Joseph Rucker Lamar

“ The prohibitions of the statute against unjust discrimination relate not only to inequality of charges and inequality of facilities, but also to the giving of preferences by means of consent judgments, or the waiver of defenses open to the carrier. The railroad company therefore was bound to claim the benefit of the statute here, and could do so here by general demurrer. For when it appeared that the complaint had not been filed within the time required by the statute, it was evident, as matter of law, that the plaintiff had no cause of action. ”

“ The obligation of the carrier to adhere to the legal rate, to refund only what is permitted by law, and to treat all shippers alike, would have made it illegal for the carriers, either by silence or by express waiver, to preserve to the Phillips Company a right of action which the statute required should be asserted within a fixed period. To have one period of limitation where the complaint is filed before the Commission, and the varying periods of limitation of the different states, where a suit was brought in a court of competent jurisdiction ”

“ The Phillips Company, relying on a finding by the Commission on the complaint of the Yellow Pine Association, that a 2-cents advance in a lumber rate was unreasonable, brought suit against four carriers to recover an overcharge collected on 90,432,500 pounds of lumber shipped to it over their connecting lines. But, as the plaintiff was not a party before the Commission, the defendants insist that it cannot take advantage of the order that the rate was unjust, so as to be able to maintain the present suit. ”