Northern Pac. Ry. Co. v. United States

The plaintiff in error was defendant in the court below to an action brought by the government to recover penalties for the alleged violation of the act of Congress of March 4, 1907, entitled “An act to promote the safety of employés and travelers upon railroads by limiting the hours of service of employés thereon” (34 Stat. p. 1415).

The complaint contained several counts based upon alleged excessive hours of service by the several members of the same train crew, and the case was submitted to the court below without a jury upon a written stipulation of facts, and an additional stipulation between counsel made on the trial. The written stipulation, in addition to stating the incorporation of the railroad company, and that it is a common carrier engaged in interstate commerce, etc., is as follows:

On the trial it was further agreed between the attorneys for the respective parties as follows:

*110 Upon the foregoing facts, so agreed to, the judgment of the court below in favor of the government was based. From the delay of 45 minutes in starting the train from Tacoma, the railroad company must have anticipated that there would necessarily be delays en route because of the…