Alexander v. Cosden Pipe Line Co., 290 U.S. 484 (1934)
Alexander v. Cosden Pipe Line Co.
No. 54
Argued November 10, 13, 1933
Decided January 8, 1934
290 U.S. 484
CERTIORARI TO THE CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT
Syllabus
1. When a judgment involving several distinct money claims of the plaintiff allows some but rejects or reduces others, and the defendant alone seeks review, the plaintiff will not be heard against the parts that are adverse to him, and the defendant will not be heard against the parts in his favor. P. 487.
2. In determining a case on certiorari, the Court need not consider an error set up in the petition for the writ which was expressly abandoned on the oral argument by counsel for the sole petitioner. P. 488.
3. A bill of exceptions examined and found to contain all of the evidence, notwithstanding a concluding stipulation of counsel and certificate of the judge declaring that it contained all of the evidence "material to the defendant’s assignment of errors." P. 488.
4. A statement in a stipulation and certificate that a bill of exceptions contains all of the evidence material to the assignment of errors implies that it contains all of the evidence where one of the errors assigned is that the evidence was insufficient to support the judgment. P. 489.
5. Rules relating to the condensation and narration of evidence should be respected by the bar and by trial judges, and should be appropriately enforced by appellate courts. P. 490.
6. Failure to comply with a rule of the Circuit Court of Appeals requiring condensation and narration of evidence in bills of exceptions held not a sufficient ground for rejection of the bill in this Court in the particular circumstances, where the infraction was not of much moment, and where the party objecting to the bill had consented to its allowance by the District Judge, and the Court of Appeals had considered and acted upon the bill without criticizing it. P. 491.
7. In determining whether special findings of fact made in a trial to the District Court support the judgment rendered on them, a finding not based on sufficient evidence is put aside. P. 494.
8. A taxing Act should be construed reasonably, with recourse to all of its provisions to ascertain its intent. P. 496.
9. The Revenue Acts of 1917 and 1918, in imposing an excise tax on the transportation of oil by pipeline equivalent to a designated percentum "of the amount paid therefor," show by the context an intention to tax all transportation of oil by pipeline, whether the pipeline be a common or a private carrier, and whether the oil it transports belong to itself or to others, and to lay the tax equally on all such transportation, and to measure it by the customary rate if the amount collected by the carrier is below what would be reasonably appropriate to the service rendered. P. 495.
10. The services in this case were for "gathering" the oil; the taxes should have been computed on the appropriate charge for gathering only; the inclusion in the Commissioner’s computation of an additional amount for trunkline services was erroneous. P. 498.
63 F.2d 663 reversed.
Certiorari to review a judgment in part affirming and in part disapproving and modifying a judgment recovered by the Pipe Line Company from the collector. The action was for money erroneously collected as taxes. There were several distinct claims or causes of action. By stipulation, it was tried without a jury.