Missouri, Kansas & Texas Ry. Co. v. McCann, 174 U.S. 580 (1899)

Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company v. McCann

No. 11

Argued October 11, 1898
Decided May 22, 1899
174 U.S. 580

ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT

OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI

Syllabus

Section 944 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri of 1889, provided that,

Whenever any property is received by a common carrier to be transferred from one place to another within or without this state, or when a railroad or other transportation company issues receipts or bills of lading in this state, the common carrier, railroad or transportation company issuing such bill of lading shall be liable for any loss, damage or injury to such property caused by its negligence or the negligence of any other common carrier, railroad, or transportation company to which such property may be delivered, or over whose line such property may pass, and the common carrier, railroad, or transportation company issuing any such receipt or bill of lading shall be entitled to recover, in a proper action, the amount of any loss, damage or injury it may be required to pay to the owner of such property from the common carrier, railroad, or transportation company, through whose negligence the loss, damage or injury may be sustained.

In commenting on this statute, the Supreme Court of Missouri said:

The provision of the statute is that "wherever property is received by a common carrier to be transferred from one place to another." This language does not restrict, but rather recognizes, the right of the carrier to limit its contract of carriage to the end of its own route, and there deliver the property to the connecting carrier. There can be no doubt, then, that under the statute, as well as under the English law, the carrier can, by contract, limit its duty and obligation to carriage over its own route.

Held that the statute, as thus interpreted, could not be held to be repugnant to the Constitution of the United States.

The statement of the case will be found in the opinion of the Court.