Michigan Central Railroad v. State

On June 10, 1920, and pursuant to §2 of the Appropriation Act of 1919 (Acts 1919 p. 196), the State of Indiana, through its Joint Purchasing Committee, contracted for a year’s supply of coal for the Indiana State Prison, a penal institution located at Michigan City, the contract price for the coal being $3.40 per ton, delivered. On October 22, 1920, while the contract was in force, appellant railway company, a carrier of interstate commerce, had in its possession for interstate transportation a carload of coal of the same kind and quality as that contracted for by the state, which coal, by…