William R. Day

“ Does the transportation which the rate prescribed by the Railroad Commission of Ohio covers constitute interstate commerce?
It is true that the shipper transports the coal ordinarily upon bills of lading to himself, or to another for himself, at Huron on Lake Erie. The so-called 'lake-cargo coal' is necessarily shipped beyond Huron. If it stops there, another and higher rate applies. Practically all of it is put on vessels for carriage beyond the state, usually to upper lake ports, and then, and only then, the 70 cent rate fixed by the commission applies. ”

“ It is true, as argued by the learned counsel for the commission, that this coal may be accumulated in large quantities at Huron, and only taken out of the accumulated lots from time to time, when it is to be put upon vessels and shipped out of the state, but it must always be remembered that this 70 cent rate applies solely to such coal as is in fact placed upon vessels for carriage to beyond the state points; and, as the circuit court said, the substance of things is not changed by the fact that a small part may be unloaded at one of the Ohio islands in Lake Erie. ”

“ The operator notifies the railroad that at a certain time a vessel will be at Huron to load so many tons of a particular grade of coal. The railroad then picks up such cars of the operator's coal as are necessary to fill the cargo, and moves them onto the dock alongside of the vessel, loads the vessel, trims or distributes the coal properly in her hold, and furnishes the shipper with a cargo statement showing the car numbers and weights and total tons of coal in the vessel, on which information the bill of lading for the vessel shipment is made out. ”