Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Georgia, 234 U.S. 280 (1914)

234 U.S.
280
34 S.Ct. 829
58 L.Ed. 1312
ATLANTIC COAST LINE RAILROAD COMPANY, Plff. in

Err.,
v.
STATE OF GEORGIA.
No. 24.
Argued April 17, 1913.
Decided June 8, 1914.
Messrs. Henry L. Stone, Alfred P. Thom, Alexander Hamilton, and Robert

C. Alston for plaintiff in error.
[Argument of Counsel from pages 281-284 intentionally omitted]
Mr. Thomas S. felder, Attorney General of Georgia, for defendant in
error.
[Argument of Counsel from pages 284-286 intentionally omitted]
Mr. Justice Hughes delivered the opinion of the court:
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company, the plaintiff in error, was convicted
of violating a statute of the state of Georgia known as the 'headlight law.' Pub.
Laws (Ga.) 1908, pp. 50, 51; Civil Code, 2697, 2698. In defense is was
insisted that the act contravened the commerce clause and the 14th Amendment
of the Constitution of the United States. On appeal from the judgment of
conviction, the court of appeals of the state of Georgia certified the questions
thus raised, together with others involving the application of the state
Constitution, to the supreme court of the state. Answering these questions, that
court sustained the validity of the statute (135 Ga. 545, 32 L.R.A.(N.S.) 20, 69
S. E. 725), whereupon final judgment was entered and this writ of error was
sued out.
The material portions of the statute are as follows: 'Section 1. Be it enacted by
the general assembly of Georgia, and it is hereby enacted by authority of the

same, that all railroad companies are hereby required to equip and maintain
each and every locomotive used by such company to run on its main line after
dark with a good and sufficient headlight, which shall consume not less than
300 watts at the arc, and with a reflector not less than 23 inches in diameter,
and to keep the same in good condition. The word main line as used herein
means all portions of the railway line, not used solely as yards, spurs, and side
tracks.
3
'Section 2. Be it further enacted that any railroad company violating this act in
any respect shall be liable to indictment as for a misdemeanor in any county in
which the locomotive not so equipped and maintained may run, and on
conviction shall be punished by fine as prescribed in 1039 of the Code of
1895. . . .
'Section 4. Provided this act shall not apply to tram roads, mill roads, and roads
engaged principally in lumber or logging transportation in connection with
mills.'
The contention is made that this act deprives the company of its liberty of
comtract, and of its property without due process of law. It compels the disuse
of a material part of the company's present equipment, and the substitution of a
new appliance. The use of locomotive headlights, however, is directly related to
safety in operation. It cannot be denied that the protective power of
government, subject to which the carrier conducts its business and manages its
property, extends as well to the regulation of this part of the carrier's equipment
as to apparatus for heating cars or to automatic couplers. The legislature may
require an adequate headlight and whether the carrier's practice is properly
conducive to safety, or a new method affording greater protection should be
substituted, is a matter for the legislative judgment. But it is insisted that the
legislature has gone beyond the limits of its authority in making the specific
requirements contained in the act as to the character and power of the light and
the dimensions of the reflector. This argument ignores the established principle
that if its action is not arbitrary,is reasonably related to a proper purpose,
the legislature may select the means which it deems to be appropriate to the end
to be achieved. It is not bound to content itself with general directions when it
considers that more detailed measures are necessary to attain a legitimate
object. Particularization has had many familiar illustrations in cases where there
has been a conviction of the need of it; as, for example, in building regulations
and in provisions for safeguarding persons in the use of dangerous machinery.
So far as governmental power is concerned, we know of no ground for an
exception in the case of a locomotive headlight.
It cannot be said that the legislature acted arbitrarily in prescribing electric

