Louis Brandeis

“ In those cases the Supreme Court of Minnesota declared that the carrier's duty was governed by the common law and it stated the applicable principle as follows (133 Minn. 96, 157 N. W. 997) :'Where a railroad company operates two lines of railroad between the same points, and the freight rate over one line is less than such rate over the other line, if other conditions are reasonably equal, it is the duty of the company to transport shipments between those points over the line which will give the shipper the benefit of the cheaper rate. ”

“ Paul & Duluth Railroad Company and came under the management of the Northern Pacific in 1900. It has a heavy upgrade from Duluth to Carlton. Since 1900 both lines have been operated continuously by the Northern Pacific. Because of these grades, the northerly route has been used almost exclusively for such Duluth shipments as are in-bound and the southerly route has been used for such as are out-bound. Until June, 1907, the rates were the same over the two routes They were duly filed with the Minnesota Railroad and Warehouse Commission and with the Interstate Commerce Commission. ”

“ In the c ses before us the justification is rested upon a general practice. The answers allege that, because of the grades of the two lines, all outbound shipments were and are in general moved over the southerly route on account of the very great expense which another arrangement would entail. It may well be, under such circumstances, that carriage over the interstate route would be justified, even if it appeared that it was feasible to haul freight out of Duluth over the intrastate line. ”