Case Name: John Jacob Astor et al., Resp'ts, v. The New York Arcade Railway Company, App'lt; A. P. Bailey et al., Respts, v. The New York Arcade Railway Company, App'lt
Court: New York Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1889-03-12
Citations: 22 N.Y. St. Rep. 1
Docket Number: 
Parties: John Jacob Astor et al., Resp’ts, v. The New York Arcade Railway Company, App’lt. A. P. Bailey et al., Respts, v. The New York Arcade Railway Company, App’lt.
Judges: 
Reporter: New York State Reporter
Volume: 22
Pages: 1–13

Head Matter:
John Jacob Astor et al., Resp’ts, v. The New York Arcade Railway Company, App’lt. A. P. Bailey et al., Respts, v. The New York Arcade Railway Company, App’lt.
(Court of Appeals,
Filed March 12, 1889.)
1. Arcade Railway Company—No legal authority to construct.
The New York Arcade Railway Company has not legal authority to construct and operate a railway under Broadway and Madison avenue, in the city of New York.
2. Same—Constitutional law—Laws 1868, chap. 842—Does not confer
railroad powers—Constitution, art. 8, § 16—Not violated.
The defendant was incorporated under Laws of 1868, chapter 842, entitled “An act to provide for the transmission of letters, packages and merchandise in the cities of New York and Brooklyn, and across the North and East rivers, by means of pneumatic tubes, to be constructed beneath the surface of the streets and public places in said cities and under the waters'of said rivers.” Held, that this act did not confer railroad powers upon the corporation; that it authorized the formation of a manufacturing corporation, with the incidents, powers and duties of such corporation, so far as they were consistent with the purposes of the act, and that the formation of a corporation for the sole purpose of constructing, maintaining, using and operating pneumatic tubes was a matter fairly embraced within the title of the act, and that section 16 of article 3 of the constitution, which provides that “no private or local bill which may be passed by the legislature shall embrace more than one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title,” was not violated.
'3. Same—What not a railway within the meaning of the constitution.
The railways referred to in the constitution and general laws of this state are those for the general carriage of property or passengers, or of both, and a railway which may be operated in small pneumatic tubes by atmospheric pressure for the transmission of small packages is not a railway within such meaning.
4. Same—Laws 1873, chap. 185, amendatory of chapter 842 of Laws
1868, IN VIOLATION OF SECTION 16 OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONSTITUTION.
In 1873 an act was passed (chapter 105 or that year) entitled “An act supplemental to and amendatory of chapter 842 of the Laws of 1868; an act entitled ‘An act to provide for the transmission of letters, packages and merchandise in the cities of New. York and Brooklyn, and across the North and East rivers, by means of pneumatic tubes to be constructed beneath the surface of the streets, squares, avenues and public places in" said cities and under the waters of said rivers,’ passed June 1, 1868; and of chapter 512 of the Laws of 1869, entitled ‘An act supplementary to chapter 843 of the Laws of 1868, in relation to carrying letters, packages- and merchandise by means of pneumatic tubes in New York and Brooklyn,’ and to provide for the transportation of passengers in said tubes.”' By this amendatory act the defendant was given power to construct, maintain and operate an under-ground railway for the transportation of passengers and property under Broadway and Madison avenue by means of tubes of large exterior diameter sufficient for the construction of a railway or railways therein for the running of cars and carrying of passengers therein, and also, to construct in connection with said tubes two or more tracks of railway, with the necessary turnouts and stations for ingress and egress and accommodation of passengers, and for the receipt and discharge of packages and freight: Meld, that the construction of such railway by such a corporation is not a subject expressed in the title of the act, and that such act is therefore in violation of section 16 of article 3 of the constitution above mentioned.
5. Same—Title must suggest subject dealt with.
The title of an act must be such, at least, as fairly to suggest or give a-clew to the subject dealt with in the act, and unless it comes up to the standard, it falls below the constitutional requirement.
6. Same—Private or local bill—Laws oe 1886, chap. S’S—Within
PROHIBITION OE CONSTITUTION.
