William Danzer & Co., Inc. v. Gulf & Ship Island R. Co., 268 U.S. 633 (1925)

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William Danzer & Co., Inc. v.

Gulf & Ship Island Railroad Company
No. 346

Argued April 28, 1925
Decided June 8, 1925
268 U.S. 633

ERROR TO THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI

Syllabus

1. The right of a shipper to an award by the Interstate Commerce Commission of the damages resulting from misrouting of his goods by a carrier is both created and limited by the Interstate Commerce Act. P. 635.

2. The limitation of the Act, (§ 16(3)) that such complaints shall be filed within two years from the time the cause of action accrues, and not after, enters into the cause of action, so that lapse of that time not only bars the remedy afforded, but destroys the liability of the defendant to the plaintiff. P. 636.

3. Section 206(f) of the Transportation Act, 1920, providing:

The period of Federal control shall not be computed as a part of the periods of limitation in actions against carriers or in claims for reparation to the Commission for causes of action arising prior to Federal control,

is not to be construed retroactively to recreate a liability destroyed by lapse of the two-year period, supra, before the Transportation Act was passed; this would deprive the carrier of property without due process in violation of the Fifth Amendment. P. 637.

Affirmed.

Error to a judgment of the district court sustaining a demurrer and dismissing the complaint in an action against a carrier to recover damages awarded by the Interstate Commerce Commission.