Texas v. Eastern Texas R. Co., 258 U.S. 204 (1922)

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Texas v. Eastern Texas Railroad Company

Nos. 298 and 563

Argued November 15, 16, 1921
Decided March 13, 1922
258 U.S. 204

APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

Syllabus

1. Where a statute is susceptible of two constructions, one raising grave and doubtful constitutional questions and the other not, it is the duty of the court to adopt the latter. P. 217.

2. Paragraphs 120 of § 1 of the Act to Regulate Commerce, added by § 402 of the Transportation Act of 1920, which regulate the construction and acquisition of new lines of railroad and the extension and abandonment of old lines, are not to be construed as clothing the Interstate Commerce Commission with authority over the discontinuance of the purely intrastate business of a railroad whose situation and ownership are such that interstate and foreign commerce will not be affected by that business. P. 218.

Reversed.

The first of these cases is an appeal from a decree of the District Court for the Western District of Texas dismissing a suit removed from a court of that state in which the Texas sought to enjoin the above-named railroad company and some of its officers from ceasing to operate its road in intrastate commerce. The other is an appeal from a decree of the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas dismissing the bill in a suit brought by the state and its Attorney General, in that court, against the United States, the members of the Interstate Commerce Commission, the United States Attorney General, and the above-named and two other railroad companies to annul an order and certificate of the Interstate Commerce Commission purporting to permit the abandonment of the same railroad line upon certain conditions.