American Express Co. v. Miller
American Express Co. v. Miller
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Appellees are engaged in the lawful sale of intoxicating liquor at various points in Louisiana, near the city of Vicksburg, Miss. They have numerous customers in Mississippi, from whom they receive, by mail, letters ordering liquor and containing money, drafts, etc., to cover the price thereof. Upon receipt of these orders, appellees prepare the liquor for shipment, and deliver the packages containing it, addressed to the customers at their residences in Mississippi, to various boats plying between
The question we are called upon to decide is whether the transportation of these packages of liquor from. Vicksburg to their destination will be a transaction of inter or intra state commerce. If the former, appellant must receive and transport them; for in that event section 1771 of the Code can have no application.
It will be observed that, when these packages are delivered in Louisiana to the various boats, the transportation in what is contemplated to be a continuous passage by various disconnected carriers to the points of their destination in Mississippi will begin. Every part of this
The case of Gulf, C. & S. F. R. R. Co. v. Texas, 204 U. S. 403, 27 Sup. Ct. 360, 51 L. Ed. 540, cited and relied on by appellant, is not in point, as will appear from the explanation thereof contained in Railroad Commission v. Worthington and Railroad Co. v. Sabine Tram. Co., supra; and while the case of U. S. v. Geddes, 131 Fed. 452, 65 C. C. A. 320, also cited by appellant, sustains its contention, that case has not been followed by any other court upon the point to which it is cited, but, on the contrary, has been disapproved by several, particularly in the cases of U. S. v. Colo. & N. W. R. Co. and Pac. Coast
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- American Express Co. v. George P. Miller
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- 4 cases
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- Syllabus
- 1. Interstate Commerce. Participation of carriers. Transportation of liquor. Code 1906, section 1771. Where packages are delivered in Louisiana to a carrier to be transported by continuous passage through various disconnected carriers to points of their destination in Mississippi, every part of this transportation will be a transaction of interstate commerce; and each carrier, common, or private, participating therein, will, to this extent, be engaged in interstate commerce, without regard to the character of the bill of lading, if any, upon which the packages are being transported, and although each carrier may be separate and independent of and have no traffic arrangement with the other, and it is wholly immaterial whether each carrier is paid a flat or a percentage of a through rate for its services, and whether such payment be made by the shipper or consignee direct to each carrier on the one hand, or to the initial or final carrier on the other. 2. Same. Such a shipment of intoxicating liquors does not render a carrier hable under Code 1906, section 1771, providing that “if any person shall act as agent or assistant of either the seller or purchaser, in effecting the sale of liquors, etc., he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor,” and a common carrier cannot refuse to receive such shipment in such case.