Wood v. Vandalia R. Co., 231 U.S. 1 (1913)

Wood v. Vandalia Railroad Company

No. 11

Argued December 17, 1912
Decided October 20, 1913
231 U.S. 1

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

FOR THE DISTRICT OF INDIANA

Syllabus

An order of a state railroad Commission prescribing maximum freight rates on specified intrastate traffic will not be declared unconstitutional as confiscatory and depriving a railroad company of its property without due process of law where there is no proof of the value of the company’s property within the state or of its receipts from its entire intrastate traffic, or of the value of that portion of the property affected by the order.

It does not necessarily follow from the mere fact that the total operating expenses of a railroad or of a division thereof bear a given relation to the entire receipts of that road or division, that the same ratio of expenses to receipts are maintained in regard to each particular class of traffic, and this Court will not declare an order of a state railroad Commission unconstitutional as confiscatory without proof as to the actual facts in regard to the particular rates complained of.

The facts, which involve the constitutionality under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of an order of the Railroad Commission of Indiana prescribing maximum railroad freight rates for certain intrastate traffic, are stated in the opinion.