Wilson v. Gaines
| Decision Date | 01 October 1880 |
| Citation | 26 L.Ed. 401,103 U.S. 417 |
| Parties | WILSON v. GAINES |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
ERROR to the Supreme Court of the State of Tennessee.
The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.
Mr. