Memphis v. State of Alabama
| Decision Date | 02 April 1883 |
| Citation | 27 L.Ed. 518,107 U.S. 581,2 S.Ct. 432 |
| Parties | MEMPHIS & C. R. Co. v. STATE OF ALABAMA, for the Use, etc |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
W. Y. C. Humes, for appellant.
No counsel for appellee.
This action was brought by the state of Alabama, for the use of Jackson county, in a court of that state, against a railroad corporation whose road passed through that state and county, to recover the amount of a county tax assessed upon its property. It was removed into the circuit court of the United States for the northern district of Alabama, upon the petition of the corporation, alleging that it was a citizen of the state of Tennessee and the plaintiff was a citizen of Alabama. Upon the motion of the plaintiff, and the introduction in evidence of the acts of the legislatures of Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, relating to the defendant corporation, and of its organization under those acts, the circuit court, following its own decision in Copeland v. Memphis & C. R. Co. 3 Woods, 651, remanded the case to the state court, upon the ground that the defendant was a corporation chartered by the state of Alabama; and from the order remanding the case the defendant appealed.
The question decided by the circuit court, and argued by the appellant, depends upon the provisions of the statutes of Alabama.
The first act of the legislature of Alabama upon the subject, passed on the seventh of January, 1850, is entitled 'An act to incorporate the Memphis & Charleston Railroad Company,' and has this preamble:
'Whereas an act was passed by the state of Tennessee, bearing date the second day of February, 1846, and the same was amended by an act of the same state, dated February 4, 1848, for the formation of a company, under the name and style of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad Company, for the purpose of establishing a communication by railroad between Memphis, Tennessee, and Charleston, South Carolina; and whereas it is believed that the most eligible route for said road is through a portion of this state; and whereas it is also believed that great and lasting benefits will accrue to the inhabitants of this state from said improvement; therefore * * *'
It then proceeds, in the first section, to provide that 'the said company shall have the right of way through the territory of this state to construct their road' between certain points named, 'and said company shall have and enjoy all the rights, powers, and privileges granted to them by the act of incorporation above mentioned, and shall be subject to all the liabilities and restrictions imposed by the same, together with the following requirements.'
The second section provides that 'in the event said road shall be located through Tuscumbia, it shall be the duty of the company to construct a branch to Florence; and in the event said road shall pass on the north side of the Tennessee river near Florence, it shall be the duty of said company to construct a branch to Tuscumbia, provided that the subscription in the town or county applying for such branch shall be fully sufficient to pay the cost of the same.'
The third section provides that 'the said company shall be authorized and required to open books for the subscription of stock in the capital of said corporation in the state of Alabama, so as to afford the citizens thereof an opportunity to take stock to the amount of $1,500,000 of the capital of said company; provided that if said $1,500,000 be not subscribed in Alabama within 90 days after the books are opened, then it may be taken elsewhere.'
The fourth section provides that 'the said company shall, at the first meeting of the stockholders, designate a time when and a place or places in North Alabama where, for the convenience of the citizens of the state who may be stockholders, the subsequent election for directors shall be held, and shall give notice thereof in one or more newspapers published in North Alabama; and said elections shall be held at the same time both in this state and in Tennessee.'
The fifth section provides that 'the moneys subscribed by the citizens of Alabama, whether by the state, counties, corporations, or individuals, shall first be applied to the...
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