James Clark McReynolds

“ It is established doctrine that the rights and liabilities in respect of damage to goods moving in interstate commerce under through bills of lading depend upon acts of Congress, agreements between the parties and common-law principles accepted and enforced in the federal courts. ”

“ The opinion expressly states, 'The defendant contended that the law imposing the penalty was invalid under the Act to Regulate Commerce, especially section 20, as amended by the Act of June 29, 1906, * * * known as the Carmack Amendment,' refers to the penalty as 'the only matter that we are considering,' and points out that 'the state law was not contrived in aid of the policy of Congress, but to enforce a state policy differently conceived.' As the Supreme Court of South Carolina sustained the act and permitted recovery of the penalty, its judgment was necessarily reversed. ”

“ While this court has not expressly approved it, we think the common-law rule, supported both by reason and authority, is correctly stated in section 1348, Hutchinson on Carriers (3d Ed.) :
'A connecting carrier, who has completed the transportation and delivered the goods to the consignee in a damaged condition or deficient in quantity, will be held liable in an action for the damage or deficiency, without proof that it was occasioned by his fault, unless he can show that he received them in the condition in which he has delivered them. ”