DocketNumber: 430
Judges: Brennan, Clark
Filed Date: 4/15/1963
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 10/19/2024
delivered the opinion of the Court.
A schedule of reduced rates proposed by the respondent rail carriers was suspended by the Interstate Commerce Commission for the maximum statutory period of seven months pending a determination whether the reduction was lawful. The statute
I.
The Interstate Commerce Commission was granted no power to suspend proposed rate changes in the original
It cannot be said that the legislative history of the grant of the suspension power to the Commission includes unambiguous evidence of a design to extinguish whatever judicial power may have existed prior to 1910 to suspend proposed rates. However, we cannot suppose that Congress, by vesting the new suspension power in the Commission, intended to give backhanded approval to the exercise of a judicial power which had brought the whole problem to a head.
Moreover, Congress engaged in a protracted controversy concerning the period for which the Commission might suspend a change of rates. Such a controversy would have been a futile exercise unless the Congress also meant to foreclose judicial power to extend that period. This controversy spanned nearly two decades. At the outset in 1910, the proposal for conferring any such power on the Commission was strenuously opposed. The car
There is, of course, a close nexus between the suspension power and the Commission’s primary jurisdiction to determine the lawfulness and reasonableness of rates, a jurisdiction to which this Court had, even in 1910, already given the fullest recognition. Texas & Pacific R. Co. v. Abilene Cotton Oil Co., 204 U. S. 426.
II.
Our conclusion from the history of the suspension power is buttressed by a consideration of the undesirable consequences which would necessarily attend the survival of the injunction remedy. A court’s disposition of an application for injunctive relief would seem to require at least
Nor is the situation different in this case if it be suggested that a court of equity might rely upon the Commission’s finding of unreasonableness which preceded the Commission’s suspension ordfer. The Commission’s con
III.
The petitioners contend that in any event injunctive relief is authorized in this case to enforce the National Transportation Policy.
Affirmed.
49 U. S. C. §15 (7):
“Whenever there shall be filed with the Commission any schedule stating a new . . . rate . . . the Commission shall have . . . authority, either upon complaint or upon its own initiative without complaint, at once ... to enter upon a hearing concerning the lawfulness of such rate . . . and pending such hearing and the decision thereon the Commission, upon filing with such schedule and delivering to the carrier or carriers affected thereby a statement in writing of its reasons for such suspension, may from time to time suspend the operation of such schedule and defer the use of such rate . . . but not for a longer period than seven months beyond the time when it*660 would otherwise go into effect; and after full hearing, whether completed before or after the rate . . . goes into effect, the Commission may make such order with reference thereto as would be proper in a proceeding initiated after it had become effective. If the proceeding has not been concluded and an order made within the period of suspension, the proposed change of rate . . . shall go into effect at the end of such period . . . .”
The petitioners are a barge line, Arrow Transportation Co., a competitor of the respondent railroads for grain carriage; a municipality, Guntersville, Alabama, served by Arrow; a grain merchant, O. J. Walls, located in that municipality; and a grain consumer, John D. Bagwell Farms & Hatchery, Inc., which receives its grain by truck from Guntersville. The rate reductions which respondents have filed cover the shipment of grain to various points in the Southeastern United States, but apply only to multiple-car shipments from certain Mississippi and Ohio River ports. The Commission, following a complaint by competing barge lines and other parties, and on the basis of a recommendation of its Suspension Board, made a tentative finding that the proposed rates would be “unjust and unreasonable, in violation of the Interstate Commerce Act,” and would “constitute unfair and destructive competitive practices in contravention of the National Transportation Policy.” After the full hearing, however, Division 2 of the Commission, on January 21, 1963, concluded that Southern’s rates at least were compensatory and reasonable, Grain in Multiple-Car Shipments — River Crossings to the South, I. & S. Docket No. 7656. That decision is now awaiting reconsideration by the full Commission.
The four petitioners have contended throughout this litigation that the application of the proposed new rail rates will irreparably injure their respective economic interests, particularly because they threaten to force Arrow out of business. Petitioners further contend that the proposed rates, being substantially lower than the competitive barge
In the course of the hearings before the Commission, the proposed rates were supported by representatives of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Southern Governors’ Conference, the Southeastern Association of Railroad and Utilities Commissioners, and by various receivers and users of grain throughout the Southeast. On the other hand, the rates were protested by certain barge lines besides Arrow, several receivers of grain by barge, the Tennessee Valley Authority, flour milling interests and certain boards of trade outside the Southeast.
