Interstate Commerce Commission v. Inland Waterways Corp.

The issue in this case is whether the farmers and shippers of the middle west can be compelled by the Interstate Commerce Commission and the railroads to use high-priced rail instead of low-priced barge transportation for the shipment of grain to the east. I agree that, in the words of Division 2 of the Commission, “this record is replete with complexities and technicalities” which have almost, but I think not quite, successfully obscured that simple issue. The District Court, which held that the Interstate Commerce Commission’s order “discriminates against water competition by the users of…