Ott v. Mississippi Valley Barge Line Co.

Appellees are foreign corporations which transport freight in interstate commerce up and down the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers under certificates of public convenience and necessity issued by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Each has an office or agent in Louisiana but its principal place of business is elsewhere. The barges and towboats which they use in this commerce are enrolled at ports outside Louisiana; but they are not taxed by the States of incorporation.

In the trips to Louisiana a tugboat brings a line of barges to New Orleans where the barges are left for unloading and reloading.…