Jackson v. Suburban R. Co.

• Decision Date: 17 February 1899
• Citation: 178 Ill. 594,53 N.E. 349
• Parties: PEOPLE ex rel. JACKSON v. SUBURBAN R. CO.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

178 Ill. 594

53 N.E. 349

PEOPLE ex rel. JACKSON

v.SUBURBAN R. CO.¹

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Feb. 17, 1899.

Mandamus by the people, on the relation of Thomas M. Jackson, against the Suburban Railroad Company. Writ awarded.Thatcher & Griffen and Frank Little, for relator.

Knight & Brown, for respondent.

This is a petition filed in this court by the relator for a writ of mandamus against the respondent, the Suburban Railroad Company. The petition avers that the relator is a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the village of Lake Forest, and that the respondent, the Suburban Railroad Company, is a corporation organized under the laws of this state relating to the organization of railroad companies, and is, and since before March 17, 1897, has been, engaged in the business of extending, constructing, and operating an electric railroad through parts of the town of Cicero, the village of Harlem, and the village of River Forest, in Cook county, Ill.; that said village of River Forest is, and on and before March 17, 1897, was, a municipal corporation organized under general statutes of the state of Illinois providing for the incorporation of cities and villages; that on the said 17th day of March, 1897, said Suburban Railroad Company made legal application to the president and board of trustees of the village of River Forest for certain privileges and licenses set out in an ordinance hereinafter set forth; and that said president and trustees on March 17th aforesaid, in consideration of said application, adopted an ordinance, which is set out in full in the petition. Section 1 of said ordinance authorizes and permits the respondent company to operate its line of railroad, by electrical power only, over and along the lines of the railroads of the Chicago, Harlem & Batavia Railroad Company and of the Chicago & Wisconsin Railroad Company, from the point of connection with the first-named railroad to the northern limits of the said village, and to construct and maintain over, along, and upon any and all intervening streets, alleys, parks, and public places along said route, all poles, wires, and appurtenances, including feed wires, necessary or convenient for the purposes, in consideration of the undertaking of the respondent company to comply with the certain conditions contained in other sections of the ordinance. Section 2 provides that no part of the respondent railroad shall be operated in the village until its entire line to the northern limits of the village is completed and in operation. Section 3 specifies the height the wires shall be strung above the tracks, describes the poles to be used, where such poles shall be set, the method or manner of setting the poles, and commits the same to the supervision of the village authorities. Section 4 relates to the character of the cars to be used, and restricts the traffic of the road to passengers, their baggage, and express matter, and requires cars to be supplied with heat during certain designated months. Section 5 requires that cars shall be stopped, and passengers received and allowed to alight, at all intersections of streets, and at the middle of all blocks of more than 500 feet in length, at Hawthorn avenue, and such other points as the village authorities may afterwards designate. Section 6 is as follows: ‘Sec. 6. The permission and authority granted in section 1 hereof is upon the express condition that the said Suburban Railroad Company shall afford its passengers a continuous trip be tween any and all points along the line of railroad herein authorized to be operated in the village of River Forest, to the northern Limits of said village and any station on the loop line in the city of Chicago, and all intermediate points; or in case the loop line is not operated or ceases to be operated, then between said points in the village of River Forest and some point in the city of Chicago east of the south branch of the Chicago river and north of Harrison street, and all intermediate points: provided, that said passengers shall not be obliged to be transferred during said trip, except at the point of connection between the said Suburban Railroad and any elevated railroad running to and over said loop line or said point in the city of Chicago east of the South Branch of the Chicago river as aforesaid; and in consideration thereof the Chicago, Harlem and Batavia Railway Company and the Chicago and Northern Pacific Railroad Company, and the said Suburban Railroad Company, or the successors or assigns of either of said companies, shall not be required to run any car to the station of the Chicago and Great Western Railroad Company in said city of Chicago.’ Section 7 requires cars to be run between certain specified hours. Section 8 is as follows: ‘Sec. 8. The rate of fare shall not exceed ten cents for one continuous ride of one trip from any point on said railroad in River Forest to any station on the loop line or some point in the city of Chicago east of the South Branch of the Chicago river and north of Harrison street, as provided in section 6 hereof, or return, or to any intermediate point in said city of Chicago or return; and the rate of fare shall not exceed five cents for one continuous ride of one trip from any point on said railroad in River Forest to the point of connection of the said railroad with any elevated railroad, as provided in section 6, or any intermediate point or return: provided, that the fare between any point on said railroad in the village of River Forest and any of the said points in the city of Chicago, or the said point of connection of said railroad with any elevated railroad, as aforesaid, and intermediate points, shall not exceed the fare charged at any point in the town of Cicero west of the east line of Central avenue or in the village of Harlem, or in either of them, to the same points or return, either for single trip or at commutation rates, or otherwise: provided, further, that the said company shall provide and furnish, free of charge to passengers who have paid fare upon said line, transfer tickets at and to any points upon all the lines operated and controlled by the said company east of the Desplaines river.’ The other sections of the ordinance are not involved, save section 11, which is as follows: ‘Sec. 11. That the privileges should be binding upon successors and assigns, and that a violation of any of the conditions and provisions herein to be observed by the said company, its successors or assigns, shall render this ordinance absolutely null and void.’

