Huntsville gazette., 1883-06-02
erfv N without due proces of law and

erty % without due process of law and
(2) without Just compensation.
The right to exercise this sovereign
privilege of eminent domain is chiefly
valuable in this country to the railroad
corporations, which could not construct
then lihesacrd6S States or acquire the
title 10 re 4 estate for their rpad-beds at
al Unless Vie power to seize: condemn
and take such property had been given
them by the highest authority This is
an important and indispensable right to
the corporations, and without its exer-
else they could not exist. But when its
money value is considered apart from
what might properly be called hePolice
regulation which it confers, it is of very
small account, and exists I'M theory
rather than in practice. For example,
if the Legislature of Illinois should
grant a charter to a railroad corpora
sfionto construct a railroad across the
State, from point to point, the privilege
granted would consist chiefly in the
easement, or the right to take the prop
erty one hundred feet wide from each
terminus of the line, according to law,
whether the owners were willing or not,
by paying therefor "a reasonable COM
pensation." At this point the corpora
ton falls back on the right of eminent
domain, and the individuals fall back
on their reserved rights under the Con-
stitution, and they exact the full value
of their property. 1t is notoriously true
also that railroad corporation which
has been clothed with this inherent
sovereign" power of eminent domain is
generally compelled to pay a, much
higher rate for the property it needs for
its use than private individual would
be obliged to pay for the purchase of
the same realty. 1t pays the penalty of
being acorporation and Of being desti-
tute of q soul the nome mt that a jury is
summoned by@ the court to- sas-
sess the damages and estimate the
value of the land which is needed for
its occupation. In numerous instances,
in all sections of the country where
railroad corporations have been acqtir-
ing the right of way, they have found
it cheaper to purchase the entiretfact
of land which was penetrated by their
line, and afterwards resell what was
not wanted. 1t is, therefore, the poles.
regulation that is admitted to exist that
really makes the authority to exercise
the right Of eminent domain of mucn
value to either the corporations or the
people. The companies pay a high
price in cash in the end for all they ac-
quire, more in proportion than any
other purchasers are required to pay,
and the people, through the Legislature,
still assert the right of control over
them. They require them to conform
to the laws which have been or may be
,enactedw for their government The
ri chit of eminent domain is of great i'm
portance both ITO the corporations using
it and the people granting it, not 50
much because Of the money value of
the franchises and privileges given on
one side and accepted .on the other as
from the continued right to maintain
the sovereignty Of the people over all
the creatures that exist by the act Of
their Legislature. If it We're possible
for railroad to construct its lines in q
new and unsurveyed territory, tres
passing upon no private PERSONS prop
erty, crossing neither public highway
nor navigable water course. and hold
in ngtitsehartergorIly from the Congress
Of the Tinted States, the Legislature of
the Territory whenever it met, or of the
State that may afterwards be formed
out of it, or the people, would still as
sert and maintain this s'inherent SOW
ereign power of eminent domain over
the corporation.