Owen J. Roberts

“ The State is not bound to adjust the charge after the fact, but may, in anticipation, fix what the legislature deems to be a fair fee for the expected service, the presumption being that if, in practice, the sum charged appears inordinate the legislative body will reduce it in the light of experience. [10] Such a statute may, in spite of the presumption of validity, show on its face that some part of the exaction is to be used for a purpose other than the legitimate one of supervision and regulation and may, for that reason, be void. ”

“ What a state may do in changing the rules of evidence through the action of its legislature, it may do with equal competence through the action of its judges, for anything to the contrary in the Constitution of the United States.
4. Appellant did not discharge its burden by proving in a vague way that some of the disbursements classified by the auditor as a charge against the railroads were incidental to proceedings conducted before the Interstate Commerce Commission or elsewhere for the benefit of private shippers and were not properly a part of the expense of local regulation. ”

“ If the legislature of Washington had passed a statute to the effect that vouchers in a public office, filed by the employees at the bidding of a superior, should be prima facie evidence of the truth of their contents, it is not open to doubt that such a statute would be valid. ”

“ The complaint charges that the fee is a burden on, and a regulation of, interstate commerce in violation of article 1, section 8 of the Constitution; is so arbitrary, excessive, discriminatory, and unequal as to deny the plaintiff equal protection of the laws and to deprive it of property without due process of law, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. ”

“ A power has been granted to be used in exceptional conditions. The state must bring itself within the exception if it seeks to act within the grant.
A very different situation confronts us in the case at hand. Here the statute of the state does not trespass upon a field of legislation where entry is forbidden with out the license of the nation. What has been done is well within the field of general legislative power, with every presumption of validity back of it. ”

“ The auditor of the Department of Public Works caused the employees of the department to submit vouchers or slips descriptive of their services with an appropriate segregation and apportionment among the several classes of utilities. He testified on the basis of these reports, which were on file in his office, that disbursements for account of the rail roads were in excess by $37,833.14 of the railroads' contributions. Counsel for appellant expresses his belief that inspection and discovery of the contents of the vouchers would have yielded inadequate information. ”

“ The statute does not exhibit a failure reasonably to adjust the fee to the expense of the supervision and regulation of railroads. The legislation is to be accorded the presumption of fairness and regularity. ”

“ No separate accounts are kept, or required by law to be kept, with respect to the expense of these various activities, and it is impossible to determine from the records and accounts of the department the expense of inspecting and regulating railroads separate and apart from the expense of regulating other utilities or other functions of the department.
The plaintiff called the department's auditor who testified that the charge of one-tenth of one per cent of gross income collected from utilities goes to build up a fund from which all the department's expenses are paid ”

“ The decision in Foote & Co., Inc. v. Stanley, 232 U.S. 494, 34 S.Ct. 377, 58 L.Ed. 698, much relied on by appellant, is inapplicable here. That was a case under article 1, § 10, of the Constitution, which provides that 'no State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws.' Maryland passed an act for the payment of charges, characterized as inspection fees, upon imports of oysters from neighboring states. The 'inspectors' did more than inspect that oysters ”

“ His position was stated to be that the act was invalid on its face, in which event it would be vain to pursue the subject further. This court by its opinion has rejected that contention. The act is not invalid on its face, whether valid or invalid otherwise. ”