New-York tribune., 1895-02-15
CHARTER NOT FORFEITED.
ATTORNEY HANCOCK DENIES
THE STRIKERS APPLICATION.
TIL, DpooK1,YN HEIGHTS RAILROAD COMPANY
CANNOT BE PUNISHED FOR UNLAWFUL ACTS
or IT'S oFFICERs-No GROUNDS FOR


CANNOT BE PUNISHED FOR UNLAWFUL ACTS
OF IT'S oFFIcERs-No GROUNDS FOR
AxNrILrNG THE FRANCHISE.
Albany. Feb 14-Attorney General Hancock has
den,ed the applicaton of certain persons request
ing him 10 begin an action 10 deprive the BROOK
lyn HEIGHTS Railroad Company or It's char'er' IN
the course of his opinion he says
IL would be indeed difficult 10 denonstra'e mo-; nov
the action which | am requested to bilns "ou'n
b. Of any benefit to the men VINO nav pee,a @
thrown out of employment. and who, In common
with many others. have suffered III ,t, ~
csllei bubble attention 10 the city OF Brookiyn.
Actions Of the kind demanded in TINS appncailon s
70 persons Of limited means and small saVlIg5,
who been induced to invest tneir o,r a.
the stock of corporatons ana acconp,iIsb paIibv synd
spending gain and advantage to wea,iiny HshaJ ssha
and individuals who are at
much less than their actual value: - $500.
have examined T.th care , tne ,be p,,Tpos OF
determining whether the facts Presesn'ehh h hr,nr
tute cause Of acton or wCorI cornoratoH franchis
II IS important to distinguish between VIOLATIONS
OF the law committed by ndividuas "n1
70 a CORPORATION itself It was claimed upon the
hearing that the officers OF the Ran ten hours
per day In violation Of the provisions o! t'e s.a
tes regulating the hours OF an1r II by the state
in cities OF 10000 inhabitants and oyer, o T.r.
Ger OF corporation VINO vlolates p 'mane ur,oms
TO the public. the employees and the corpordM.o, M IT,
selr for which he Is liable to be punished oy poln
Ane and imprisonment. and the public interests s,i IN
my Judgment require proper eniSrceinen1 V .i
statite Blu; such condition OF anars constitutes
no ground for bringing an acuon 10 al.sr as,,has t
franchise OF the corporation Inc Ia" pt .s
the penalty against the officer ana no, against '"e
Another ground OF the forfeiture suggested upon
,he argument was that the companys cars nave
been running at too high rate OF speed; % he anu
greater than mat prescriTsa oy %
arc common 10 every city in the State. and pre-
scribe penalty for their violation. ana nue. nue.
of tho ten hour law would be applicable 10 an
ure 10 observe ordinance OF city resuia.'ns
ru,,bi, ~ ,he mower OF the officials OF the city to
ro,on, The bubble by enforcing the laws and city
General in the absence OF some provision
OF law establishing such ground OF torie'tyre. w a
corporation for running its cars at what may be
considered too great a -ate OF speed, ur ., ,,o
companv 10 run its during the strike does
not constitute ground for the totte'usr W II al
D,n rrccs1cnts O. tho state to operate its cars In
The absence Of the regular employees.
The Attorney. General also gave his decision in the
matter Of the application 70 begin action to remove
benjamin Norton as president OF the A''a'i"0 ~
nuo railroad Company. Daniel F Lewis as president
-, tho Rro,klvn Heights Railroad Company lie
SAYS In denying this application;
These applications are made on the theory 'ha;
the presidents Of these corporations have yioatei ih
,,,,i.i ns OF CHAPTER j29 " the laws OF lesi WhlV
,,,,s the hours OF labor per day to be psriormr,,
hv EMPLOYEES In the operation OF street surtdcs anu anu
f,,..l railroads owned or operated ny corpoFatphS
,ncornc rated under the laws Of this state; WHO'S
,,f, linaa = travel whose routes lie princlpaIy
~ ~ ,hn cornorate limits OF cities OF more than
lcS co. inhabtants This chapter makes 1t crimina
n.r,s fnr any officer or agent or sucn corp'rd'iou
W W -, fror, any OF rs employees more than ten
hours labor the same to be performed during we've
consec,t Tive hours with not less than ohe-ha'' hou'
for dnner constituting day. , ..,. .
The papers before me allege IN genera ternis =
vlon ton Of the law. but the allegations mus %
roy. v legal evidence which. 40 far as the presi-
dents are concerned. has not yet been preSehel 10
H. NJ -, ~ or hereafter 10 be made that II can be
sstablished by competent proof that the presidents
- ,ha cnmpanies have broken the law by exactlng
x.essiva hours OF labor from their employees. the
cnses viii receive further consideration