Atkinson, C. R.

English

UW Law Digital Commons (University of Washington)

Washington Law Review Volume 1 Number 2 10-1-1925 A Selection of Cases under the Interstate Commerce Act, by Felix Frankfurter (1922) C. R. Atkinson Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wlr  Part of the Commercial Law Commons Recommended Citation C. R. Atkinson, Book Review, A Selection of Cases under the Interstate Commerce Act, by Felix Frankfurter (1922), 1 Wash. L. Rev. 156 (1925). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wlr/vol1/iss2/10 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at UW Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington Law Review by an authorized editor of UW Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact cnyberg@uw.edu. WdSHING TOV LAW REFIEIFBOOK REVIEWSA SELECTION OF CASES UNDER THE ITEaSTATE Co.%I'nECZ ACT. By FelixFrankfurter, Byrne Professor of Administrative Law in Harvard Uni-versity. Second Edition. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1922,pp. 789.The cases submitted cover, (I) Scope of Commerce Regulated by theAct, (II) Duties of Carriers Under the Act; (III) The Functions of theInterstate Commerce Commission in the Enforcement of the Act; (IV) Func-tion of Courts in the Enforcement of the Act.This is a series of well-selected cases covering court interpretations andInterstate Commerce Commission rulings covering thirty years of procedureunder the Interstate Commerce Act. The first case quoted in point of time,that of the Interstate Commerce Commission v. Baltimore 4- Ohio Ry. Co..bears the date of 1892; the last one given is Railroad Commissomo of Wiscon-sin et at v. C. B. Q. By. Co., and came up in 1922.Professor Frankfurter, in a note to the second edition of this case book,in justification of the timeliness and value of a work of this kind, says:"According to authoritative estimates the volume of interstate traffic inthe United States is about three-fourths of the whole. This means that aboutthree-quarters of the country's transportation bsiiness, not to mention othervast interstate utilities, such as the telegraph, the express service, the pipelines, are subject to the control of governmental regulation. Ample a priorijustification would thus exist for systematic study according to proved methodsof legal education, of that body of law through which this governmentalcontrol is exercised."In further justification for any well-organized contribution to the subjectof federal regulation of transportation, it may be added that it is nowpractically determined that when the physical valuation of the railroads ofthe country authorized bv Congress in 1913 is completed, the figures willstand at between twenty-three and twenty-five billions. The federal legisla-tion relating to this vast aggregation of the nation's wealth is to be foundtoday in a brief act known as the Esch-Cummins Law, or the TransportationAct of 1920. Even if our national legislators were qualified to do so, suchan act would be too unvieldv if administrative details and provision againstall probable contingencies were incorporated. It would also be impossible ofenactment in view of the practical necessity for compromise characteristicof all great Congressional legislation. Interpretation, elucidation and ampli-fication must necessarilv be left to courts and commissions. Such is the historvof all great pieces of legislation of this character.The Interstate Commerce Act passed in 1887 was the beginning of anattempt to put into practice a long-foreseen necessity for subjecting the railcarriers to a thoroughgoing regulation of their interstate traffic. As mighthave been anticipated, the Act of 1887 did not stand the test of court analysis.Principally as the result of some far-reaching decisions of the Supreme Courtand the demands of a restive and energetic President for "some teeth in tielaw," this initial attempt at regulation of the carriers was materially modifiedby the passage of the Hepburn Act in 1906. Further important modifica-tions came in 1910 through the Mann-Elkins Act, followed by miscellaneoustransportation legislation including the Valuation Act of March 1, 1913, thePanama Canal Act of July 1, 1914, and the Clayton Act of October lo, 1914.The period of government operation, the authority for which was embodiedin the Federal Control Act of March 98, 1918, continued to March 1, 1920.From this last date to the present, all past legislation regulating interstatecommerce which stood the test of time and which accorded with the best judg-ment of Congress at the close of the period of governmental operation, wascollected into one great statute, the letter of which has