Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1874-06-25

VILE lawyer, IN recent leJtcr TO tnc IH0nStFldt
Ace, has expressed his "Views in reply TO
the opinion of Judge f. r. Hoar, on the Wis
consin Railway acts, - from which the fellow
ing is extracted:
Judge Hoar says:
The conclusions to which / have arrived are
these:
FYrsf-Are these acts valid under the Constitution
Of the United States and under that of Wisconsin,
have not been able 10 decide that the second
named of these statutes is in any respect pncOnst
tutional and void The provision that all railroads
shall be public highways is one the exact meaning
and import of which il is not easy TO understand.
That railroads highways. In the sense that their
uses public. aud that taking land for their con
strGC1on Il lustlhable exercise OF the power OF
eminent domain, is abundantly settled by judicial
decisions.-Otc0H gS. ne Supervisors, 10 wallace,
67S
If no more than this is intended. the declaration
seems to be unimportaut, and makes no change of
existing law.
1t is wellsetted rule of jurisprudence
that if the language of an act of the Legisla-
ture can be so construed, by any fair interpre-
tatios of its meaning, as to bring it within the
Constitution it SHALL receive that nterpreta-
ton by the courts and be held constitutional.
From Judge Hoar's statement of the question
ii would seem, to common observer, that
the application of this rule-and no man UNI
derstands its force better than he-should
have ended all doubts in the mind of the
Judge as to the consttutionality Of the act
under examination. The Judge proceeds:
IT, however, more is meant and the statute in
tends new appropriation to public use, 1t hardly
needs to be stated that private property cannot be
taken for public use without compensation. No
compensation is provided by the statute and the
property OF the corporation cannot thus be taken
from them without their consent. The other pro-
visions of the statute do not seem to me to change
in any material effect the existing powers and OBJ
legations of the railroad company, or are such "a
fan within the cearly-reserved power Of legisla-
tive regulations.
This has the appearance of creating man
of straw for the purpose of destruction-in
plain terms, an attempt to render obscure
proposition in itself about which there cannot
be an honest doubt. 4 1t is clear
to my mind that on the Judges first state
ment of the question, he believed the act con-
stitutional, and that the second paragraph il
only thrown in to help out the idea SO indus
triously inculcated by the press of this State
in the interest of the railroad companies, that
these acts are blind and incomprehensible as
well as impracticable.
That part of Mr.. Hoar's opinion above
quoted is supposed to relate to chapter 213 of
the Statutes of 1874, approved April ~ 1874,
this is the act which declares all railroads
Dubljc high,c0yS The question as to whether
the Legislature had the right to make those
roads public highways in any broader sense
than they were 80 made by their charters, or
were so at the common law, will be met by
March IL, 1874, and known as chapter 34l of
the laws of 1874, in which the Legislature
does, beyond any question, assume the right
and power, in its own discretion, to alter,
amend, or repeal these charters. y x
The second part of Mr. Hoar's opinion, in
which he treats of the act of March H. 1874.
4 = He says:
The effect of the other statute is much grayer
subject for determination. BY the several acts
which constitute the charter of the railroad com,
pany, the right is conferred upon il 10 fix and
regulate it, own rates OF toll fares aud freight.
BY the statute of March II, 1874, the Legislature
of Wisconsin assumes TO fix, by an absolute and
arbitrary limit, the rates of passenger fares and
some classes of freight, and to delegate 10 com
missioners the power to fix the rates upon other
classes of freight. The right to exact tolls or
charge freights obviously granted in the char
ter as consideration for the service which the
corporation assumed TO render to the public. The
charter was a contract between the State and the
corporation; and by the Constitution OF Wiscon-
sin and the Constitution OF the CnitedStaes alike,
the State cannot pass a law which impairs the
validity of a contract
The legislation In question is therefore clearly
invalid, unless it can be maintained upon that
clause in the Constitution of Wisconsin which re-
serves 10 the Legislature the power to alter or re-
peal all general special laws under which they are
formed at any time af ter their passage. Art NJ,
sec. |.
This brings in view the main question:
Has the Legislature the constitutional power
to ALTER OR REPEAL these charters: Had the
else of the sovereign power which rests with
them alone, so far as the limits of the State
extend, to say, as they do in the Constitution
of the State Art Nl., Sec. /, that corpora
tons may be formed under general laws, but
shall not be created by special act, except
for municipal purposes, and IN cases where,
in the judgment OF the Legislature, the OBJ
jeCts Of the corporations cannot be attained
under the general laws. All general laws or
special acts en- acted under the provisions Of
this section NAY be altered or repealed By the
legislature al any time after their passage
This provision stood the test of the discus
sion of two conventions and was adopted,
venture to say, without respectable dissent
ing minority among the people of the State;
for if people ever were unanimous on any
one subject, the people of Wisconsin were at
that time on the necessity of holding absolute
control of all corporations grated by It's Leg
islature. The people intended that the adop'
ton Of the Constitution should be the closing
scene in the contest between the corporations,
on the one hand, and the people of Wisconsin
on the other, for supremacy. They were well
Instructed in the history of all corporations
They knew that corporations had been az
gressive, seeking to absorb the power and The
wealth Of all nations In TINS
temper the hrst Wisconsin convention
assembled and adopted a constitution OF
which the present limitation was in substance
A part. No man then dare oppose thar llmlta-
ton before the people any more than he
would now dare 10 advocate its repeal it,
principles and objects were very fully dis
eUsSgd in both conventions, and the article a.
i now stands was passed through the last
convention with hut one dissenting vote,
aud with the people 30 pro-
vision Of tac constitution was. 50 popular
To gtcapitulate in q few words, mt
claimed that lhe people intended to reserve
lal control Of these corporations including
The power exercised by the Legislature, IN the
enactment OF THESE laws; CD this is proven
ay the history Of the times, the knowledge