United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Sultan Railway & Timber Co. v. Department of Labor, 277 U.S. 135 (1928)

Sultan Railway & Timber Co.

v. Department of Labor and Industries

Nos. 274 and 275

Argued March 5, 1928

Decided May 14, 1928

277 U.S. 135

Syllabus

1. An order of a state bureau requiring a manufacturer to report the number and wages of employees, and to pay premiums or assessments into the state workmen's compensation fund out of which injured employees are compensated is a " statute" of the state within the meaning of Jud.Code, § 237(a). King Mfg. Co. v. Augusta, ante, p. 277 U. S. 100. P. 277 U. S. 136.

2. Employment on a navigable river in assembling saw logs there in booms for towage elsewhere for sale, and the breaking up of booms which have been towed on such a river to a saw mill and the guiding of the logs to a conveyor extending into the river by which they are drawn into the mill for sawing is employment of a local character having only an incidental relation to navigation and commerce, and the rights and obligations of the employees and their employers arising from injuries suffered by the former may be regulated by the local compensation law. P. 277 U. S. 137.

141 Wash. 172 affirmed.

Page 277 U. S. 136

Error to judgments of the Supreme Court of Washington, affirming judgments which upheld an order of the respondent, requiring the petitioners to make reports and deposits under the state workmen's compensation law.