remained undisturbedfor five years.The student, however, who relies upon the letter of the TransportationBOOK REVIEWSAct of 1920 for a knowledge of the practical status of present day interstatecommerce regulation, or who accepts as gospel the statements of text bookswritten soon after the passage of this act, will find himself out of touch withthe real situatioii at many points. For example, the ruling of the InterstateCommerce Commission in the case known as the Wisconsim Passenger Fares,and the decision of Chief Justice Taft upholding the contention of the Com-mission, brought about a sweeping revision of the views previously generallyaccepted as to the power of individual states to control commerce within theirborders. Had tis case been decided a little earlier it would also have causedthe author to enlarge an estimate made in his preface to the second edition.This decision, rendered in 19-2, was placed in the appendix of this collectionof cases, probably delaying the publication of the work several weeks. Itsuggests the probable advisability of further editions of this or similar worksand the wisdom on the part of the student of keeping an eye on the decisions,of the Commission and the Court if he would keep his knowledge of transpor-tation problems up to date.A further advantage to students of railroad transportation to be gainedthrough the publication of well-selected case books from time to time isevidenced by the clear presentation of facts and the cogent reasoning of suchjustices as Holmes, Hughes, Taft and others. A comparison with the languageused by certain text book writers in essaying to clear up complex transporta-tion problems suggests at least that some of the learned justices deprived theteaching profession of valuable material by entering the legal profession.Possibly one of the causes of this exceptional clearness is the fact that thejustices are not writing Doctors' theses or text books with a view to promotion.In the Frankfurter selection of cases but little, if any, fault can be found.In some instances there is a condensation or omission of immaterial points,wuch is an advantage to both teacher and student and does not err seriously,if at all, on the side of completeness. Since the decision of a majority of theCourt is law, it is a question whether the inclusion of dissenting opinions hasa distinct advantage. This is an open question, and it is quite probable thatlawyers will not agree that the practice brings any confusion a trained mind-would find difficulty in overcoming. In any event, the dissenting opinions inthe few cases in which they are given are brief and do not detract seriouslyfrom the value of the work to a teacher of transportation.C. R. ATriax sox-.'CASES o.x TAAt.xi.-. By Joseph H. Beale. Cambridge: Harvard UmversitvPress, 1924. pp. viii, 367.This collection of cases was published by Dr. Beale in July, 1924. The-cases are collected under subjects.The first chapter treats of taxes on persons; who may be taxed by the tax-ing power; the various kinds of personal taxes, such as poll tax, road tax,school tax, tax on corporations as such, as distinguished from property andfranchise tax.Chapter II collects the cases on property, dividing them by reference toTeal property and to personal property. The former illustrates what may,under proper statutes, be taxed as real estate, such as mortgages on land,rights-of-way and other interests less than the fee, water power used an con--nection with land, also the right of an owner to offset an indebtedness securedby an incumbrance on the land, in arriving at its value for .tax purposes.Section II of this chapter treats of personal property- showing what maybe taxed under this head, giving a number of the leading cases, illustrating theright of a taxing power to levy a tax on intangible property, such as notes,stocks, bonds, etc., where the owners have their domiciles in foreign jurisdic-tions and the debtor or person issuing the instruments evidencing the obliga-tions is domiciled or situated within the jurisdiction of the taxing power. The,cases show the application of the maxim, "Mobilia Peronam Sequuntur," thenodification of the maxim, and the cases refusing to apply the maxim. Tinssection includes cases showing the various methods adopted for taxing the

\u3ci\u3eA Selection of Cases under the Interstate Commerce Act\u3c/i\u3e, by Felix Frankfurter (1922)

https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1041&amp;context=wlr

\u3ci\u3eA Selection of Cases under the Interstate Commerce Act\u3c/i\u3e, by Felix Frankfurter (1922)

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

UW Law Digital Commons (University of Washington)