State v. City of Spokane

• Citation: 24 Wash. 53,63 P. 1116
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Washington
• Decision Date: 18 February 1901
• Parties: STATE ex rel. SPOKANE & B. C. TELEPHONE & TELEGRAPH CO. v. CITY OF SPOKANE et al.

63 P. 1116

24 Wash. 53

STATE ex rel. SPOKANE & B. C. TELEPHONE & TELEGRAPH CO. v. CITY OF SPOKANE et al.

Supreme Court of Washington

February 18, 1901

Appeal from superior court, Spokane county; William E. Richardson Judge.

Mandamus by the state, on relation of the Spokane & British Columbia Telephone & Telegraph Company, against the city of Spokane and others, to compel the respondents to consent to the use of the streets of the city of Spokane by relator for the erection of telephone lines. From a judgment quashing the writ and dismissing the case, relator appeals. Affirmed.

Stoll &amp Macdonald, Henley, Kellam & Lindsley, and W. S. Dawson, for appellant.

Fred M Dudley, for respondents.

REAVIS, C.J.

The appellant (plaintiff) is a corporation created under the laws of the state for the purpose of constructing and operating a telephone line and system within this state between the Canadian boundary on the north and the city of Spokane on the south. It made application to the city of Spokane for the city's consent to erect its telephone poles and construct its wires through the streets of the city. In its application it offered to submit to such reasonable rules and regulations as might be imposed by the city. Upon consideration of the application by the city council, such consent was refused. Appellant thereafter instituted proceedings in the nature of mandamus to compel the city to give its consent to the construction and operation of appellant's telephone system, and that the city be required to prescribe reasonable rules and regulations therefor. The affidavit upon which the application was based states that appellant was willing to abide by and conform to any reasonable rules and regulations imposed by the city; that it had built and was operating and maintaining a system of telephones between the town of Northport and the city of Spokane, a branch line from the town of Meyers Falls to the town of Republic, and another line from Bossburg to the boundary line between the United States and Canada, connecting with towns in the province of British Columbia; that it was under contractual relations with another company owning and operating telephones in the province of British Columbia by which it was required to deliver the messages of the foreign company within this state, and especially within the city of Spokane; that it 1896 it had entered into a contract with the Inland Telephone & Telegraph Exchange, in the city of Spokane, owning and operating lines of telephone in Idaho, Oregon, California and elsewhere in this state; that under the terms of such contract the wires of appellant were connected with the central office of the Inland Telephone & Telegraph Company in the city of Spokane, and, as occasion required, were connected with the system of the Inland Telephone Company and the telephones of its numerous subscribers in the city of Spokane; that, by reason of such contract, appellant had procured a large and lucrative business, which produced an income of many thousand dollars per month, and was rapidly increasing; that in June, 1899, the Inland Telephone Company terminated its contract with appellant and severed its lines from its office, rendering impossible any communication from appellant's lines to those of the Inland Company, and making communication impossible between the customers and patrons of appellant and persons having telephones in offices or residences in the city of Spokane; and that, to enable appellant to properly transact its business and give proper service to the public as a common carrier, it became necessary for appellant to establish an exchange at the city of Spokane. An alternative writ of mandamus was issued from the superior court. The respondent city appeared and demurred to the writ, and moved that the same be quashed. The demurrer was sustained.

Pertinent to the issues involved in the controversy are the following provisions of the constitution of Washington: 'No law shall be passed granting to any citizen, class of citizens or corporation, other than municipal privileges or immunities which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens or corporations.' Article 1, § 12. 'Any association or corporation, or the lessees or managers thereof, organized for the purpose, or any individual, shall have the right to construct and maintain lines of telegraph and telephone within this state, and said companies shall receive and transmit each other's messages without delay or discrimination, and all of such companies are hereby declared to be common carriers and subject to legislative control. Railroad corporations organized or doing business in this state shall allow telegraph and telephone corporations and companies to construct and maintain telegraph lines on and along the rights-of-way of such railroads and railroads companies, and no railroad corporation organized or doing business in this state shall allow any telegraph corporation or company any facilities, privileges, or rates for transportation of men or material or for repairing their lines not allowed to all telegraph companies. The right of eminent domain is hereby extended to all telegraph and telephone companies. The legislature shall, be general law of uniform operation, provide reasonable regulations to give effect to this section.' Article 12, § 19. Paragraph 7, § 739, Ballinger's Ann. Codes & St., vests cities of the first class, of which respondent is one, with power 'to lay out, establish, open, alter, widen, extend, grade, pave, plank, establish grades, or otherwise improve streets, alleys, avenues, sidewalks, wharves, parks, and other public grounds, and to regulate and control the use thereof, and to vacate the same, and to authorize or prohibit the use of electricity at, in, or upon any of said streets, or for other purposes, and to prescribe the terms and conditions upon which the same may be so used, and to regulate the use thereof.' Section 4369, Id., provides: 'Any telegraph or telephone corporation or company, or the lessees thereof, doing business in this state, shall have the right to construct and maintain all necessary lines of telegraph or telephone for public traffic along and upon any public road, street, or highway, along or across the right-of-way of any railroad corporation, and may erect poles, piers, or abutments for supporting the insulators, wires and any other necessary fixtures of their lines, in such manner and at such points as not to incommode the public use of the railroad or highway, or interrupt the navigation of the waters:...