People ex rel. Moloney v. Pullman's Palace-Car Co.

• Citation: 51 N.E. 664,175 Ill. 125
• Parties: PEOPLE ex rel. MOLONEY, Atty. Gen., v. PULLMAN'S PALACE-CAR CO.
• Decision Date: 24 October 1898
• Court: Supreme Court of Illinois

175 Ill. 125

51 N.E. 664

PEOPLE ex rel. MOLONEY, Atty. Gen.,

v.PULLMAN'S PALACE-CAR CO.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Oct. 24, 1898.

Appeal from circuit court, Cook county; Frank Baker, Judge.

Quo warranto by the people, on relation of M. T. Moloney, the attorney general, against Pullman's Palace-Car Company, to forfeit its charter. From a judgment in favor of defendant, the people appeal. Reversed.

Craig, Wilkin, and Cartwright, JJ., dissenting.Maurice T. Moloney, Atty. Gen., pro se (T. J. Scofield, M. L. Newell, Samuel Richolson, and George E. Bacon, of counsel), for the People.

John S. Runnells and William Burry, for appellee.

BOGGS, J.

This is an information in the nature of a quo warranto, filed by the attorney general in the circuit court of Cook county, in the name and on behalf of the people of the state of Illinois, against Pullman's Paulace-Car Company. Said company is a corporation, organized in 1867 by a special act of the legislature of Illinois, entitled ‘An act to incorporate Pullman's Palace-Car Company.’ 2 Priv. Laws 1867, p. 337. The act is as follows:

‘Section 1. Be it enacted by the people of the state of Illinois, represented in the general assembly: That George M. Pullman, John Crerar and Norman Williams, Jr., and their associates, successors and assigns, be and are hereby created a body politic and corporate, under the name and style of ‘Pullman's Palace-Car Company,’ with all powers, rights, privileges and immunities incident to corporations and necessary or useful for the purposes of this act: provided, that if the corporation created by this act shall not organize within one year after the passage hereof, then this act shall be null and void.

‘Sec. 2. The capital stock of the said company shall be $100,000, and be divided into shares of $100 each, and it may be increased from time to time as a majority of the stockholders may direct, and shall be issued and transferred in such manner and under such conditions as the directors of the said company shall, by the by-laws thereof, prescribe.

‘Sec. 3. The corporate powers of the said company shall be vested in and exercised by a board of directors, consisting of such number of persons, not less than three nor more than seven, as the stockholders of the said company may, from time to time, direct. The said directors shall be chosen by the stockholders at such time and place as may be fixed by the by-laws of the said company, and shall hold their offices for one year and until their successors are elected and qualified. They shall elect one of their number president of said company, and may fill any vacancy in the said board, occasioned by death, resignation or otherwise, for the unexpired portion of the office so becoming vacant, and make such rules, by-laws and regulations, and appoint such officers and servants, as they may, from time to time, deem expedient. Until an election of directors as herein provided, the persons named as corporators in the first section of this act shall constitute a board of directors, and shall have and may exercise all the powers of such board.

‘Sec. 4. The said corporation shall have power to manufacture, construct and purchase railway cars, with all convenient appendages, and supplies for persons traveling therein, and the same may sell or use, or permit to be used, in such manner and upon such terms as the said company may think fit and proper.

‘Sec. 5. The said corporation shall have power to borrow money, and may secure the payment of the same by deed of trust, mortgage or other security.

‘Sec. 6. It may be lawful for the company hereby incorporated to purchase, acquire and hold such real estate as may be deemed necessary for the successful prosecution of their business, and may have power to sell and convey the same.

‘Sec. 7. This act shall be deemed a public act, and shall take effect from and after its passage.’