The District Court concluded in its memorandum following an oral argument:
“. . . I have convinced myself that should this Court have jurisdiction of this matter, it should consider all of these matters most carefully and deliberately before denying injunctive relief to plaintiffs. At this time I am of the opinion that the ends of justice would be best served by granting temporary injunctive relief for a limited period of time, not to urge the Commission to greater speed in deter*662 mining this issue but to be sure that the parties conclude the hearings as speedily as possible. However, lacking jurisdiction, I find myself powerless to grant the relief sought; therefore, at this time it is the judgment of the Court that the motion for preliminary injunction be, and the same is hereby denied. At the same time I am denying defendants’ motion to dismiss this ease.”
The District Court’s formal order, entered the following day, denied both the petitioners’ motion for a preliminary injunction and the respondents’ motion to dismiss.
One judge of the Court of Appeals granted petitioners’ motion for a temporary restraining order on August 3, 1962, the day on which the order of the District Court issued. On August 8, however, a panel of the Court of Appeals denied petitioners’ application for a restraining order pending decision of the appeal. Thereafter, but before oral argument in the Court of Appeals, MR. Justice BlacK issued an order extending the Court of Appeals’ restraining order pending the presentation and disposition by this Court of a petition for certiorari. The Court of Appeals rendered its opinion on September 7, 1962, and we granted certiorari on October 15. We invited the Solicitor General to file a brief expressing the views of the United States, and he filed a brief for the United States as amicus curiae. Southern was the only railroad which opposed certiorari or argued the merits of the case before this Court.
36 Stat. 552.
The cases decided between 1906 and 1910 disclose the judicial uncertainty about the availability of any equitable relief. Compare, e. g., Northern Pac. R. Co. v. Pacific Coast Lumber Mfrs. Assn., 165 F. 1 (C. A. 9th Cir. 1908); Jewett Bros. & Jewett v. Chicago, M. & St. P. R. Co., 156 F. 160 (C. C. D. S. D. 1907) with, e. g., Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Macon Grocery Co., 166 F. 206 (C. A. 5th Cir. 1909), aff'd on other grounds, 215 U. S. 501; and Wickwire Steel Co. v. New York Cent. & H. R. R. Co., 181 F. 316 (C. A. 2d Cir. 1910). See for a contemporary view that courts lacked such injunctive powers over proposed rates, 1 Drinker, The Interstate Commerce Act (1909), §243.
See In re Advances in Bates — Western Case, 20 I. C. C. 307, 313-314; Dixon, The Mann-Elkins Act, 24 Quarterly Journal of Economics, August 1910, p. 593, at 603; Crook, The Interstate Commerce Commission, 194 North American Review, December 1911, p. 858, at 867.
The Administration originally recommended a period of 60 days; congressional proponents of suspension urged in response an unlimited suspension power, see 45 Cong. Rec. 6409. The Commission itself originally proposed a period of 120 days; the Senate Committee which reported on the Senate version of the bill recommended 90 days, S. Rep. No. 355, 61st Cong., 2d Sess. 9. For other stages of the legislative give-and-take which finally produced a period of 10 months as the maximum suspension term, see 45 Cong. Rec. 3373-3374, 3472, 4109-4110, 6500-6501, 6503, 6509, 6510-6511, 6783-6784, 6787-6788, 6900-6901, 6915-6921, 8239, 8473.
36 Stat. 552.
41 Stat. 486-487. Section 418 of the Esch-Cummins Act also added an express provision that if the hearing had not been concluded at the expiration of the 30-day extension period, “the proposed change of rate, fare, charge, classification, regulation, or practice shall go into effect at the end of such period . . . .”
See, e. g., Statement of Commissioner Clark, Hearings on H. R. 4378 before House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, 66th Cong., 1st Sess. 91, 2944; H. R. Rep. No. 456, 66th Cong., 1st Sess. 20-21. President Taft’s 1910 message expressly adverted to
A recent summary indicates that only about three-fifths of the investigation and suspension proceedings are completed within the seven-month period, but only four percent of such cases require more than a year. Remarks of Commissioner Charles A. Webb, in Expedition of Commission Proceedings, A Panel Discussion, 27 I. C. C. Prac. J. 15, 16 (1959). Professor Sharfman is authority that at the time he wrote it was invariably the practice of carriers voluntarily to extend the period at least with respect to proposed increases. 1 Sharfman, The Interstate Commerce Commission (1931), 203.
