St. Louis & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Williams

• Decision Date: 01 March 1890
• Citation: 13 S.W. 796
• Parties: ST. LOUIS & S. F. RY. CO. <I>v.</I> WILLIAMS, Sheriff.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

13 S.W. 796

ST. LOUIS & S. F. RY. CO.

v. WILLIAMS, Sheriff.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

March 1, 1890.

Appeal from circuit court, Sebastian county; J. S. LITTLE, Judge.

The St. Louis and San Francisco Railway Company, (hereafter called the railway company,) during the years 1881 and 1882, constructed a line of railway from the Missouri state line through the counties of Benton, Washington, Crawford, and Sebastian to Fort Smith, its mileage in the state being about 102 miles. The continuity of said line of railway was broken by the Arkansas river. On July 3, 1882, congress granted to the railway company authority "to construct, or cause to be constructed, and maintain, a bridge, and approaches thereto, over the Arkansas river at Van Buren, Crawford county, Ark. Said bridge shall be constructed to provide for the passage of railway trains, and, at the option of the corporation by which it may be built, may be used for the passage of wagons," etc. During the year 1884, Caroline L. Scott conveyed to the railway company the land constituting the right of way to the bridge subsequently built. In March, 1885, the Fort Smith & Van Buren Bridge Company (hereafter called the bridge company) was incorporated under the laws of Arkansas; its object and purpose being to construct, maintain, and own a highway and railroad bridge for use in crossing railroad locomotives, cars, wagons, and teams, etc. On December 18, 1885, the railway company, by deed, conveyed to the bridge company the right of way for the approaches to the bridge; reciting in said deed that the bridge company was authorized to construct a bridge by the laws of Arkansas and act of congress. During the year 1885 the bridge was built; the bridge company contracting with the Union Bridge Company of New York to construct the bridge, and issuing first mortgage bonds for $500,000, and securing the same by mortgage executed to the Mercantile Trust Company. On April 1, 1885, the bridge company entered into a contract with the railway company for 98 years, whereby it was agreed that the bridge company conveyed to the railway company, its assigns, etc., the bridge, right of way, land, abutments, etc., and all its rights, franchises, and privileges of every nature, except the franchise of the bridge company to exist as a corporation, and expressly reserving to the bridge company the right to contract with other parties for the use of the bridge; that the bridge company, during the existence of the lease, should maintain its separate existence, and that at the expiration thereof the railway company should surrender to the bridge company the possession and control of the property; that the railway company should have the right to reject all contracts made by the bridge company with others for the use of its bridge. The state board of railway commissioners, in assessing the railroads in the state for the year 1887, valued this bridge at $263,000, and assessed it as part and parcel of the railway company, adding its value to the assessed value of the road-way, and prorating the gross sum to the four counties of Benton, Washington, Crawford, and Sebastian, according to the mileage of the railway company in each county. The assessors of Crawford and Sebastian counties take the position that the bridge and its approaches are not part of the right of way, etc., of the railway company, but that the bridge and approaches are the property of the Fort Smith and Van Buren Bridge Company, a corporation organized under the laws of Arkansas, whose office is at Fort Smith, and whose property is entirely within the two counties. They, therefore, assessed the property as the property of the Fort Smith and Van Buren Bridge Company, valuing it at $100,000 for each county. The railway company and the bridge company filed their bill in the Sebastian circuit court to restrain the sheriff from collecting tax on the assessment of the bridge by the county assessor. The circuit court decided that the bridge and its approaches were the property of the bridge company, and assessable by the county assessor under section 5645, Mansf. Dig. That the action of the state board in assessing said bridge property was without authority, and void. The court, therefore, perpetually enjoined the sheriff from collecting any taxes from the railway company, by reason of any assessment of the bridge by the state board. It denied the prayer of the railway company, praying an order enjoining the sheriff from collecting taxes from the bridge company by reason of the assessment by the county assessor.

Clayton, Brizzolari & Forrester, McDaniel & McGill, and E. B. Wall, for appellant. Clendening & Read and L. P. Sandels, for appellee.

COCKRILL, C. J.

It is argued that the bridge in question...