New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-09-11

TIE legislature has though. proper TO guard the right
of the people 10 the free use OF their roads oy en-
oining the defendants not to impede or oosIuc mem
Tkis iEjrnefIoE Il ros rrong 10 dSrrgdLd, ereh J4T
the soks Of a suDposeT pubic benefit. The people
have rejected the boon which the company rendered
them and the State pdrdHs pa.r'de now demands iof
tn, I'm the rights which are secured and reserved oy
her own laws"
If there be any ft answer for such logic that
does not imply a horse-whip, We do not under
stand the case. There is not q Railroad in the
land which could not be legally torn all to pieces
in pursuance of the spirit Of this dietua.
We give the decree of the Court in full as
legal curiosity. We desire to place before the
eyes of all citizens and strangers who may here
after be tempted to build Railroads in Ptnnsyl-
yania what ought to serve as timely warning;
"DEcKEE.
This cause came on be heard before the So
preme Court the bill Of complaint on the answer
II The 6efepdsrts and on the proofs and evidence
taken BY both parties, and was argued oy COUNSEL
and thereupoD il appears to this Court thar tue de-
PENDANTS have built, and do now use and MAINTAIN
certrit railroad known a. the Erie and Nortn east
Railroad Of which said railroad part IL within the
present limits of the City of Erie, and upon certain
streets thereof and another part upon the bed OF Ger
tain pubc road known as the Buffalo road, IN Haroor
Creek township, Erie County; and that the SAID rail-
road in ihose parts thereof Is a puohe ana common
nuisance. II is therefore
{" Ordered. adjndeed and decrer9 that the defend
ants shall on OF before the expiration OF four months
from this date break up much OF their sid road as
lies upon the said streets and noon the Buffalo road,
and remove the materials thereof, as TO leave tho
said streets and road in as good condition as they
were in before the construction of said railroad
And it is further declared and adjudged that the
said Defendants are bound 10 make the borough OF
Erie with such limits it had in ls42 the western
terminus Of their railroad. 1t is therefore decreed
aud ordered that the said defendants shall, within
four months from this date, change the route aud
construction of their railroad accordingly, and make
i.ir western terminus at what the eastern line
of the said borough in 1912 within the same bOr-
ough Aud the said defendants shall reconstruct
their railroad TO supply the parts hereby ordered to
he broken up, according to plans and specifications
10 be by them made and TO be submitted to and APP
proved by this Court, full notice 10 the counsel OF
tire COmmonN ealth and not otherwise. And the de-
ferdan shal pay all lawful costs to be taxed by the
Pro;bonotary
This seems tOlerably steep to us outsiders;
but even this does not seem quite up to the high
water mark Of Pennsylvania justice and magma
pimity Mr. Justice Lowrie "a suggestive nancy
dissents from the Courts judgment as not suffi-
GENTLY stringent in its acquisitions, and pro-
ceeds to Indicate he points on which he thinks it
could be improved, Pennsylvania We can
make room only for his emnently benign and
Lowrie-ke conclusion:
LET it be called illiberal to break the connection
between this road and the western one. This is mat
ter for u.s. but for the Legislature to consider aud
perhaps they have done so. Ii Is not impossible THAI
we may allow the cry of iberality to drive Us into
Quixotic sDd practicable cosmopolitan. State
pride State enterprise, PATRIOTISM IS sehshDess; but
II is the very form of sel6shness that is at the bottom
of all national glory. Itust thGt IS not TO be frt
trtd 0ray be- he mere Amerc0n tesiiRg which Is al
ways tending TO oberate the local and more effective
f,h &c out of which our present liberties grow aud
NJ on which they depend
No Judge there is not the least danger that
1.-THE very form of selishness" you doat on will
"be FILTERED away by the mere American feel
sing" in the breasts of such patriots as you so
wortbiy dispense justice for. You need not have
barbored the apprehension.
Let us here indicate exactly what we hope
and trust the abused and plundered directors and
stockholders of the road thus struck at will do
and that is, conform implicitly 10 the SaPreme
Courts decision. Let them make no compromises,
no bargains with the brdge-burners, but take up
heir straight track in Harbor Creek and ziz-zag
around aud across the old Buffalo road; then
ct them take up so much of their own track as
les within the borough of Erie, aud procure
comfortable carriages in which to carry their
passengers from the terminus of the Ohio Road
20 the Supreme Courts terminus of the Erie
and North-E East. This DONE let them cause the
TACT to be generally known that they have been
driven TO this course by the people of Erie and
their PeDDsylyaD abettors who will not allow
them to 90 around Erie, (Which they would very
gladly do,) yet forbid and prevent their going
through her dominons. There let them wait, and
let the American People judge between them aud
their prosecutors. The came authority that pre-
vented the Judicial destruction Of the Suspension
Bridge over the Ohio at Wheeling may decide
that there shall be an uninterrupted unembar-
raised mail route through Erie