Ozark Coal Co. v. Pennsylvania Anthracite Railroad Co.

• Decision Date: 06 February 1911
• Citation: 134 S.W. 634,97 Ark. 495
• Parties: OZARK COAL COMPANY v. PENNSYLVANIA ANTHRACITE RAILROAD COMPANY
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

134 S.W. 634

97 Ark. 495

OZARK COAL COMPANY v. PENNSYLVANIA ANTHRACITE RAILROAD COMPANY

Supreme Court of Arkansas

February 6, 1911

Appeal from Johnson Chancery Court; Jeremiah G. Wallace, Chancellor affirmed.

Decree affirmed.

George O. Patterson, for appellant.

Private property cannot be taken against the owner's consent for private use. Art. 2, § 22, Const.; 1 Lewis, Eminent Domain (2 ed.), § 157; Cooley's Const. Lim. (6 ed.) 651; 17 N.H. 47; 42 Ga. 500; 35 Col. 593; 14 Minn. 365; 15 Md. 240; 30 Ind.App. 557; 63 S.E. 880; 81 N.E. 1005; 60 Me 290; 57 Ark. 359; 76 Ark. 245.

The definition of "public use" as synonymous with public interest or advantage, found in the decisions of Utah Nevada and other mining States of the West, is justified by the courts rendering these decisions upon the ground that mining is the permanent industry in those States; but those decisions are criticised by the ablest authorities on the subject of eminent domain, and are disapproved by a majority of decided cases. 1 Lewis, Eminent Domain (2 ed.), § 165; 101 Md. 247; 149 F. 568.

A public use means a use by the public, and incidental advantage, profit or convenience to the people or State are not sufficient to authorize the exercise of the power of eminent domain. 50 S.W. 744; 86 S.W. 11; 51 S. E. (N.C. ) 932; 104 S.W. 762; 107 N.W. 405; 74 P. 681; 61 A. 78; 51 S. E. (S. C.) 485; 68 N. E. (Ill.) 522; 52 Ind. 16; 41 N. J. Law 175.

Moore, Smith & Moore, for appellee.

Appellee was organized under authority of Act 163, Acts 1905, approved April 13, 1905, section 2 of which provides that corporations provided for by the act "shall be governed by the laws governing railway corporations in this State," and gives to them after incorporation the right of eminent domain for the purpose of acquiring right-of-way, etc. By the terms of the act such corporations, when organized, become common carriers subject to the same duties and regulations as are applicable to other railroads in this State. See Act; Kirby's Dig., §§ 6722, 6725, 6730, 6732, 6802, 6804. The act is constitutional, and appellee's railroad, being organized under it and subject to a right of public use, may exercise the power of eminent domain, even though there may be little or no occasion at present for the exercise by the public of the right to use it. Lewis, Eminent Domain (3 ed.), § 251; 42 Mo. 283; 47 N.J.L. 43; 51 L. R. A. 936; 42 Mo. 279; 63 Iowa 28; 101 Md. 247; 16 Mont. 523; 1 Lewis, Eminent Domain (3 ed.), §§ 263, 264; 40 Pa. 377; 84 Pa. 90; 57 Ark. 359, 365, 366, 367, 368.

2. The term "public use" should receive a broader meaning than contended for by appellant, and, as applied to the right of eminent domain for mining and manufacturing purposes, should be construed to mean that which tends to build up and develop the great mining and manufacturing interests of the State at large, and consequently to promote public welfare of the State or any part of it, and of the communities therein. "Public use" is in a large sense a relative term, and may as consistently be said to be synonymous with public advantage or necessity as with the more restricted sense of the actual right of public use. 31 L. R. A. (Mont.) 298; 12 Pick. (Mass.) 467; 16 Gray (Mass.) 426; 33 Conn. 532; 1 N.J.Eq. 694; 56 N.H. 386; Washburn on Easements 326; 11 Nev. 408; 59 Ga. 419; 28 Utah 215; 75 P. 371; 26 P. 376; 164 U.S. 112; 146 F. 680.

