Secretary of Agriculture v. United States Utah Poultry & Farmers Cooperative/Dissent Minton

by Sherman Minton

United States Supreme Court

350 U.S. 162

Secretary of Agriculture  v.  United States Utah Poultry & Farmers Cooperative

 Argued: Oct. 12, 1955. --- Decided: Jan 9, 1956

Mr. Justice MINTON, with whom Mr. Justice REED and Mr. Justice BURTON join, dissenting.

The Court's opinion does not meet the issue in this case, as I see it. The principal question, as was freely conceded at the argument, was whether the Interstate Commerce Commission had the power to promulgate the regulation under § 20(11). The Court now accepts for the sake of argument that the Commission had the power and then proceeds to find the regulation unfair and unreasonable, although a similar regulation had been in effect since 1919. See National Poultry, Butter & Egg Ass'n v. New York Central R. Co., 52 I.C.C. 47.

In an earlier case in which the Commission had under consideration a tariff which provided certain deductions as an incident to the natural shrinkage of grain, it was claimed that the carrier could not so limit its liability because it violated § 20(11). The Commission said:

'There appears to be little or no merit in the contention that the rule violates the inhibition clause of the act against the limitation of liability, for the limitation is not against losses caused by the carrier or its connections, but rather against liability for losses due to the inherent nature of the commodities themselves and attributable to no human agency.' A. B. Crouch Grain Co. v. Atchison, T. & S.F.R. Co., 41 I.C.C. 717-718. See also The Cummins Amendment, 33 I.C.C. 682.

For loss in transportation due to the inherent nature of the goods a carrier is not liable. Chesapeake & O.R. Co. v. A. F. Thompson Mfg. Co., 270 U.S. 416, 46 S.Ct. 318, 70 L.Ed. 659. Carrier liability must be limited to damage 'caused by it.' Adams Express Co. v. Croninger, 226 U.S. 491, 33 S.Ct. 148, 151, 57 L.Ed. 314. A tolerance regulation that fairly takes into consideration the inherent nature of the goods and the damage existing prior to receipt by the carrier, as this regulation does, is not prohibited by § 20(11). Obviously there could not be a search and determination egg by egg as to whether the breakage was due to the fault of the carrier or to the inherent nature of the commodity. I think the Commission had the power to promulgate regulations prescribing, after full hearing, a reasonable deduction for loss due to the inherent defects of the commodity transported. The nature of the commodity and the impossibility of deciding this humpty-dumpty question of who or what broke the egg is a proper subject for regulation. Such a regulation would not be a limit of liability but a yardstick for measuring the damage not caused by the carrier but due to the inherent nature of the commodity.

What the Commission did, after long investigation and experience with similar regulations since 1919, was to order that, as to shell eggs packaged at railpoint of origin, no claim should be allowed for damages not in excess of 3%. If in excess of 3% there could be recovery on showing that the damage was caused by the carrier. For eggs packaged off the railhead the tolerance was 5%.

As the basis for its action the Commission specifically found:

'We find that the present 5 percent tolerance on eggs, other than those rehandled and repacked at the rail point of origin, is not shown to be unreasonable or otherwise unlawful. We further find that the proposed tolerances of 4 percent on eggs packed at the rail point of origin, and 6 percent on eggs packed at points other than the rail point of origin have not been justified, but that tolerances of 3 and 5 percent, respectively, would be reasonable. * * *' 284 I.C.C., at 403.

The Commission report embodies basic findings to support this conclusion. For example, the Commission concluded on the basis of certain Department of Agriculture studies, that 3.4% damage is the typical average damage existing in shipments of eggs when loaded into railroad cars at points of origin; and that an average of 1.7% damage was 'incident to the movement in transit.' 284 I.C.C., at 393-394. Further, the Commission found that the commercial destination inspections at New York, the most important terminal for eggs shipped by rail, are 'performed with a view to detecting all damaged eggs.' Id., at 396. The tolerances represent the considered judgment of the Commission, after hearing voluminous evidence as to the nature of shell eggs and the way they are handled at railpoint, off railpoint and during shipment. I cannot say that this is not an allowable judgment for the Commission to make. Certainly the treatment of this case by the majority does not make for clarity and understanding, and it leaves yet undecided the question whether the Commission has the power to make an order establishing such a regulation or tariff. I think the regulation is an adequate commercial approximation of noncarrier damage, and is reasonable and within the power of the Commission to make.

For these reasons, and for the reasons set forth at length in the opinion of the District Court, 119 F.Supp. 846, I would affirm the judgment.

Notes