Benjamin N. Cardozo

“ At Negley the coal after being put in shape for sale is loaded upon the cars of the Pittsburgh, Lisbon & Western Railroad Company, referred to in the record as Lisbon, for transportation to consignees at Youngstown or elsewhere. Lisbon is a common carrier by rail, which connects at Signal, Ohio, with the tracks of the Youngstown & Suburban Railroad Company, referred to in the record as the Y. & S. The route of that line, about 22.2 miles, is between Signal and Youngstown, where there are interchange facilities with the Pennsylvania and the Erie. ”

“ The transportation of the coal from Negley, Ohio, to Youngstown in the same state, was an intrastate service, not subject to the provisions of the Interstate Commerce Act, and its character in that regard was not changed because of preliminary carriage from the Pennsylvania mines in barges and cars belonging to the shipper. ”

“ Appellants say that from the moment the coal left the mines in Pennsylvania there was a continuing intention to deliver it to consumers in another state, whether their identity at the beginning was known or unknown, and that a movement impelled by that intention is interstate commerce which Congress has the power to regulate at any stage of the ensuing transit. ”

“ Much of the coal is sold to consumers in Ohio. The company has its own barges in which the coal is towed by its own tug boats, first over the Monongahela river and then over the Ohio, to Smith's Ferry, Pennsylvania. There it has its own right of way, with tracks and cars and engine. The coal, when transferred from the barges to the cars, is taken over this right of way, a distance of about eleven miles, to Negley, Ohio. ”

“ Even though this were done systematically and not casually or in sporadic instances, the ensuing transportation by rail, if kept within Ohio, would not be transportation between the states within the meaning of the act of Congress. If the concept of transportation is in need of expansion, it is for the legislative department of the government to determine how great the change shall be. ”

“ The question is whether it is that particular form of interstate commerce which Congress has subjected to regulation in respect of rates by a federal commission. The Interstate Commerce Act (49 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. (49 U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq.) ) is aimed at common carriers exclusively (section 1 (1, 3) , 49 U.S.C.A. § 1 (1, 3) , and not even at all these. ”