OPINION

MCCULLOCH, C. J.

The General Assembly of 1905 passed an act entitled, "An act to authorize coal and other mining corporations in the State of Arkansas to construct, own, and operate short connecting lines of railway or tramway, and granting to them the right of eminent domain in condemnation suits."

The act reads as follows:

"Section 1. That all persons owning or controlling by lease or purchase any copper, lead, zinc, iron, marble, coal or other mineral lands in this State shall have the same right to incorporate, own, construct and operate such short lines of railway or tramway as may be necessary to the successful mining and marketing of said coal, marble, and minerals.

"Section 2. All incorporations herein provided for shall be governed by the laws governing railway incorporations in this State, and shall have the same right to acquire right-of-way over, under or through any private or public lands, and shall have and exercise the same right of eminent domain in acquiring such right-of-way; and shall have the same authority to construct, own, lease, operate or sell such lines of railway or tramway, as may be necessary to the successful mining and marketing of such coal and other minerals, owned or controlled by said mining corporations, as is now by law granted to railroad corporations of this State.

"Section 3. That, when so incorporated and constructed, such short lines of railway and tramway shall be and are hereby entitled to all the rights, powers and privileges of a common carrier.

"Section 4. All such short lines of railway, or tramway, shall have the same rights and privileges of connections, crossings, sidings, switches and transfer, without prejudice or discrimination, as are extended by custom or granted by law to railroad corporations in this State.

"Section 5. That all such short lines of railway, or tramway, not exceeding six miles in length, shall not be required to maintain passenger equipment, but if, at their option, they carry passengers, they shall be subject to the laws governing passenger traffic on railroads in this State." (Acts 1905, c. 163.)

Pursuant to the authority of said act, and in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the general statutes of the State for incorporating railroad companies, appellee was duly incorporated as a railroad company for the purpose of constructing and operating a short line of railroad from the coal mine of the Pennsylvania Anthracite Coal Company to the line of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company. The stockholders in appellee company are the same as those of the above named mining company. Appellee then leased to the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company for a term of 30 years its said line of railroad to be constructed, and said lessee agreed in the contract to operate and keep in public use the said railroad, with such locomotives, cars, rolling stock, etc., as it shall deem to be necessary, reasonable or proper for the accommodation of the business of the railroad so as to comply with the laws of the State of Arkansas. The contract requires appellee, as lessor, to maintain the railroad in good condition and repair, and gives the lessee the right to control the operation of the road, to regulate the rate of tolls to be charged for transportation of freight and to charge and collect the same. The contract contains other provisions unnecessary to mention.

Appellee filed in the circuit court of Johnson County its petition for the condemnation of a right-of-way across lands owned by appellants.

Appellants answered, denying the right of appellee to condemn, upon the ground that the said road was purely a private enterprise, that it was not to be built for the use of the public, that the incorporators of the railroad company were the owners of the coal company; that their only object and purpose was to build a spur or switch track to their mines; that they were seeking to take and appropriate the private property of the appellants for a purely private purpose; and further that the act of the Legislature, approved April 13, 1905, granting the right of eminent domain to coal companies is unconstitutional; and praying that the cause be transferred to the chancery court. The circuit court made an order transferring to the chancery court, and in the order transferring to the chancery court made an order temporarily restraining appellee from building upon the lands of appellants until such time as the appellants could apply to the chancery court for an order restraining them from entering into or upon the lands of appellants until the matters could be tried finally. Subsequently appellants petitioned the chancery court for an injunction, which was refused; an order was made permitting the appellee, upon the payment of the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars, to enter into and upon the lands of appellants and proceed with the construction of the railroad. From an adverse final decree appellants brought the case here for review.

In the outset the general principle declared by our Constitution may be stated that the right of eminent domain can not be exercised for the purpose of acquiring property for private use, and that the Legislature cannot exercise the power of eminent domain nor delegate its exercise except for public purposes. It is, too, a judicial...