Section 418 of the Transportation Act of 1920, 41 Stat. 484, 486-487, amending § 15 of the Interstate Commerce Act.
44 Stat. 1447-1448. See S. Rep. No. 1508, 69th Cong., 2d Sess. 4. Since the enactment of §15 (7), similar suspension provisions have been included in numerous other regulatory statutes. See 49 U. S. C. §§316 (g), 318 (c) (Motor Carrier Act); 49 U. S. C. § 907 (g), (i) (Water Carrier Act); 49 U. S. C. § 1006 (e) (Freight Forwarders Act); 47 U. S. C. § 204 (Federal Communications Act); 16 U. S. C. § 824d (e) (Federal Power Act); 15 U. S. C. § 717c (e) (Natural Gas Act); and 49 U. S. C. § 1482 (g) (Federal Aviation Act). The terms of these later statutes are virtually identical to those of § 15 (7), although the length of the prescribed suspension period varies. However, it should be apparent that nothing we hold with respect to § 15 (7) necessarily governs the construction and application of these other suspension provisions.
Great Northern held only that the District Court lacked power to enjoin intrastate rates which had been duly prescribed by a state regulatory agency and which the railroads were protesting before the Interstate Commerce Commission as discriminatory against interstate commerce. Although, unlike this case, the situation there involved a danger of direct conflict between federal and state regulation, see 281 U. S., at 426-430, the reasoning there does suggest the Court was of the view that even in the absence of such a direct conflict, the federal courts might not enjoin proposed rates when the Commission lacked either the inclination or the power to do so.
E. g., M. C. Kiser Co. v. Central of Ca. R. Co., 236 F. 573 (D. C. S. D. Ga.), aff’d, 239 F. 718 (C. A. 5th Cir.); Freeport Sulphur Co. v. United States, 199 F. Supp. 913, 916 (D. C. S. D. N. Y.); Luckenbach S. S. Co. v. United States, 179 F. Supp. 605, 609-610 (D. C. D. Del.), vacated in part as moot, 364 U. S. 280; cf. Manhattan Transit Co. v. United States, 24 F. Supp. 174, 177 (D. C. D. Mass.). See also Director General v. Viscose Co., 254 U. S. 498, 502, recognizing on similar grounds that under the Transportation Act of 1920 the District Courts lacked power to enjoin the action of the Director General of Railroads in instituting changes of commodity classifications and similar terms: “[T]here was ample and specific provision made therein for dealing with the situation through the Commission, — for suspending the supplement or rule . . . .” 254 U. S., at 502. Cantlay & Tanzola, Inc., v. United States, 115 F. Supp. 72 (D. C. S. D. Calif.), upon which petitioners rely, is not contrary. There the District Court found no need to enjoin or suspend the proposed rates because, pendente lite, the carriers had voluntarily restored the previous schedule. But the
See, e. g., Professor Sharfman’s view that “[u]pon failure of the Commission to issue an order within this prescribed period, the proposed changes in rates were automatically to become effective, although the Commission might continue its investigation and bring it to decision.” 1 Sharfman, The Interstate Commerce Commission (1931), 202. A contemporary commentator’s view of the operation of the new statute was as follows: “In other words, the Commission may suspend rates for ten months beyond their effective date but no longer, and if the investigation is not then complete, the rates automatically go into effect.” Dixon, The Mann-Elkins Act, 24 Quarterly Journal of Economics, August 1910, p. 593, at 604. For a current view, see Brooks and Daily, The Commission’s Power of Suspension and Judicial Review Thereof, 27 I. C. C. Prac. J. 589, 599 (1960).
See also Board of Railroad Comm’rs v. Great Northern R. Co., supra, at 429-430; Director General v. Viscose Co., 254 U. S. 498, 504; In re Advances in Rates — Western Case, 20 I. C. C. 307, 313-314; Brooks and Daily, supra, note 16, at 605.
See Commissioner Eastman’s description of the evolution of this competition, Petroleum Products from New Orleans, La., Group, 194 I. C. C. 31, 44.
See Texas & Pacific R. Co. v. Abilene Cotton Oil Co., supra, at 440-441; Director General v. Viscose Co., 254 U. S. 498; Baltimore & O. R. Co. v. Pitcairn Coal Co., 215 U. S. 481, 493-495. It has been pointed out that “the agencies, through their power to suspend or deny suspension, often make final determinations of what the rates shall be during the suspension period . . . .” 1 Davis, Administrative Law (1958), 442.
