Union Pac Ry v. Ryan
Decision Date | 02 March 1885 |
Citation | 113 U.S. 516,28 L.Ed. 1098,5 S.Ct. 601 |
Parties | UNION PAC. RY. Co. v. RYAN, Marshal, etc |
Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
[Syllabus from page 516-517 intentionally omitted] The bill in this case was filed by the Union Pacific Railway Company against the city of Cheyenne and its marshal, Ryan, to enjoin the collection of certain city taxes for the year 1880, which the railway company alleges were unlawfully assessed against it. The bill was demurred to by the defendants, and the district court for the First judicial district of Wyoming, in which the suit was brought, overruled the demurrer, and granted the injunction prayed for. The defendants adhered the their demurrer, and appealed to the supreme court of the territory, and the decree of the district court was reversed, and the bill ordered to be dismissed, and the case is now brought here by appeal.
The main question raised by the bill is whether the Union Pacific Railroad, which passes through the whole length of Wyoming territory, and in its course passes through the city of Cheyenne, with its accompanying telegraph, appurtenances, and rolling stock, is liable to be assessed and valued for the purposes of taxation in Cheyenne by the city authorities, or only by the territorial board of equalization, consisting of the governor, treasurer, and auditor of the territory; and this question depends on the further question whether such assessment and valuation are governed by the city charter of the city, or by the act entitled 'An act in relation to the assessment of railways and telegraph lines,' passed December 13, 1879. The city charter, which was last revised on the subject of taxation by an amendment passed on the twenty-sixth of November, 1879, (only 17 days prior to the railroad assessment act,) gives to the city power 'to levy and collect taxes for general revenue purposes, not exceeding six mills on the dollar in any one year on all real, personal, and mixed property within the limits of said city, taxable under the laws of the territory;' and it is provided that 'the assessment, levy, and collection of all taxes shall be made as may be provided by ordinance.' Authority is also given to the city to raise a further tax to pay interest on its bonds, and a tax for improvement of streets and alleys. The railroad assessment act, passed on the thirteenth of December, 1879, is a very carefully prepared statute, providing for a mode of assessing the value of railroad property, and distributing it among the counties and districts through which the railroad may run. Although general in its terms, it must have had particularly in view the Union Pacific Railroad, to which alone it would principally apply. This act is so important a factor in the decision of this case that we quote the first section entire. The title has already been quoted. The first section is as follows:
The fifth section of the act declares as follows:
'All acts and parts of acts providing for the assessment of the property of railroad and telegraph companies, and the equalization of assessments, inconsistent with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed, so far as they provide for the assessment and equalization of the property of said railroad and telegraph companies.'
John F. Dillon, S. Shellabarger, and J. M. Wilson, for appellant.
Francis Miller, for appellee.
[Argument of Counsel from pages 520-521 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice Bradley delivered the opinion of the court. He recited the facts as above stated, and continued:
It requires only a casual reading of this act to discover its...
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