writ is that the respondents discontinue the hauling of freight cars on the two designated trains, the command “and to shorten the schedule time of the operation' of the said, trains, being distinct and severable and not necessarily connected with the main command though it may be merely an incident thereto, the details of which schedule have been overruled by this court in its former opinion
It is also contended that “the return shows that comparatively few inter-state passengers are carried on these trains, while a large amount of fast freight and packages are carried, which by force of the order will cease to be transported” and that to discontinue the instrumentalities for carrying inter-state freight on the particular trains, with no provision for carrying it otherwise, is not a reasonable regulation of inter-state commerce or a regulation in aid of inter-state commerce,” and that consequently the enforcement of. the order will be “an unreasonable and illegal assertion of State power over interstate commerce.”
This reasoning is plausible, but not conclusive. The apparent design of the order is the safety and comfort of passengers most of whom are shown by the return to be carried between points in this State. The safety and comfort of passengers whether intra-state or inter-state, or both, may be provided for by State authority when not in conflict with lawful regulations óf Congress, and the safety and comfort of passengers may not be subordinated to freight traffic. There is apparently no order of the relators directly interfering with inter-state freight, and the incidental effect imposed by requiring the freight cars to be separated from the particular trains that carry passengers, does not necessarily impose an unlawful burden upon inter-state commerce. So far as the pleadings show the order is for the safety and comfort of interstate passengers as well as local passengers, and the incidental effect of the order upon inter-state freight is apparently not unreasonable or arbitrary; and the order apparently does not conflict with regulations authorized by Congress. The duty of the respondents to transport
The pleadings do not show that the trains affected "By the order are “operated principally for inter-state commerce, and incidentally for passengers,” as suggested by the respondents. And even if such were the case the regulation here is for the safety and comfort of both inter-state and intra-state passengers in this State, is not arbitrary or unreasonable, and does not conflict with regulations authorized by Congress. The averments of the amended return that the respondents now operáte between the designated points two fast trains, one each way, daily “which afford adequate facilities for fast travel for passengers” and that the order here sought to be enforced will cause inconvenience to way passengers and communities and to respondents, unless respondents put in operation local trains which would have to be done at a loss to respondents relate more to the schedule now out of the case and are not a defense to the requirement that the two trains carrying passengers shall not carry freight cars And besides this, such averments are, as to the adequacy of the present service and the future effect of the order, mere conclusions, that are not admitted by the demurrer in the absenpe of averments of specific facts to sustain the conclusions, or are mere opinions-that may or may not be sustained by experiments or experience. See Pensacola & A. R. Co. v. State, 25 Fla. 310, 5 South. Rep. 833, 3 L. R. A. 661; Wilcox. v. Consolidated Gas Co., 212 U. S. 19, 53 Sup. Ct. Rep. (Law Ed.) 382. The statute makes the order of the railroad commissioners prima facie reasonable and just; and as the commissioners are State Officers charged specially with the governmental function of making just and reasonable regulations for the trans
The only real question here is whether the duty required by this writ as it now stands, imposes such an unreasonable and arbitrary burden upon the respondents as to unlawfully deprive them of property rights without due process of law.
The burdens of lawful governmental regulations are assumed by common carriers in undertaking to render the public service, and such burdens are not invasions of property rights.
The respondents are permitted by the State to use franchises in rendering the public service voluntarily undertaken by them. These privileges carry with them the absolute, primary, imperative duty to render an adequate service reasonably suitable to the needs of the public to be served, as well as the obligation and duty to observe all
A reasonable compensation for service rendered is a property right of the respondents; but this does not necessarily insure a full return for values used in the service. Whether such reasonable compensation produces a return for property, management and labor used in rendering the service depends upon circumstances, and the risks and burdens of the contingency are assumed by the carriers in voluntarily undertaking the public service. The prime duty to render a safe and reasonably adequate service is required by the law to be effectually performed whether such performance is profitable or not. Where the public duty of a common carrier of passengers and freight is assumed, by a railroad company using public franchises, the State has ample authority under its reserved police powers to require the carrier to transport passengers in trains separate from freight trains. This authority is essential to the safety and well-being of passengers; and it is the duty of the State to so supervise and regulate the service rendered by the carrier as to secure the safety and comfort of passengers. That it is more safe and comfortable for passengers to be transported on trains without freight cars attached thereto is obvious. Such separate trains may be required by the State in the exercise of reasonable supervision of the service, where it is necessary for the safety of passengers, without reference to the fact that the service may not be profitable, where the particular requirement is not of itself so unreasonable as to be an arbitrary burden put upon the carrier. The order of the railroad commissioners now
If a regulation requiring the running of separate pas
The amended return in the form or in the substance of its averments is, in view of the nature of the duty commanded to be performed by the respondents, not sufficient as a defense to the portion of the writ that has been sustained by the court. It is, therefore, ordered that the demurrer to the amended return is sustained. A peremptory writ will issue commanding the respondents jointly and severally to discontinue the hauling of freight cars on the train leaving Jacksonville at 5 P. M. and arriving at Pensacola at 11:15 A. M. and known on the Seaboard Air Line Railway as train No. 79 and on the Louisville and Nashville Railway 5s train No. 4; and to discontinue the hauling of freight cars on the train leaving Pensacola at 5 P. M. and arriving at Jacksonville at 10:50 A. M. and known on the Louisville and Nashville Railway as train No. 1 and on the Seaboard Air Line Railway as train No. 78.