The information sets out the charter of the defendant, and then alleges certain acts which are alleged to be usurpations by the defendant of powers not conferred by its charter, and concludes with a prayer for the forfeiture of the charter of the corporation. The allegations contained in the information of the usurpations of power on the part of the defendant are, in substance, as follows: First. That it owns and controls a large tenstory business block, together with the ground on which it stands, worth $2,000,000, in the business center of the city of Chicago; that it rents three-fourths of said block to persons, firms, and corporations, and derives a large income therefrom; that this business block is located many miles from its works, or what is called the ‘Town of Pullman,’ and a small portion of it only is occupied by the company's employés; that this business block was built as an investment, and not because it had any real necessity therefor. Second. That it owns 50 acres of ground at Pullman, Ill., which are covered with two-story brick dwelling houses and three-story apartment dwellings; that all these houses are rented by it, and it derives therefrom large rentals; that the dwellings and apartment buildings, so rented, furnish homes for 12,000 people, and are worth a large amount of money, and are usurpations of power on its part. Third. That it owns 50 acres of ground in said town of Pullman which are used for streets, alleys, and ornamental grounds, and that the same is very valuable, and that the owning of such lands for such purposes is a usurpation of power. Fourth. That it owns 15 acres of ground on which are erected, among other buildings, the Arcade Building, the Hotel Florence, and some school houses; that the Arcade Building is a large business block, and is rented by the company to different persons, and there are carried on their various and different kinds of business by the tenants occupying the same; and that said Arcade Building yields a rich profit to said company. Fifth. That it owns two churches in said town of Pullman, together with the ground on which they are erected, and it rents said church edifices to different congregations, and derives a large profit therefrom. Sixth. That it owns a number of school houses in said town, and the ground on which they are erected, and they are rented by it to the authorized educational authorities, and it derives a large income therefrom. Seventh. That it owns a large hotel, located in said town, and which is known as the ‘Hotel Florence’; that said company operates and controls said hotel, and pays for the supplies consumed therein, and for all help employed in and about said hotel; that it employs and pays a manager to look after said hotel; and, in connection with said hotel, it owns and operates a barroom or saloon, and which saloon is located in said hotel building, and that in said saloon it sells all kinds of whiskies, intoxicating liquors, and other drinks; that a government license is annually taken out for saloon purposes; and that the keeping and maintaining said hotel and the keeping and maintaining said saloon are all done for profit, and a large income is derived therefrom. Eighth. That it owns a theater and the ground whereon it stands, and that the same is done for profit; that it employs a manager to manage the same, and plays, operas, and other attractions are performed therein. Ninth. That it owns a large hall, known as ‘Market Hall,’ and the ground whereon it stands; that said hall is rented by it for divers purposes for which large halls of the kind are rented in cities, and a large income is derived therefrom. Tenth. That it owns a large gas plant, and operates the same in said town of Pullman, and rents said gas to the 12,000 people, residents of said town, to light their homes and for purposes of consumption, as well as to light said streets, and that from all these sources a large profit is derived. Eleventh. That it owns and carries on a system of water mains and service pipes within the town of Pullman, and through these supplies, for profit, water to the different industries located in said town, as well as to the residences and apartment houses owned and rented by it; that it purchases said water from the city of Chicago and other sources, and sells the same, as aforesaid, for a large profit. Twelfth. That it owns a plant for generating steam, and owns the pipes to convey the steam to the residences of its said tenants in the town of Pullman, and supplies said tenants in said town with such steam, together with merchants and others, for pecuniary profit, and derives a large income therefrom. Thirteenth. That it owns and operates a large brick plant at Pullman; that it manufactures and sells brick, and places upon the market, wherever purchasers can be found, brick so manufactured; that it has been for many years a competitor in the market for the sale of brick. Fourteenth. That it owns and operates a system of sewerage pipes and a pumping plant connected therewith; that through said sewerage pipes the sewerage and refuse accumulated in said town of 12,000 inhabitants is pumped onto a large farm owned by it, and spread over the same; that said company cultivates said land so manured, and raises thereon large quantities of cabbage, celery, beets, and other vegetables, and sells the same in the city of Chicago and other cities where it can find a market therefor, and makes shipments of such produce to the city of New Orleans; and that it realizes in this way large sums from operating said sewerage system and cultivating said farm. Fifteenth. That it operates, in this state and elsewhere, through leases or contracts, a number of cars, and in these, day and night, carries and sells for profit stocks of whiskies, wines, beer, and other malt and intoxicating liquors; that such whiskies, etc., are carried and sold for pecuniary gain, and, in doing so, it derives a large profit therefrom. Sixteenth. That it owns near the Belt Line road 25 acres of ground which it does not use. Seventeen...