Page:Department of Public Utilities v. Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co.pdf/14

 true test is that of continuity—that is to say, continuous movement from the time the gas is placed in the pipe line in the state of production until its delivery to the customer in the state of destination. The Supreme Court of the United States in Missouri v. Kansas Gas Company, 265 U.S. 298, 44 S. Ct. 544, 68 L. ed. 1027, said: 'The transportation, sale, and delivery, constitute an unbroken chain, fundamentally interstate from beginning to end, and of such continuity as to amount to an established course of business. The paramount interest is not local, but national, admitting of and requiring uniformity of regulation.

From these comments in appellee's brief, it will be seen that there are two considerations upon which reliance is placed to impress with interstate characteristics the gas sold to its pipe line customers: (a) There must be continuous movement from the time the gas is placed in the pipe line in Louisiana until delivery to the customer in Arkansas; and (b) the transportation, sale, and delivery must constitute an unbroken chain from beginning to end—of such continuity as to amount to an established course of business.

The most recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States bearing directly upon the subject is Southern Natural Gas Corporation v. Alabama, 301 U.S. 148, 57 S. Ct. 696, 81 L. ed. 695. The gas corporation owned and operated an interstate transmission line extending from the gas fields of Northern Louisiana to Atlanta, and Columbus, in Georgia. Gas purchased by the corporation in Louisiana and Mississippi was transported through its line into Alabama, where supplies were withdrawn from the interstate line and delivered to customers, there having been four such customers in Alabama. Three of these customers were doing an exclusive intrastate business in supplying public utilities. The fourth customer was the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railway Company. This customer purchased gas for itself and affiliated companies for use as fuel, and was not a distributor of public utilities.