The authority of the legislature to legislate under the grant of power by the constitution of the state, when exercised by a private bill on behalf' of a corporation, cannot, under the guise of measures for the regulation of the exercise of the corporate powers and franchises, be upheld by the court when, by a practical construction, it permits what is forbidden by the amendment of 1875 to the constitution, prohibiting the legislature from passing a private or local bill granting to any corporation the right to lay down railroad tracks, or any exclusive privilege, immunity or franchise whatever: Further held; that chapter 312 of the Laws of 1886, amending- and enlarging the charter ef the defendant corporation-, fell within the-prohibition of the constitutional amendment. Per Gray, J.
7. Same—What within provision of constitutional amendment of-
1875.
When enlargement of corporate powers becomes indistinguishable from a grant of new substantive rights, within the purview of the constitutional amendment of 1875, then the mischief is accomplished to prevent which that amendment was designed. Per Gray, J.
Appeal from a judgment of the supreme court, .general term, first department, reversing a judgment in favor of the defendants sustaining a demurrer to the plaintiff’s-complaint.
Edward B. Thomas, Delos McCurdy, Chas. P. Daly and James C. Carter, for appl’t; Henry H. Man, Joseph S. Auerbach, Noah Davis and John F Dillon, for respt’s.
Affirming 16 N. Y. State Rep., 141; see also 3 id., 188.

Opinion:
Earl, J.
—The sole question for our determination is, whether the defendant has legal authority to construct and operate a railway under Broadway and Madison avenue in the city of New York.
The defendant traces its corporate existence to the act chapter 842 of the Laws of 1868, entitled "An act to provide for the transmission of letters, packages and merchandise in the cities of New York and Brooklyn, and across the North and East rivers by means of pneumatic tubes, to be constructed beneath the surface of the streets and public places in said cities, and under the waters of said rivers." The first section of the act authorized and empowered Alfred E. Beach and other persons named and their assigns, '"to lay down, construct and maintain one or more pneumatic tubes in the soil beneath the surface, squares, avenues and public places in the cities of New York and Brooklyn, and under the bed of the waters of the East river between said cities, and also under the bed of the waters of the North river from the city of New York to the shore of New Jersey, but at such depth as not to interfere with navigation; and to convey letters, parcels, packages, mails, merchandise and property in and through said tubes for compensation by means of vehicles to be run and operated therein by "the pneumatic system of propulsion; and to the end that the public convenience may be promoted in the operation of the said vehicles, the said persons and their assigns are -also hereby authorized and required to erect upon the sidewalks of the said streets, squares, avenues and public places suitable ornamental lamp posts, boxes, pillars or xeceptacles, not exceeding thirty inches in diameter connected with said pneumatic tubes for the deposit of letters, packages and property to be transmitted therein;" and it provided that the tubes should not extend through any vault nor under any sidewalk fronting on private property without the consent of the owners of such private property, and compensation to them which should be ascertained and determined in case the parties could not agree in the manner provided by the general railroad act of 1850. Section 2 provided that the pneumatic tubes should be so constructed as to have a mean interior diameter of not exceeding fifty-four inches. Section 5 authorized the persons named in the act to hold a meeting and determine the terms and conditions "upon which the powers, privileges and franchises conferred by the act might be transferred to a corporation to be organized as provided in the next section; and section 6 provided that in case the persons attending the meeting named in the prior section should so determine, they might organize themselves into a corporation in the manner specified in the general manufacturing act of 1848, and the acts amendatory "thereof, " for the purpose of constructing and maintaining "the pneumatic tubes aforesaid, and using and operating the same as hereinbefore authorized; " and that the corporation-so organized shall "possess all the powers and privileges •conferred by said acts, and be subject to all the duties and obligations imposed therein, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act."
In August, 1868, in pursuance of the powers conferred by the act, the persons therein named organized themselves into a corporation by the name of "The Beach Pneumatic Transit Company," and in the certificate executed and filed by them they declared that the object of the corporation was "to construct and operate pneumatic railroads in the cities of New York and Brooklyn and under the waters, of the North and East rivers, and to exercise all the powers, privileges and franchises conferred upon said corporation by the act" of 1868; that the capital stock should be-$5,000,000 and that the corporation should continue in existence for the term of fifty years.
'The certificate could give the corporation no greater powers than was conferred by the act of 1868, and to that-act we must look for the scope and measure of its powers.