28 U. S. C. § 2325 requires the convening of a three-judge District Court pursuant to 28 U. S. C. § 2284 to enjoin even temporarily the operation or execution “of any order of the Interstate Commerce Commission
The Court of Appeals also suggested — though the suggestion has not been challenged before this Court — that § 16 of the Clayton Act, 15 U. S. C. § 26, might independently bar the injunctive relief sought here. 308 F. 2d, at 185. That section restricts to the United States, in suits for violations of the antitrust laws, the right to seek injunctive relief against any common carrier “in respect of any matter subject to the regulation, supervision, or other jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission.” Its applicability would, of course, depend upon whether or not the petitioners’ action rests upon claimed violations of the antitrust laws. Cf. Central Transfer Co. v. Terminal Bailroad Assn., 288 U. S. 469.
See, e. g., Carlsen v. United States, 107 F. Supp. 398 (D. C. S. D. N. Y.); Bison S. S. Corp. v. United States, 182 F. Supp. 63 (D. C. N. D. Ohio); Luckenbach S. S. Co. v. United States, 179 F. Supp. 605 (D. C. D. Del.). But cf. Amarillo-Borger Express, Inc., v. United States, 138 F. Supp. 411 (D. C. N. D. Tex.), vacated as moot, 352 U. S. 1028; Seatrain Lines, Inc., v. United States, 168 F. Supp. 819 (D. C. S. D. N. Y.). Compare generally Goodman, The History and
Thus we do not reflect in any way upon decisions which have recognized a limited judicial power to preserve the court’s jurisdiction or maintain the status quo by injunction pending review of an agency’s action through the prescribed statutory channels. Cf., e. g., Scripps-Howard Radio, Inc., v. Federal Communications Comm’n, 316 U. S. 4; West India Fruit & S. S. Co. v. Seatrain Lines, Inc., 170 F. 2d 775; Board of Governors v. Transamerica Corp., 184 F. 2d 311. Such power has been deemed merely incidental to the courts’ jurisdiction to review final agency action, and has never been recognized in derogation of such a clear congressional purpose to oust judicial power as that manifested in the Interstate Commerce Act.
It has also been suggested that a judicial power of this sort may have survived by reason of the “saving clause” of the statute, 49 U. S. C. §22 (1). That conclusion would, of course, follow only if prior to the adoption of the Act there had been a clearly recognized equitable power to enjoin proposed rate changes. This, as we have already indicated, was not the case. Moreover, we have generally rejected such constructions of this and similar saving clauses, see, e. g., Texas & Pacific R. Co. v. Abilene Cotton Oil Co., supra; T. I. M. E., Inc., v. United States, 359 U. S. 464, 472-474.
See North Carolina Natural Gas Corp. v. United States, 200 F. Supp. 745, 750 (D. C. D. Del.). The Commission’s regulations and rules contemplate only an informal hearing before the Suspension Board upon a protest, of which no transcript is to be made, although reconsideration may be requested. She 49 CFR §§ 1.42,1.200; see also 1 Davis, Administrative Law (1958), 441: “Although a hearing cannot be held on the question whether to suspend pending hearing, in many cases hurried conferences are held, which provide substantial safeguard against arbitrary action.” The practice of the Civil Aeronautics Board under a virtually identical suspension statute appears to be more formal, 14 CFR § 302.505; see Air Freight Forwarder Assn., 8 C. A. B. 469; 474.
We suggest no lack of congressional power to grant either administrative or judicial authority to extend a suspension period prior to completion of the administrative proceeding. Under other statutes Congress has evinced a clear intention to vest the courts with such power. The National Labor Relations Board, for example, has expressly been authorized to apply to the courts for “appropriate temporary relief or restraining order” pending the Board’s decision of an unfair labor practice case. 29 U. S. C. §160 (j). Cf. Transpacific Freight Conference v. Federal Maritime Board, 112 U. S. App. D. C. 290, 295, 302 F. 2d 875, 880.
54 Stat. 899, which has been inserted before .Part I of the Interstate Commerce Act.
Schaffer Transportation Co. v. United States, 355 U. S. 83, 87-88; Arrow Transportation Co. v. United States, 176 F. Supp. 411, 416 (D. C. N. D. Ala.), aff’d per curiam sub nom. State Corporation Comm’n v. Arrow Transportation Co., 361 U. S. 353.