light, in preference to others, or that, having made this selection, it was not
entitled to impose minimum requirements to be observed in the use of the light.
Witnesses for the plaintiff in error, including its general superintendent of
motive power and other employees holding important positions and conversant
with the exigencies of operation, presented their objections to the use of the
electric headlight. Locomotive engineers who, for many years, had driven
locomotives with such a light, testified for the state, expressing a decided
opinion in favor of the use of electric headlights in the interest of safe
operation, and submitting their views in answer to the objections that had been
urged. Assuming that there is room for differences of opinion, this fact does not
preclude the exercise of the legislative discretion. So far as the question was
one simply of expediency,as to the best method to provide the desired
security, it was within the competency of the legislature to decide it. New York
& N. E. R. Co. v. Bristol, 151 U. S. 556, 571, 38 L. ed. 269, 274, 14 Sup. Ct.
Rep. 437; Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. Illinois, 200 U. S. 561, 583, 584, 50 L.
ed. 596, 605, 606, 26 Sup. Ct. Rep. 341, 4 Ann. Cas. 1175; McLean v.
Arkansas, 211 U. S. 539, 547, 548, 53 L. ed. 315, 319, 320, 29 Sup. Ct. Rep.
206; Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. McGuire, 219 U. S. 549, 568, 569, 55 L. ed.
328, 338, 339, 31 Sup. Ct. Rep. 259, and cases there cited.
As to the objection that the statute makes no provision for conditions beyond
the carrier's control, it is sufficient to say that in the light of the construction
placed upon the act by the supreme court of the state, we are not at liberty to
regard it as open to this criticism (135 Ga. pp. 561, 562); certainly, no such case
is here presented. We conclude that there is no valid objection to the statute
upon the ground that it deprives the carrier of liberty or property without due
process of law.
The further contention is that the statute offends in denying to the plaintiff in
error the equal protection of the laws. Specifically, the complaint is that the act
does not apply to receivers operating railroads, and that it expressly excepts
tram roads, mill roads, and roads engaged principally in lumber or logging
transportation in connection with mills. As to the first, it cannot be said that the
act does exclude receivers from its requirements. The state court has ruled that
the words 'railroad company' in the statute include natural persons as well as
corporations. It declined to decide that receivers were not included; but,
conceding, without deciding, that they were not, it was held that the statute
would not for that reason violate the equal protection clause in view of the
temporary and special character of receivers' management. 135 Ga. pp. 555,
556. We concur in this view. As to the exceptions made by the statute of tram
roads, mill roads, etc., it is impossible to say that the differences with respect to
operation and traffic conditions did not present a reasonable basis for
classification. Lindsley v. National Carbonic Gas Co. 220 U. S. 61, 78, 81, 55
L. ed. 369, 377, 378, 31 Sup. Ct. Rep. 337, Ann. Cas. 1912C, 160; Barrett v.
Indiana, 229 U. S. 26, 30, 57 L. ed. 1050, 1052, 33 Sup. Ct. Rep. 692; German
Alliance Ins. Co. v. Kansas, 233 U. S. 389, 418, 58 L. ed. , 34 Sup. Ct.
Rep. 612.
9
Finally, it is urged that the statute constitutes an unwarrantable interference

