The Grange advance., 1873-11-05

sustaining the constitutionality of the law.
shall not notice the opinion Of the Court
in the case in which the State was plaintiff,
as the vital questions were considered in
the other in which, by common consent,
the only question examined was the consti-
tutionality Of the law.
JUDICIAL OPINIONS. ..t
The Court, after stating the case, refers
to the several acts from which the railroad
in question derives its privileges, and calls
attention to the fact that ''by none Of them
is any authority to charge any toll for
freight or passengers carried over its road
expressly granted" The court below held
that prior to the passage of the act of 1871
the company possessed this authority by
implication, and that this right was sacred
as one Of its essential franchises vested in
the company Immediately upon its accept
ance of it's charter. The Supreme Court
and the defendant is that the latter may
ders, and that the right is one of its essen
]
"The franchise in question being priv
ilege of the sovereign, and which the SOW
ereign alone could impart, was originally
in the sovereign's control in every respect
1t was, therefore, entirely competent for
the Legislature, in comforting such fran
chise, to retain authority to control the de-
fendant in its exercise. Possessing such
right originally, it must continue to pos
sess it, that is to say, it must retain it in
any given case in so far as it does not part
with it by comforting exemption therefrom
upon the recipient Of the franchise. 1t fol-
lows, as respects this franchise, that the
sovereign which controls it retains its or
iginal right to control the defendant in its
exercise of the same, in so far as it has not
surrendered its authority.
"The contract here, we assume, is that
the defendant may take some tolls That
is what the sovereign granted it, To the
extent to which such grant necessarily
involves exemption from legislative control,
as aforesaid, the sovereign has surrendered
such original right Of control-no further.
The Legislature may also from time to
time regulate the use of the franchise
and limit the amount of the toll which it
shall be lawful to take, in the same man
ner as they may regulate the amount Of toll
to be taken at ferry or for grinding at a
mill, unless they have deprived themselves
Of that power by legislative contract with
the owners of the road. Has the
State surrendered it with respect to this
, highway? Is an agreement that the de-
fendant may take some tolls, expressly or
by necessary implication, an agreement
that the State will never assume to regulate
the use of the franchise and limit the
amount of tolls the defendant may take?
This question must be answered in the
negative. The State, we assume, has con-
ferred upon the defendant the right to make
some charge, i. e., to take some tOll-not
any specified rate Of toll, nor to take tolls
within any designated limits, nor to take
reasonable tolls. The right conferred is
simply to take tolls. If this right cannot,
in the nature Of things, exist along with
the right aforesaid in the Legislature, to
regulate its use and limit the amount OF
tolls the defendant may take, then, Of
course, the right to control is gone. But
it is obvious that the two can coexist, e. g.,
right simply to take some toll can be ex-
ercised to its full extent under a law fixing
maximum rate of toll, for, in taking such
maximum rate. some toll is taken, and the
extent of the right is only to take some toll.
As, therefore, the fixing Of maximum rates
of toll by the act of 1871 does not inteAfere
with the defendants right to take some
tolls, it is not unconstitutional as impairing
: the obligation Of any contract between the
defendant and the State, and it was compe-
tent for the Legislature to enact it in the
exercise Of its unsurrendered authority to
control the defendant in the exercise of the
franchise conferred"
. MINNESOTA THE MOST PROSPEROUS OF WEST
III ERN FARMING STATES.
find more signs of material prosperity
among the agricultural population of Min
nesota than in any State have visited since
I came West. The wheat crop, which is
this year nearly all stacked in good condi-
tion, is the staple crop of the State. and is
the largest and best in quality ever pro-
duced. Nobody with whom l have talked
estimates the surplus for export from the
State at less than 80, ,O0O, 900 bushels, and
the present indications are that the most OF
it will bring to the farmer at the nearest
railroad station about 80 cents a bushel
Making full allowance for lower grades
and all possible losses, this crop alone can
not fail to bring into the State more than
$25, 600, 900 cash, of which 81, ,000, 900 OF
Sc, 900, 900 will be clear profit, after paying
for labor, rent Of land, seed, and deducting
the wheat used by the people Of the State.
Not only is the crop larger and better than
ever before, but it will make more and
better flour than could have been made of
it in any previous year. Ever since l ar
rived at DUBUQUE | have heard the people