The act did not confer railroad powers upon the corporation, and did not subject it to any of the railroad acts, except for the purpose of ascertaining the compensation to be paid to the owners of property interests in the streets. It-authorized the formation of a manufacturing corporation with the incidents, powers and duties of such a corporation, so far as -they were consistent with the purposes off the act. The corporation formed was, in fact, a manufac7 turing corporation, not, however, with the general power to engage in any manufacturing business, -but for the sole-purpose of constructing, maintaining, using and operating the pneumatic tubes.
The formation of such a corporation was a matter fairly embraced within the title of the act. It was an appropriate instrumentality to accomplish the purposes of the act, and in no sense a new and independent subject. The legislature having authorized the construction and operation of the pneumatic tubes, could, in the act itself, have created the corporation, or could have authorized its organization-under any of the general laws of the state adapted to the-formation of any business corporation, and the formation of such a corporation would be germane to the main purpose of the act as indicated by its title.
While the general manufacturing laws regulated the corporation as to its mode of existence, its manner of action and its corporate life and being generally, yet all its powers and duties related, and were confined, to the construction, maintenance, use and operation of the pneumatic tubes,, and, therefore, section 16 of- article 3 of the constitution,, which provides that "no private or local bill which may be-passed by the legislature shall embrace more than one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title," was not, as contended on behalf of the plaintiffs, violated.
What do the words pneumatic tubes mean ? They convey to our minds no other meaning than that of tubes for the transmission of parcels operated by atmospheric pressure applied within the tubes. The parcels may be transmitted outside the tubes upon vehicles attached to a piston operated within the tubes by atmospheric pressure, or they may be transmitted within the tubes by atmospheric pres sure applied behind them. But they are in no sense railways.
Such a tube may contain vehicles placed upon wheels, and the wheels may run upon rails or in grooves, and yet the structure could not, according to the popular sense, or any legal sense, be what is generally known as a railway. The tubes may be so constructed that in a technical or scientific sense the structure might be called a railway; and so too any structure upon which vehicles may be moved upon rails, however peculiar or small, may in some limited sense be called a railway, and yet it may not be a railway within the meaning of the constitution and the general laws of the state. When they speak of railways they always mean railways either for the general carriage of property or of passengers, or of both; and a railway which may be operated in small pneumatic tubes by atmospheric pressure for the transmission of small packages, is not within such meaning.
Such was the character and status of the corporation, organized under the act of 1868. That act was amended, by the act, chapter 512 of the Laws of 1869, entitled 16 An act supplementary to chapter 842 of the Laws of 1868, in. relation to carrying letters, packages and merchandise by means of pneumatic tubes in Hew York and Brooklyn;" but there is nothing in that act pertinent to the present, discussion.
From 1868 to the commencement of this action in 1886,. so far as this record discloses, nothing whatever was done-by the corporation except to change its name several times, and to procure acts of the legislature purporting to en-, large its powers and extend its corporate life. Ho pneumatic tubes have been constructed, and it is a fair inference from the admitted facts that the system for the pneumatic transmission of property was before the year 1873 found to be impracticable. It had been tried in various parts of Europe, but had proved a failure, and for the general transmission of property or passengers was in the year 1873 nowhere in use. Chamber's Encyclopedia, titles "Atmospheric Railway" and "Pneumatic Dispatch;" Encyclopedia Brittanica, title "Atmospheric Railway;" Appleton's Cyclopedia, title, "Atmospheric Railway;" Johnson's Cyclopedia, title, "Pneumatic Transmission."
