Spence v. Southern Ry. Co.
Spence v. Southern Ry. Co.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. It seems to me that the judgment should be reversed. It seems to me that the statute requires it. It is also in accord with the justice of the case. The appellant was forced into this Court to be relieved of an unlawful judgment. The appellant prevailed upon the only question passed upon, and the reduction was more than $10.
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
This appeal questions the right of the respondent in a former appeal to tax the costs thereof against the appellant therein, notwithstanding the judgment appealed from was affirmed upon a condition—that part of the recovery be remitted:—which was performed. The action was brought in the Court of a magistrate to recover $6.20, an admitted overcharge of freight growing out of an error in the weight of an interstate shipment, and the penalty allowed by statute for the failure of defendant to pay the claim therefor within 40 days after the filing thereof. Plaintiff had judgment for the full amount of the claim and the penalty. On appeal from that judgment, this Court held, following the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in C. & W. C. Ry. v. Varnville Furniture Co., 237 U. S. 597, 35 Sup. Ct. 715, 57 L. Ed. 1137, Ann Cas. 1916d, 333, that the statute was void as applied to interstate commerce, and rendered judgment as follows:
“The penalty must, therefore, be remitted. If this is done within 20 days after notice of the filing of the remittitur, the judgment will stand affirmed; otherwise a new trial is ordered.” 101 S. C. 436, 85 S. E. 1058.
The penalty was duly remitted, and, the condition upon which the judgment should stand affirmed, having been per *171 formed, respondent was allowed to tax the costs of the 'appeal against appellant, as upon a judgment affirmed, on the authority of Stepp v. Association, 41 S. C. 206, 19 S. E. 490; Young v. Cohen, 44 S. C. 376, 22 S. E. 409, and Salley v. Ry., 79 S. C. 388, 60 S. E. 938.
The cases cited, and others that might be added, sustain the ruling of the Circuit Court. Appellant’s attorneys concede this, but they contend that these cases have been overruled by the more recent cases of Burnett v. Senn, 93 S. C. 316, 76 S. E. 820, and Brown v. Kolb, 95 S. C. 217, 78 S. E. 894. But in this they are in error. The cases of Burnett v. Senn and Brown v. Kolb rest upon different principles, and are easily distinguished from the cases first above cited and from this case.
In Burnett v. Senn plaintiff sued for $598. _ Defendant admitted that he owed plaintiff $37.51, and tendered him that amount, with costs to date of tender, which was refused. Nevertheless the Circuit Court rendered judgment, dismissing the complaint with costs against plaintiff. On appeal that judgment was reversed, and the case was remanded, with instructions to enter judgment for plaintiff for $37.51, the amount admitted to be due him, with costs to date of tender. 91 S. C. 175, 74 S. E. 376. Although plaintiff succeeded in reversing the judgment, it was held on a second appeal, involving his right to tax costs, that he was not entitled to tax any costs against defendant that accrued subsequent to the tender, including the costs of the appeal, on the ground that he fáiled to recover any more than had been tendered him, and, therefore, all subsequent litigation was caused by his wrongful act in refusing the tender and in trying to recover more than was due him. So, in this case, if defendant had tendered plaintiff the $6.20 which was admitted to be due him, and plaintiff had refused it, and had persisted in litigating for the penalty, this case would *172 have fallen within the principle upon which Burnett v. Senn was decided. But no tender was made. True, the record' shows that defendant wrote plaintiff a letter, admitting that it owed him $6.20, whicli it was prepared to pay. But that was not a legal tender, such as would prevent the plaintiff suing therefor from recovering costs. Moreover, when plaintiff sued to recover $6.20 and the penalty, defendant resisted his right to recover, not only the penalty, but the $6.20 also.
We see nothing in this construction of our statutes regulating the costs 'that denies to the appellant in this case, or, indeed, to any litigant, the equal protection of the laws, or deprives any one of his property without due process of law. The same rule is applied to all litigants similarly situated.
*173
Judgment affirmed.
Footnote.—As to jurisdiction of State Court in action for refusal of interstate shipment where no administrative question is involved, see Pennsylvania R. Co. v. Bowman Shaft Coal Co., 37 Sup. Ct. Rep. 46.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Spence v. Southern Railway Co.
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Costs—On Appeal—Affirmance.—A judgment against a railroad company for overcharge of freight rate and statutory penalty was affirmed in the Supreme Court on condition that the plaintiff, within 20 days, remit the penalty, and plaintiff duly complied with the condition. Held, the judgment was an affirmance, and plaintiff, as the prevailing party, was entitled to tax the costs of appeal. 2. Courts—Jurisdiction of State Courts—Recovery of Freight Overcharges in Interstate Commerce.—State Courts have jurisdiction of actions to recover overcharges of freight rates on interstate shipments, where no question of the reasonableness of the rate is involved.