with interstate commerce. The locomotive with respect to which the accusation
was made was at the time being regularly used in the hauling of interstate
freight trains over the company's main line of railroad, and was equipped with
an oil headlight. The statute, as the supreme court of the state said, was not
directed against interstate commerce, but it was held that it incidentally applied
to locomotives used in hauling interstate trains while these were moving on the
main line in the state of Georgia. This being so, the act is said to be repugnant
to the exclusive power of Congress. It is argued that if Georgia may prescribe
an electric headlight, other states through which the road runs may require
headlights of a different sort; that, for example, some may demand the use of
acetylene, and that others may require oil; and that, if state requirements
conflict, it will be necessary to carry additional apparatus and to make various
adjustments at state lines, which would delay and inconvenience interstate
traffic.
10
The argument is substantially the same as that which was strongly presented to
the court in New York, N. H. & H. R. Co. v. New York, 165 U. S. 628, 41 L.
ed. 853, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 418, where the plaintiff in error was held subject to
penalty for the violation of a New York statute which in substance made it
unlawful for any steam railroad doing business in that state to heat its passenger
cars, on any other than mixed trains, by any stove or furnace kept inside of the
car or suspended therefrom. The railroad company was a Connecticut
corporation having but a few miles of road within the state of New York, and
operating through trains from New York through Connecticut to Massachusetts.
As this court said in its opinion, the argument was made that 'a conflict between
state regulations in respect of the heating of passenger cars used in interstate
commerce would make safe and rapid TRANSPORTATION IMPOSSIBLE;
THAT TO STOP An express train on its trip from new York to Boston at the
Connecticut line in order that passengers may leave the cars heated as required
by New York, and get into other cars heated in a different mode, in conformity
with the laws of Connecticut, and then at the Massachusetts line to get into cars
heated by still another mode, as required by the laws of that commonwealth,
would be a hardship on travel that could not be endured.' But the court ruled
that these 'possible inconveniences' could not affect 'the question of power in
each state to make such reasonable regulations for the safety of passengers on
interstate trains as, in its judgment, all things considered, is appropriate and
effective.' Supra, pp. 632, 633.
11
In thus deciding, the court applied the settled principle that, in the absence of
legislation by Congress, the states are not denied the exercise of their power to
secure safety in the physical operation of railroad trains within their territory,
even though such trains are used in interstate commerce. That has been the law
since the beginning of railroad transportation. It was not intended that, pending
Federal action, the use of such agencies, which, unless carefully guarded, was
fraught with danger to the community, should go unregulated, and that the
states should be without authority to secure needed local protection. The
requirements of a state, of course, must not be arbitrary, or pass beyond the
limits of a fair judgment as to what the exigency demands, but they are not
invalid because another state, in the exercise of a similar power, may not
impose the same regulation. We may repeat what was said in Smith v.
Alabama, 124 U. S. 465, 481, 482, 31 L. ed. 508, 513, 514, 1 Inters. Com. Rep.
804, 8 Sup. Ct. Rep. 564: 'It is to be remembered that railroads are not natural
highways of trade and commerce. . . . The places where they may be located,
and the plans according to which they must be constructed, are prescribed by
the legislation of the state. Their operation requires the use of instruments and
agencies attended with special risks and dangers, the proper management of
which involves peculiar knowledge, training, skill, and care. The safety of the
public in person and property demands the use of specific guards and
precautions. . . . The rules prescribed for their construction and for their
management and operation, designed to protect persons and property, otherwise
endangered by their use, are strictly within the limits of the local law. They are
not per se regulations of commerce; it is only when they operate as such in the
circumstances of their application, and conflict with the expressed or presumed
will of Congress exerted on the same subject, that they can be required to give
way to the supreme authority of the Constitution.' See also Nashville, C. & St.
L. R. Co. v. Alabama, 128 U. S. 96, 32 L. ed. 352, 2 Inters. Com. Rep. 238, 9
Sup. Ct. Rep. 28; Hennington v. Georgia, 163 U. S. 299, 41 L. ed. 166, 16 Sup.
Ct. Rep. 1086; New York, N. H. & H. R. Co. v. New York, supra; Lake Shore
& M. S. R. Co. v. Ohio, 173 U. S. 285, 43 L. ed. 702, 19 Sup. Ct. Rep. 465;
Missouri P. R. Co. v. Larabee Flour Mills Co. 211 U. S. 612, 53 L. ed. 352, 29
Sup. Ct. Rep. 214; Missouri P. R. Co. v. Kansas, 216 U. S. 262, 54 L. ed. 472,
30 Sup. Ct. Rep. 330; Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co. v. Arkansas, 219 U. S. 453, 55
L. ed. 290, 31 Sup. Ct. Rep. 275; Minnesota Rate Cases (Simpson v. Shepard)
230 U. S. 352, 402, 410, 57 L. ed. 1511, 1542, 1546, 48 L.R.A. (N.S.) 1151, 33
Sup. Ct. Rep. 729.
12
If there is a conflict in such local regulations, by which interstate commerce

