State v. Illinois Cent. R. Co.
| Decision Date | 28 October 1910 |
| Citation | 246 Ill. 188,92 N.E. 814 |
| Parties | STATE v. ILLINOIS CENT. R. CO. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from Circuit Court, La Salle County; Samuel C. Stough, Judge.
Bill by the State of Illinois against the Illinois Central Railroad Company. From a decree sustaining demurrers to the bill, and dismissing the same for want of equity, the State appeals. Reversed and remanded.W. H. Stead, Atty. Gen. (W. H. Boys, J. H. Widmer, and B. F. Lincoln, of counsel), for the State.
W. S. Horton, J. M. Dickinson, and W. D. Fullerton (Blewett Lee, of counsel), for appellee.
This is a suit for an accounting, brought by the state of Illinois against the Illinios Central Railroad Company. The original bill was filed in this court to its February term, 1907. A motion made by appellee to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction was allowed at the April term, 1907, and leave given to the state to withdraw its bill without prejudice. The bill was thereupon filed in the circuit court of La Salle county to the June term, 1907. Appellee, by motion to dismiss, challenged the right of the Attorney General to bring this suit. Afterwards the motion was withdrawn, and July 8, 1907, a demurrer was filed. After argument the state asked and obtained leave to amend the original bill. However, instead of amending, an entirely new bill was filed April 6, 1908, without objection, including interrogatories and exhibits. It will be hereafter called ‘the bill.’ August 6, 1908, demurrers were filed thereto. They consist of a general and special demurrer to the bill as a whole, and 28 separate demurrers, both general and special, to its different parts. In November and December, 1908, these demurrers were argued in the circuit court, and June 16, 1909, that court entered a decree sustaining them, and dismissing the bill for want of equity. From that decree the state prayed an appeal to this court.
The bill is based on certain provisions of the charter granted to appellee by the state in 1851, and seeks an accounting from October 31, 1877, down to the time of stating the account, to be fixed by the court. To understand the questions raised in this case, a brief historical review of the legislation which led to the granting of that charter seems necessary.
In 1836 an act was passed to incorporate the ‘Illinois Central Railroad,’ to build a railroad commencing near the mouth of the Ohio river and extending north to a point on the Illinois river near the termination of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. Laws 1835-36, p. 129. Nothing appears to have been done under this act, and it was repealed February 17, 1851. Laws 1851, p. 192. In 1837 the Legislature passed an act for a general system of internal improvement, among other things authorizing the construction of a railroad from Cairo to La Salle, and appropriating $3,500,000 for that purpose. Laws 1836-37, p. 121. After a right of way had been surveyed and acquired and a large amount of money spent the work was abandoned. The Legislature in 1843 passed an act to incorporate the Great Western Railway Company, granting it authority to build a line from Cairo to La Salle and then to Galena. Laws 1842-43, p. 109. The act granted the company all the right of way, land, and property acquired by the state under the act of 1837, to be appraised and paid for as provided therein. Nothing was accomplished under that law, and the charter of this company was repealed March 3, 1845. Laws 1844-45, p. 253. Efforts were then made to obtain from the federal government aid in building the railroad, and on April 13, 1849, the General Assembly reenacted the former act for theincorporation of said Great Western Railway Company. By this latter act the Governor of the state was authorized to contract with and hold in trust for said Great Western Railway Company whatever lands might be donated to the state to aid in the completion of that railroad. Priv. Laws 1849, p. 89.
Congress, on September 20, 1850, passed an act granting to the state of Illinois a right of way through the public lands and the ownership of every alternate section of land for six miles in width on each side thereof, to aid the state in constructing a railroad from Caio to La Salle, with a branch to Chicago and another to Dubuque. The act provided that the lands granted should be subject to the disposal of the Legislature of Illinois and be applied to the construction of the said road and branches, and to no other purpose. At the time of this grant by Congress the charter of the Great Western Railway Company was still in force. That company, however, did not undertake the work, but subsequently surrendered its charter on condition that the release of its rights should be accepted by the Legislature and a new company organized for the work. This release and the conditions therein contained were accepted, and the acts incorporating the company repealed by the Legislature February 17, 1851. Gen. Laws 1851, p. 192. February 10, 1851, the Legislature passed an act incorporating the Illinois Central Railroad Company, the appellee in this suit. Priv. Laws 1851, p. 61. This act or charter contained 27 sections. It authorized the company to locate, construct, and operate a railroad and two branches, the main line to extend from the southern terminus of the Illinois and Michigan Canal (near La Salle) to a point at Cairo, with a branch to Chicago, and another branch, by way of Galena, to a point on the Mississippi river opposite Dubuque, Iowa. The Governor of Illinois was made director ex officio, with power to vote either in person or by proxy. By section 15 of the charter appellee was granted all the lands ceded to the state by the act of Congress of 1850, also depot grounds in the city of Cairo, the right of way, and all the improvements made thereon by the internal improvement commission and the Great Western Railway Company under the acts of 1837. This latter property was in addition to that ceded to the state by the act of Congress of 1850.
The appellee was duly organized, a board of directors elected, and the charter accepted March 15, 1851. It thereupon proceeded to lay out and construct the railroad and branches described in the charter. Under the authority conferred by the Legislature of the state June 22, 1852 (Laws 1852, p. 130), the appellee constructed what is known as the ‘St. Charles Air Line,’ extending from its eastern branch in Chicago, near Twelfth street, to the Chicago river. September 26, 1856, appellee completed the construction of its charter lines; the same being 705.5 miles in length. Since that date they have been in continuous operation, and are the only lines which appellee, under its charter and the amendments thereto, was authorized to build and operate. The state of Illinois granted to appellee by this charter 2,595,000 acres of land. In addition to this appellee was granted so much of the right of way 200 feet in width and 705.5 miles in length as was owned by the United States or the state at the time the charter was granted. It appears from certain provisions of the charter that some of this right of way-just how much is not shown-was owned by private individuals, and the charter provided for appellee acquiring the right of way through and over this last-named property. As the business of appellee expanded. It purchased, built, and leased other railroad lines, until at the time of the filing of this bill it was operating about 4,400 miles of railroad, known as the ‘Illinois Central System.’ In acquiring these branches and lines of railroad, appellee did not act or assume to act under its charter powers, but under and by virtue of additional powers created and conferred by the state through general statutes. The various lines of railroad owned or operated by appellee at the time this litigation was instituted, both charter and noncharter, are as follows:
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