Cuyahoga River Power Company v. Northern Realty Company

Citation37 S.Ct. 643,61 L.Ed. 1153,244 U.S. 300
Decision Date04 June 1917
Docket NumberNo. 342,342
PartiesCUYAHOGA RIVER POWER COMPANY, Plff. in Err., v. NORTHERN REALTY COMPANY and the Northern Ohio Traction & Light Company
CourtUnited States Supreme Court

Messrs. Carroll G. Walter, John L. Wells, and William Z. Davis for plaintiff in error.

Messrs. Joseph S. Clark, John C. Weadock, and T. H. Hogsett for defendants in error.

Mr. Chief Justice White delivered the opinion of the court:

The Cuyahoga River Power Company, plaintiff in error, was chartered under the laws of Ohio to build and maintain a system of dams, canals, and locks in the Big Cuyahoga river for the generation of electricity for light, heat, and other purposes. The corporation was granted authority to acquire by condemnation or purchase property necessary for the conduct of its business. In July, 1911, the Power Company commenced this action against the Northern Realty Company, one of the defendants in error, to condemn a large tract of land owned by it adjacent to the river. After the suit was brought this land was sold by the defendant company and was ultimately acquired by the Northern Ohio Traction & Light Company, chartered by the state to operate an interurban electric railway, and upon the land thus bought by it after the commencement of the suit that company, for its charter purposes, built and was operating two large power plants.

Upon its own motion the Traction Company was made a party to the pending suit for expropriation. In conformity with the Ohio statutes regulating the procedure in eminent domain, four preliminary questions were required to be passed upon by the court without a jury, and, if decided in favor of the plaintiff, a jury was then required to determine the question of compensation. The four preliminary questions were these: (a) the existence of the petitioning corporation, (b) its right to make the appropriation, (c) its inability to agree as to the compensation to be paid for the property, and (d) the necessity for the appropriation. The defendants not only relied upon these four preliminary propositions, but also resisted the taking on the ground that a condemnation of the land under the petition of the Power Company would be incon- sistent with and destructive of the public use to which the land had been applied by the Traction Company. The court did not come to a jury trial on the question of compensation because, after hearing evidence on the preliminary issues, on motion of the defendants it entered an order dismissing the petition, no reason for such decision having been expressed.

The case was taken to the court of appeals, it being assigned as error that the trial court had erred in its rulings on the four preliminary questions, and it was further alleged that the refusal of the court to order the condemnation of the land upon the theory that it was not subject to be condemned because, after the suit had been brought, it had been acquired by the Traction Company and by it dedicated to a public use, constituted an impairment of the contract rights of the plaintiff and a taking of its property without due process of law, in violation of the Constitution of the United States. Following a judgment of affirmance without a written opinion, the Power Company applied to the supreme court of the state to direct the court of appeals to certify the record for review, which was denied, and a writ of error which was prosecuted to the court of appeals from the supreme court was dismissed for want of jurisdiction for the stated ground that the case did not 'involve any question arising under the Constitution of the United States or the state of Ohio.' Because of the asserted denial of the alleged Federal rights referred to the case is here, the writ of error being directed to the court of appeals.

Our jurisdiction to review is challenged by a motion to dismiss, based upon two grounds which we consider separately.

1. It is contended that as, under § 237 of the Judicial Code [36 Stat. at L. 1156, chap. 231, Comp. Stat. 1916, § 1214], we have jurisdiction to review only final judgments of the highest court of the state in which a decision could be had, the...

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14 cases
  • United States Tennessee Valley Authority v. Powelson
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • 17 d1 Maio d1 1943
    ...and Ohio courts had held its charter did not authorize it to take lands essential to its project. Cuyahoga River Power Co. v. Northern Realty Co., 244 U.S. 300, 37 S.Ct. 643, 61 L.Ed. 1153. In the case now before us the North Carolina courts had held the power given by that State to this co......
  • Williams v. Kaiser
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • 8 d1 Janeiro d1 1945
    ...36, 27 S.Ct. 243, 51 L.Ed. 357; Adams v. Russell, 229 U.S. 353, 33 S.Ct. 846, 57 L.Ed. 1224; Cuyahoga River Power Co. v. Northern Realty Co., 244 U.S. 300, 303, 37 S.Ct. 643, 644, 61 L.Ed. 1153; Lynch v. New York, supra; Woolsey v. Best, 299 U.S. 1, 57 S.Ct. 2, 81 L.Ed. 3; McGoldrick v. Gul......
  • Michigan v. Long, 82-256
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • 6 d3 Julho d3 1983
    ...Co. v. Norfolk & Ocean View Ry. Co., 228 U.S. 596, 599 [33 S.Ct. 605, 606, 57 L.Ed. 982]; Cuyahoga River Power Co. v. Northern Realty Co., 244 U.S. 300, 302, 304 [37 S.Ct. 643, 644, 645, 61 L.Ed. 1153]." 293 U.S., at 54-55, 55 S.Ct., at The Court today points out that in several cases we ha......
  • Wilson v. Cook Cook v. Wilson
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • 22 d1 Abril d1 1946
    ...436, 56 S.Ct. 532, 533, 80 L.Ed. 778, and that its decision was necessary to the judgment. Cuyahoga River Power Co. v. Northern Realty Co., 244 U.S. 300, 304, 37 S.Ct. 643, 645, 61 L.Ed. 1153, and cases cited. The record in this case does not disclose that at any time in the course of the p......
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