may be inconvenienced,if there appears to be need of standardization of
safety appliances, and of providing rules of operation which will govern the
entire interstate road, irrespective of state boundaries,there is a simple
remedy; and it cannot be assumed that it will not be readily applied if there be
real occasion for it. That remedy does not rest in a denial to the state, in the
absence of conflicting Federal action, of its power to protect life and property
within its borders, but it does lie in the exercise of the paramount authority of
Congress, in its control of interstate commerce, to establish such regulations as,
in its judgment, may be deemed appropriate and sufficient. Congress, when it
pleases, may give the rule and make the standard to be observed on the
interstate highway.
13
It is suggested that Congress has acted in the present instance. Reference is

made to the act of March 2, 1893, chap. 196 (27 Stat. at L. 531, U. S. Comp.
Stat. 1901, p. 3174), relating to power driving-wheel brakes for locomotives,
grab irons, automatic couplers, and height of drawbars; to the act of March 2,
1903, chap. 976 (32 Stat. at L. 943, U. S. Comp. Stat. Supp. 1911, p. 1314),
amending the act of 1893; to the act of May 27, 1908, chap. 200 (35 Stat. at L.
324, 325, U. S. Comp. Stat. Supp. 1911, p. 1325) authorizing the Interstate
Commerce Commission to keep informed regarding compliance with the
safety-appliance act, and to investigate and report on the need of any appliances
or systems intended to promote the safety of railway operations; to the act of
May 30, 1908, chap. 225 (35 Stat. at L. 476, U. S. Comp. Stat. Supp. 1911, p.
1326), relating to locomotive ash pans; to the act of April 14, 1910, chap. 160
(36 Stat. at L. 298, U. S. Comp. Stat. Supp. 1911, p. 1327), relating to sill steps,
hand brakes, ladders, running boards, and hand holds, and providing that the
Interstate Commerce Commission should, after hearing, designate the number,
dimensions, location, and manner of application of these appliances, and of
those required by the act of 1893; to the detailed regulations prescribed by the
Commission, on March 13, 1911, pursuant to this authority; to the act of May 6,
1910, chap. 208 (36 Stat. at L. 350, U. S. Comp. Stat. Supp. 1911, p. 1329),
requiring the Commission to investigate accidents and make report as to their
causes, with such recommendations as they may deem proper; and to the act of
February 17, 1911, chap. 103 (36 Stat. at L. 913, U. S. Comp. Stat. Supp. 1911,
p. 1333), relating to locomotive boilers.
14
But it is manifest that none of these acts provides regulations for locomotive
headlights. Attention is also called to the investigations conducted by what is
known as the 'block signal and train control board' (organized by the
Commission), and the reports of that board with respect to sundry devices and
appliances, including headlights. It does not appear, however, either that
Congress has acted, or that the Commission, under the authority of Congress,
has established any regulation so far as headlights are concerned. As to these,
the situation has not been altered by any exertion of Federal power, and the case
stands as it has always stood, without regulation, unless it be supplied by local
authority. The most that can be said is that inquiries have been made, but that
Congress has not yet decided to establish regulations, either directly or through
its subordinate body, as to the applicance in question. The intent to supersede
the exercise of the state's police power with respect to this subject cannot be
inferred from the restricted action which thus far has been taken. Missouri P. R.
Co. v. Larabee Flour Mills Co. 211 U. S. 612, 53 L. ed. 352, 29 Sup. Ct. Rep.
214; Savage v. Jones, 225 U. S. 501, 533, 56 L. ed. 1182, 1194, 32 Sup. Ct.
Rep. 715.
15
The judgment is affirmed.
16
Affirmed.

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Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Georgia, 234 U.S. 280 (1914)

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234 U.S.

ATLANTIC COAST LINE RAILROAD COMPANY, Plff. in

Messrs. Henry L. Stone, Alfred P. Thom, Alexander Hamilton, and Robert

The material portions of the statute are as follows: 'Section 1. Be it enacted by

the general assembly of Georgia, and it is hereby enacted by authority of the

It cannot be said that the legislature acted arbitrarily in prescribing electric

Finally, it is urged that the statute constitutes an unwarrantable interference

If there is a conflict in such local regulations, by which interstate commerce

It is suggested that Congress has acted in the present instance. Reference is

The judgment is affirmed.

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