In 1873 the persons interested in the corporation, as we may infer, being aware of its insufficiency for any practical purpose, concluded to procure an enlargement of its powers, and a radical change in its character and purposes, and therefore they obtained the passage .of the act, chapter 185, entitled " An act supplemental to and amendatory of chapter 842 of the Laws of 1868, an act entitled "An act to provide for the transmission of letters, packages and merchandise in the cities of New York and Brooklyn, and across the North and Bast rivers by means of pneumatic tubes, tq be constructed beneath the surface of the streets, squares, avenues and public places in said cities, and under the waters of said rivers," passed June 1, 1868; and of chapter 512 of the Laws of 1869, entitled "An act supplementary to chapter 842 of the Laws of 1868, in relation to carrying letters, packages and merchandise by means of pneumatic tubes in New York and Brooklyn, and to provide for the transportation of passengers in said tubes. "
The last phrase of this title ' ' and to provide for the transportation of passengers in said tubes," did not appear in the title of the act of 1869, and yet in the act in all its stages through the legislature, as approved by the governor, filed in the office of the secretary of state, and printed in the session laws, the quotation marks are so placed as to make the phrase appear to be part of that title. The title of the act therefore was well calculated to deceive any persons to whose attention it came while the act was under consideration in the legislature. But we will assume that this title is to have the same force and effect as if that of the act of 1869 had been properly quoted, and then the only addition to the titles of the prior acts, is the final phrase above quoted, and the only subject expressed in the title, is the transportation of property and passengers in pneumatic tubes. This title is assailed by the plaintiffs, as not in compliance with section 16 of article 3 of the constitution above quoted. A particular examination of the provisions of the act is therefore necessary. The first section provides that it shall be lawful for the Beach Pneumatic Transit Company "to construct, maintain and operate an underground railway, for the transportation of passengers and property," under Broadway and Madison avenue " by means of tubes of enlarged interior diameter, sufficient for the construction of a railway or railways therein, and for the running of cars, and the carrying of passengers therein; and also to construct in connection with said tubes two or more tracks of railway with the necessary turnouts and stations for the ingress and egress and accommodation of passengers, and for the receipt and .discharge of packages and freight, and said company shall have the right and privilege, subject to" the approval of the Board of Engineer Commissioners hereinafter provided for, to make connection with the Harlem and connecting railroads, at any point deemed best, at or above Forty-second street, and also to make connection with the'Hudson river railroad, at any point northerly of Fifty-ninth street." Section 2 provides, that the passenger tubes shall, as far as practicable, follow the center line of the streets, and shall not occupy in the aggregate a greater space than thirty-one feet in .width by eighteen feet in height, exterior measurement, and that they shall be laid and constructed under the supervision of a board of three Engineer commissioners whose duty it is to see that the " passenger tubes and railways " are constructed in a thorough and workmanlike manner; and that they shall constitute a board of commissioners, a majority of whom " shall determine whether the pneumatic system or other motive power, shall be adopted by said_ corporation for the propulsion of the cars running within said passenger tubes."
Section 4 authorizes the corporation to acquire the title to such real estate or interest therein as may be necessary to enable it to construct, operate and. maintain " said tubes, and railways," and to construct and maintain the proper platforms, stations and buildings at such points along the route of its tubes as may be convenient and suitable for the ingress and egress of its passengers, and for the receipt and discharge of freight and packages and necessary for the successful operation of "said tubes and railway, and for the, proper connections between said tubes and railway, platform, stations and buildings; " and in case the corporation is unable to agree with the owners of real estate for the purchase and use thereof, it is authorized to acquire the title to the same in the manner provided in the general railroad act of 1850; and in all cases the use of the streets, avenues, squares, grounds and public places, and the right of way under the same for the purpose of " said tubes and railway or railways therein," shall be considered and is declared to be a public use.
Section 5 provides that "it shall be lawful for said corporation to convey passengers on said railway or railways. through said tubes for hire," and regulates the rate of fare' that may be charged. ¡
Section 6 provides that the corporation shall commence" active operations in the construction of its works within six months after the passage of the act, and shall complete the section of passenger tubes with two railway tracks from Bowling Green to Fourteenth street within three years, and shall complete the remainder of the passenger tubes as authorized within five years thereafter.
Section 7 provides that the corporation shall not construct any station, depot or other building or work above the. surface of any land belonging to the city of New York either in its own right or as trustee without the consent of the' mayor and aldermen, but that nothing in the act shall be-construed to authorize the mayor and aldermen to donate, lease or sell any portion of any of the ground surface of any public park in the city beyond what may be absolutely necessary for the exit from and entrance to the railroad.
Section 9 provides that the corporation shall possess " all the powers and be subject to all the duties and liabilities imposed on railroad corporations by the laws of this state, not inconsistent with the charter of this company or the purposes of its incorporation."
