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1234. South Carolina.

It shall be unlawful for any person or persons in the transportation of property as provided in section 2083 of this chapter, to charge or receive any greater compensation for carrying, receiving, storing, forwarding or handling articles of the same character and description for a shorter than a longer distance in one continuous carriage; and the road of a corporation shall include all the road in use by such corporation, whether owned or operated under a contract or lease by such corporation: Provided, That nothing in this chapter contained shall be construed so as to require any corporation or combination of corporations to regulate their charges for shorter distances by their proportion of through rates between terminal or junctional competitive points: Provided, further, That if one corporation should use, operate or otherwise control, wholly or in part, several lines or divisions of hitherto independent railroads within the State the Commission may, in their discretion, conjointly with the said corporations, fix rates of toll or compensation for freight traffic on each of said hitherto independent lines or divisions; Provided, further, That the railroad commission conjointly with the railroad companies, shall have authority to make special rates for the purpose of developing all manufacturing, mining, milling and internal improvements in this State. [Civil Code (1902), section 2086.]

In Sternberger v. Cape F. & Y. V. R. R., 29 S. C. 510, 7 S. E. 846 (1888), it was held in refusing relief claimed under this section that where freight was shipped from one point in South Carolina to another point in that State was necessarily carried in part over railroads lying in another State, such commerce was interstate business, and therefore that the freight charges in such case were beyond the jurisdiction of the State Railroad Commission. The general doctrine had already been established in Railroad Commissioners v. Railroad Company, 22 S. C. 220 (1884), and Hall v. So. Carolina R. R., 25 S. C. 564 (1886).

1235. South Dakota.

shall charge,

If any such railroad corporation collect or receive from any person or persons for the transporta

tion of any freight upon its railroad, a higher or greater rate of toll or compensation than it shall, at the time, charge, collect or receive from any other person or persons for the transportation of the like quantity of freight of the same class, being transported from the same point in the same direction over equal distances of the same railroad, or if it shall charge, collect or receive from any person or persons for the use and transportation of any railroad car or cars upon its railroad, for any distance, a greater amount of toll or compensation than is at the same time charged, collected or received from any other person or persons, for the use and transportation of any railroad car of the same class or number, for a like purpose, being transported in the same direction, over a greater distance of the same railroad; . all such discriminating rates, charges, collections or receipts whether made directly or by means of any rebate, drawback, or other shift or evasion, shall be deemed and taken against such railroad corporation, as prima facie evidence of the unjust discriminations prohibited by the provisions of this Act; and it shall not be deemed a sufficient excuse or justification of such discrimination on the part of the said railroad corporation that the railroad station or point at which it shall charge, collect or receive less compensation in the aggregate for the transportation of such passenger or freight or for the use and transportation of such railroad car the greater distance, than for the shorter distance, is a railroad station or point at which there exists competition with any other railroad or means of transportation. [Laws of 1897, chap. 110, section 28.]

1236. Tennessee.

If any person owning or operating a railroad in this State, or any common carrier shall charge or receive any greater compensation in the aggregate for the transportation of passengers or property of like kind, under substantially like circum

stances and conditions, for a shorter than a longer distance over the same line in the same direction, the shorter being included within the longer distance, such person or common carrier shall, for each offense, be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined, not less than $100 nor more than $500. [Laws of 1897, chap. 10, section 18.]

See Ragan v. Aiken, 77 Tenn. (9 Lea) 609, 42 Am. Rep. 684 (1882).

1237. Texas.

It shall also be an unjust discrimination for any railroad subject hereto to charge or receive any greater compensation in the aggregate for the transportation of like kind of property or passengers for a shorter than for a longer distance over the same line; provided, that upon application to the Commission any railroad may in special cases, to prevent manifest injury, be authorized by the Commission to charge less for longer than for shorter distances for transporting persons and property, and the Commission shall from time to time prescribe the extent to which such designated railroad may be relieved from the operations of this provision; provided that no manifest injustice shall be imposed upon any citizen at intermediate points. Provided, further, that nothing herein shall be so construed as to prevent the Commission from making what are known as group rates" on any line or lines of railroad in this State. [Revised Statutes (1895), art. 4574 (3).]

1238. Vermont.

A railroad corporation whose railroad is located in the State, shall not charge a larger sum for freight, merchandise, or passengers thereon for a less distance, to or from a way station. on said road, than is charged for a greater distance; and in case of a violation of this provision, the excess so charged may be recovered from said corporation, by the party aggrieved, in an action for money had and received, with costs. [Vermont Statutes (1894), section 3901.]

Two or more corporations whose roads connect shall not charge or receive for the transportation of freight to any station on the road of either of them a greater sum than is at the time charged or received for the transportation of the like class and quantity of freight from the same original point of departure to a station at a greater distance on the road of either in the same direction. [Ibid, section 3903.]

§ 1239. Virginia.

It shall be unlawful for any transportation company doing business in this State to take, charge, or receive any greater compensation in the aggregate for the transportation of passengers of the same class or property along the same line in the same direction for a shorter than for a longer distance, the shorter being included within the longer distance. But this section, shall not be construed as authorizing any such company to charge and receive as great compensation for a shorter as for a longer distance: provided, however, that upon application to the State Corporation Commission any such company may, in special cases, after investigation by the said Commission, be authorized to charge less for longer than for shorter distances for the transportation of passengers or property, and the said Commission may, from time to time, subject to the provisions of the Constitution, prescribe the extent to which such designated company may be relieved from the operation of this section. [Pollard's Code, section 1294c, as amended (1904).]

§ 1240. West Virginia.

All railroad corporations whose lines of road shall extend into or through this State and which extensions are incorporated by the laws of this State or any other State, or the United States, shall take and transport passengers and freight when offered: provided, that such railroad corporation shall not be permitted to charge for the transportation of freight and pas

sengers, or either, a less sum from one terminus of their road to the other, than from an intermediate station to either terminus thereof, nor a greater sum for the transportation of freight and passengers, or either, from any intermediate station to either terminus of the road, or from either terminus to an intermediate station, or from one intermediate station to another, than from any intermediate station to either terminus or from either terminus to any intermediate station, or from one intermediate station to another, where the distance is less. [Code (1899), chap. 54, p. 602, Laws of 1872-3, chap. 227.]

1241. Wisconsin.

Whenever passengers or property are transported over two or more connecting lines of railroad between points in this State, and the railroad companies have made joint rates for the transportation of the same, such rates and all charges in connection therewith shall be just and reasonable, and every unjust and unreasonable charge is prohibited and declared to be unlawful; provided, that a less charge by each of said railroads for its proportion of such join rates than is made locally between the same points on their respective lines shall not for that reason be construed as a violation of the provisions of this Act, nor render such railroads liable to any of the penalties hereof. [Laws of 1905, chap. 362, section 5.]

1242. Conclusion.

It must be obvious from an examination of these extracts from the statutes of twenty-nine States that public opinion. has gone further than the common law in dealing with discrimination. The general clauses against showing undue or unreasonable preference or priority to any locality, or localities are significant, although the phraseology is so cautious in most of them that any justifiable differences may be made, and one State specifically saves group rates, it will be remembered. The specific provisions against charging more for a short haul than

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