James Clark McReynolds

“ No carrier could then demand exemption from honest competition.
If, as the court below seems to have assumed, a 'party in interest' must possess some clear legal right for which it might ask protection under the rules commonly accepted by courts of equity, the paragraphs under consideration would not materially aid the Congressional plan for promoting transportation. On the other hand, there was no purpose to permit any individual so inclined to institute such a proceeding. The complaint must possess something more than a common concern for obedience to law. ”

“ Here, the petitioner was peculiarly concerned; its own welfare was seriously threatened. It alleged the beginning of an unlawful undertaking by a carrier which might prove deleterious to it as well as to the public interest in securing and maintaining proper railroad service without undue loss. ”

“ The respondent, as owner or lessee, operates an extensive interstate railroad system, including a double track line from San Francisco southward through Redwood City. In March, 1929, it began to lay tracks in San Mateo county with the intention that they should ultimately extend from its main line some eighty-two hundred feet easterly and across petitioner's proposed route to points along the Bay. Its purpose was to impede and prevent petitioner's proposed construction and operation ”