73 So. 276 | Miss. | 1916
delivered the opinion of the court.
This was a suit brought by H. IT. Showers, the appel-lee, as plaintiff in the circuit court of Coahoma county, against the Western Union Telegraph Company, appellant, defendant in the court below. This suit was for the negligent delay of about twenty-four hours in the de
“It is apparent that Congress has undertaken to occupy the field of interstate commerce by telegraph and to assume exclusive jurisdiction and authority in the regulation thereof, and has specifically prescribed rules which govern business of this character.”
In the case of Gardner v. Western Union Telegraph Co., 231 Fed. 405, 145 C. C. A. 399 (8 C. C. A.), now found in the advance sheet of the Federal Reporter of June 8, 1916, the court of appeals. says:
“Congress has taken possession of the field of interstate Commerce by telegraph and it results that the power of the state to legislate with reference thereto has been suspended.”
The blank upon which the message under consideration was written contains a stipulation:
“That the company will not hold itself liable for errors or delays in transmission or delivery of unrepeated messages beyond the amount of tolls paid thereon nor in any case beyond the sum of fifty dollars, at which, unless otherwise stated below, this message has been valued by the sender thereof. ’ ’
It is contended by the telegraph company that the clause limiting the liability of the telegraph company to the cost of the telegram or to fifty dollars was a valid and binding stipulation in the contract between the telegraph company and the sender of the message. On the other hand, it is the contention of the appellee in this
It is contended in this suit that the telegraph company • had not complied with the laws of the United States and the rules of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and for that reason the stipulation is void. However, there is nothing in the pleadings or proof to show that such is the case, and it has been held in the recent case of C., N. O. & T. P. R. R. Co. v. Rankin, 241 U. S. 319, 36 Sup. Ct. 555, 60 L. Ed. 1022, that, where there is no evidence to the contrary, the presumption is that an interstate carrier has complied with the federal laws. In that case Mr. Justice McReyNolds said:
“It cannot be assumed, merely because the contrary has not been established by proof, that an interstate carrier is conducting its affairs in violation of law. Such a carrier must comply with strict requirements of the Federal statutes or become subject to heavy penal ties, hnd in respect to transactions in the ordinary course of business it is entitled to the presumption of right conduct. ’ ’
In this case we think it immaterial whether the fifty dollar limit on liability is valid or not, because under our construction of the law nothing can be recovered in
“ Manifestly the shipment was interstate commerce; and, under the settled doctrine established by our former opinions, rights and liabilities in connection therewith depend upon the acts of Congress and bill of lading and the common-law principles accepted and enforced by the Federal courts.”
The Federal rule with reference to the recovery for mental anguish would apply in the case of an interstate message by telegraph, since the telegraph companies have been' made common carriers by the law of the
The Mississippi rule as to punitive damages was in voked in this case by the plaintiff, and the Mississippi rule allows damages against the master for the wanton, willful, or gross negligent conduct of a servant. Under the Federal rule the master is not liable for punitive damages unless he participates in the wanton or malicious act of his servant or agent or subsequently ratifies it. Lake Shore R. R. Co. v. Prentice, 147 U. S. 101, 13 Sup. Ct. 261, 37 L. Ed. 97. Under the law as laid down in the case of Express Co. v. Byers, supra, the Federal rule as to punitive damages applies; as the court held in that case that-the rules in force under the Federal statute are the rules of the common-law “accepted and enforced by the Federal courts.”
The case is therefore reversed and remanded.
Reversed and remanded.