Here we read nothing of pneumatic tubes or of propulsion by atmospheric pressure, nor even of pneumatic railways. We read of passenger tubes; but we must not be deceived by the juggle of words. We find authorized a grand underground railway, not less than fifteen miles long, with two or more trades, turnouts, platforms, stations, buildings and other appurtenances, with power to connect with surface steam railroads, to be operated through passage ways called tubes, eighteen feet in height and thirty-one feet in width exterior measurements, in fact, tunnels which could not be operated by atmospheric pressure.
What was before a manufacturing corporation was converted into a railroad corporation, or at least had super-added the powers, privileges, duties, and liabilities of railroad corporations under the general laws of the state, with authority by the consent of the engineer commissioners to use for the movement of its cars, horses, steam, or any other motive power. The construction of such a railway by such a corporation is certainly a subject not expressed in the title of the act. The only subject there indicated is the transportation of passengers and property through pneumatic tubes by atmospheric, pressure. A title purporting that an act provides for pneumatic transportation would not be sufficient for an act authorizing the construction and operation of a horse railway or a steam railway, as a title purporting that an act authorizes a line of omnibuses for the transportation of passengers would not be sufficient for an act authorizing the construction of a railway for the same purpose. The constitutional provision referred to has been deemed by statesmen and jurists conditones legmn of so much importance that it is found in the fundamental law of most of the states. Its purpose is to prevent fraud and deception by concealment in the body of acts subjects not by their titles disclosed to the general public and to legislators who may rely upon them for information as to pending legislation. When the subject is expressed, all matters fairly and reasonably connected with it, and all measures which will _ or may facilitate its accomplishment, are proper to be incorporated in the act, and are germane to the title. The title.must be such at least as fairly to suggest, or give a clue to the subject dealt with in tie act, and unless it comes up to this "standard, it falls below the constitutional requirement. The Mayor, etc. v. Colgate, 12 N. Y., 146; People v. Hills, 35 id., 449, 452; Matter of New York, etc., Bridge, 72 id., 527; Matter of Application of Department of Public Parks, 86 id., 439; People ex rel. Gere v. Whitlock, 92 id., 191; Matter of Knaust, 101 id., 188; Cooley's Constitutional Limitations, 141. Here the only subject suggested by the title is the transportation of passengers and property through pneumatic tubes by atmospheric prfessure, and everything appropriate and germane to that subject could be provided for in the act. But a person reading the title alone would have no clue whatever to the great railway scheme actually authorized by the act; and so the corporators themselves evidently regarded the act, for, finding that the corporation had outgrown its name, "The Beach Pneumatic Transit Company," they by the act, 503 of the Laws of 1874 had it changed to the "Broadway Underground Railway Company;" and in that act what were before called "tubes" are called " tunnels," and ten years later, by an order of the proper court, the name was again changed to the "New York Arcade Railway Company." While by the acts of 1874, chapter 454 of 1881 and chapter 312 of 1886, the charter of the corporation was amended and its powers greatly enlarged, pneumatic tubes, propulsion by atmospheric pressure and pneumatic railways are nowhere mentioned, and all that is left as a result of all the legislation is a grand scheme for underground railways operated by any motive power except such as shall emit "smoke, gas or cinders," which, if carried into effect, would doubtless be one of the marvels of the world. But if it is as desirable and safe as it is marvelous, it should be placed upon a constitutional basis, and make an undisguised appeal upon its merits for the public sanction.
Our conclusion, therefore, is that the act of 1873 for the insufficiency of its title is unconstitutional and void, and hence all subsequent legislation based upon that act must fall with it.
When the act of 1886 was passed, under- which the defendant proposes to lay down its tracks and to construct its underground railways, it had no power to construct "an underground railway for the transportation of passengers and_ general freight through tunnels, and, therefore, that act is in conflict with section 18 of article 3 of the constitution, which forbids the legislature to pass a private or local bill granting to any corporation the right to lay down railroad tracks, or to construct a street railroad except upon conditions mentioned in that section. Matter of N. Y. District R. Co., 107 N. Y., 42; 11 N. Y. State Rep., 753.
We need go no further. The conclusion already reached renders it_unnecessary to solve the various other questions argued with much ability and learning by the able counsel who appeared before us.
The judgment should bé affirmed, with costs.
All concur.