The petitioner avers that the board of directors of the respondent company adopted a resolution accepting the ordinance, together with, and subject to, all the conditions in said ordinance contained, and sets out a certified copy of said resolutions, which he avers that the respondent company filed in the office of the clerk of the village; that after the passage of the ordinance the railroad company entered into the possession and enjoyment of the rights and privileges granted in the ordinance, constructed its railroad, and operated its passenger cars thereon, and that it has ever since been, and is now, in the possession and enjoyment of all the franchises and privileges, and has since March 2, 1898, operated its passenger cars by electrical power, ‘under and in pursuance of the provisions of said ordinance,’ through the village of River Forest, over the line of railroad known as the Chicago, Harlem & Batavia Railroad, and over the line of railroad known as the Chicago & Wisconsin Railroad, to the northern limits of the village, and has constructed and maintained the same over and upon the intervening streets along said route, and that it has placed its poles, wires, and appurtenances, including necessary and convenient feed wires, for the purpose of operating said railroad, and still continues to operate its railroad and cars in the village of River Forest; that at the time of the passage of the ordinance the railroad line of the Suburban Railroad Company connected with the railroad line of the Metropolitan Elevated Railroad Company at its crossing over West Fortieth street, in the city of Chicago; that passenger cars were operated frequently over the Metropolitan road from West Fortieth street to the central business portion of the city of Chicago; that the Suburban Railroad Company did before March 2, 1898, afford its passengers a continuous trip between all points along the line of its railroad so operated in the village of River Forest, from the northern limits of the village to the stations along the line described as the ‘Union Loop,’ in the city of Chicago, and all intermediate points, and that the Suburban Railroad Company did before March 2, 1898, extend its electric road north on Firty-Second street, in the town of Cicero, to Lake street, and operated its passenger cars thereon, and connected it with the line of railroad of the Lake Street Elevated Railroad Company, which was a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Illinois relating to railroads; that the Lake Street Company operated its cars to and around the loop line from Fifty-Second street on Lake street; that the village of River Forest lies west of the city of Chicago, and west of the east line of Central avenue, in the town of Cicero, so that passengers on the Suburban Railroad from any point in the village of River Forest towards the city of Chicago have to pass through the village of Harlem and through the town of Cicero, west of Central avenue, in said town; that the rate of fare for a continuous ride charged by the Suburban Railroad Company ‘and said connecting elevated railroad lines from the village of River Forest to any point on said loop line, in the city of Chicago, is now, and has ever since the operation of said railroad by said Suburban Railroad Company in the village of River Forest been, ten cents, and the same price for return or...