In Haskins v. St. Louis & Southeastern Railway Company & Another, the Supreme Court of the United States was asked to determine whether a railroad company was liable for damages caused by a train accident. The plaintiff, Haskins, was a passenger on the train when it collided with another train. He was injured in the accident and sued the railroad company for damages. The Supreme Court held that the railroad company was liable for the damages caused by the accident. The Court found that the railroad company had a duty to exercise reasonable care in the operation of its trains and that it had breached this duty by failing to take proper precautions to prevent the accident. The Court also held that the railroad company was liable for the damages caused by the accident, even though the accident was caused by the negligence of another train's engineer. The Court's decision established that railroad companies have a duty to exercise reasonable care in the operation of their trains and that they are liable for damages caused by their negligence. This decision has been cited in numerous cases since then and has been used to establish the liability of railroad companies for damages caused by their negligence.

Justice Field delivered the dissenting opinion in Haskins v. St. Louis & Southeastern Railway Company & Another, arguing that the majority's decision was contrary to established law and precedent. He argued that a contract between two parties should be enforced according to its terms unless there is some legal reason why it should not be, such as fraud or mistake of fact on either side. In this case, he believed that no such reasons existed and thus the contract should have been enforced as written by both parties without any modification from the court. Furthermore, Justice Field argued that if one party had made an error in entering into a contract then they must bear responsibility for their own mistakes rather than expecting another party to pay for them through modifications of contracts after-the-fact by courts or legislatures.