Home Telephone Co. v. City of Carthage

Decision Date21 March 1911
Citation235 Mo. 644,139 S.W. 547
PartiesHOME TELEPHONE CO. v. CITY OF CARTHAGE.
CourtMissouri Supreme Court

Graves, J., dissenting.

In Banc. Appeal from Circuit Court, Jasper County; Hugh Dabbs, Judge.

Action by the Home Telephone Company against the City of Carthage. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Reversed and remanded.

J. D. Harris, H. L. Shannon, and R. A. Hockensmith, for appellant. Howard Gray, Mooneyham & Phelps, and E. L. Shepherd, for respondent.

KENNISH, J.

This suit was instituted in the circuit court of Jasper county on the 28th day of August, 1907, by the respondent, the Home Telephone Company, herein referred to as the complainant, against the city of Carthage, appellant, and certain officers of said city. The act of the General Assembly 1907, known as the "Public Utilities Act," now sections 9568, 9569, and 9570, Revised Statutes of 1909, had gone into force and effect shortly before the filing of this suit, and pursuant to the power conferred upon municipalities by said act, the city of Carthage had adopted an ordinance regulating the telephone business and prescribing maximum rates of charge for the use of telephones within said city. Immediately upon the taking effect of said ordinance, complainant brought this suit for the purpose of having the court decree and adjudge the ordinance invalid and the rates therein prescribed unreasonable, and to have the city and its officers restrained and enjoined from taking any steps for the enforcement thereof. A restraining order was issued upon the filing of the petition, and upon final hearing at the February term, 1908, the said ordinance was adjudged invalid and the rates prescribed unreasonable, and the city and its officers were perpetually enjoined as prayed for in the petition. The city alone, in due time, appealed to this court. After the appeal was perfected complainant filed a motion in this court praying that the cause be advanced on the docket and assigning as a reason therefor that under the provisions of said act of 1907 the case was entitled to precedence over other civil causes. This motion was sustained, and the case is now before us for decision.

The petition alleged substantially the following facts: That plaintiff was incorporated under the laws of this state in the year 1902, and now owns and operates a telephone exchange in the city of Carthage and adjoining territory. That the defendant is a municipal corporation, organized under the laws of this state as a city of the third class, and that the other defendants are officers of said city, charged with the enforcement of its ordinances. That on the 25th day of March, 1895, an ordinance, which is set out in extenso, was adopted by the said city, granting a franchise to the American Electric Telephone Company, its successors and assigns, to construct and maintain a telephone exchange and telephone lines, with all of the rights incident to and necessary for the carrying on of a telephone business in said city. The provisions of said ordinance exempted the said telephone company from the payment of special licenses and taxes, and, in consideration therefor, the company obligated itself, its successors and assigns, for the period of 20 years from the date of the acceptance of the ordinance, to perform certain agreements therein set out, one of which was that the grantee would furnish telephone service to subscribers at the rate of $24 per annum for business houses and $18 for residences within a radius of one mile from the exchange of said company, which exchange should be located as near as possible to the business center of said city. That the said grantee assigned and conveyed all of its property and franchise rights in said city of Carthage, including its exchange, to Wheeler & Clark, and that the latter made the same transfer and assignment to the Mineral Belt Telephone Company, which in turn, on the 6th day of September, 1902, made a like conveyance and assignment to the complainant and that the latter has ever since owned and operated said telephone exchange, with all of the rights and privileges in connection therewith. It is alleged that said property of the plaintiff within the city of Carthage represents an investment of $150,000 and is reasonably worth that amount, all of which is necessary for the carrying on of said business. That to operate said telephone property in said city of Carthage and adjacent territory and to meet the fixed charges, consisting of interest and a renewal reserve, will require an outlay and total expense of $28,402.28 per annum. That plaintiff is supplying 1,396 subscribers in said city with telephone service, and that plaintiff had established and put into effect a rate for single line telephones of $30 per year for business houses and $24 for residences, and for party line services $24 per year for business houses and $18 for residences. That the rates so fixed are...

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26 cases
  • State ex rel. St. Louis v. Publ. Serv. Commission., 29865.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Missouri
    • 18 Noviembre 1930
    ... . 34 S.W.2d 507 . THE STATE at Relation and to Use of CITY OF ST. LOUIS, Appellant, . v. . PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION and T.J. BROWN ...Home Tel. Co. v. Carthage, 235 Mo. 644, 139 S.W. 547, 48 L.R.A. (N.S.) 1061; ...Board of Public Utility Commissioners v. Telephone Co., 217 U.S. 23; Monroe Gas Light & Fuel Co. v. Public Utilities ......
  • Carter v. Boone County Trust Co., 32147.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Missouri
    • 18 Marzo 1936
    ......United B. & Elec. Co. v. West, 280 U.S. 234; Home Tel. Co. v. Carthage, 235 Mo. 644; 1 Page on Contracts (1 Ed.), sec. 641, ... at the northeast intersection of Ninth and Broadway streets in the city of Columbia. This building burned and another building was erected. In ......
  • State ex rel. and to Use of City of St. Louis v. Public Service Commission
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Missouri
    • 18 Noviembre 1930
    ...... balance in the depreciation reserve account should be. deducted from original cost. Home Tel. Co. v. Carthage, 235 Mo. 644, 139 S.W. 547, 48 L. R. A. (N. S.). 1061; Brooklyn Borough ... property actually owned and used. Board of Public Utility. Commissioners v. Telephone Co., 217 U.S. 23; Monroe. Gas Light & Fuel Co. v. Public Utilities Commission, 292. F. 147; ......
  • City of Joplin v. Wheeler
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Missouri (US)
    • 29 Julio 1913
    ......& Eng. Cas. 1098;. State ex rel. v. Murphy, 134 Mo. 560; City of. Plattsburg v. Telephone Co., 88 Mo.App. 311; Kansas. City v. Richardson, 90 Mo.App. 450; City of. Lancaster v. ...410, 117 P. 451, 26 Am. & Eng. Ann. Cas. 56; Telephone Co. v. City of. Carthage, 235 Mo. 667 and 668. (4) While there is a. conflict in the decisions of the various States as to ... prohibit party telephone lines ( Home Telephone Co. v. City of Carthage, 235 Mo. 644, 667-8, 139 S.W. 547),. although single lines to ......
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