York Company v. Central Railroad
Supreme Court of the United States
Trout & Son shipped at Memphis, on the Mississippi, a large quantity of cotton, on board a steamer belonging to the Illinois Central Railroad Company, common carriers; which by the terms of the bill of lading was to be delivered' at Boston, Massachusetts, the consignees paying $4.75 per bale, “fire and the unavoidable dangers of the river only excepted” The bill of lading which referred to the cotton as shipped by “Trout ¿-Son” was signed in four; two copies being given to…
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Trout & Son shipped at Memphis, on the Mississippi, a large quantity of cotton, on board a steamer belonging to the Illinois Central Railroad Company, common carriers; which by the terms of the bill of lading was to be delivered' at Boston, Massachusetts, the consignees paying $4.75 per bale, “fire and the unavoidable dangers of the river only excepted” The bill of lading which referred to the cotton as shipped by “Trout ¿-Son” was signed in four; two copies being given to Trout & Son, of which they retained one, forwarding the other to the York Company in New England, for whom the cotton was…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Field
The right of a common carrier to limit his responsibility by special contract has long been the settled law in England. It was the subject of frequent adjudication in her courts, and had there ceased to be a controverted point before the passage of the Carrier’s Act of 1830.
In this country, it was at one time a subject of much controversy whether any such limitation could be permitted. It was insisted that, exercising a public employment, the carrier owed duties at common law, from which public policy demanded that he should not be discharged even by express agreement with the owner of the…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Cole v. Goodwin & StoryNew York Supreme Court · 1838
- Atwood v. Reliance Transportation Co.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1839
3Cited by140 opinions
- Adams Express Company v. CroningerSupreme Court of the United States · 1912
- Hart v. Pennsylvania RailroadSupreme Court of the United States · 1884
- Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Co. v. HarrimanSupreme Court of the United States · 1913
- Boston & Maine Railroad v. HookerSupreme Court of the United States · 1914
- Phœnix Insurance v. Erie & Western Transportation Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1886
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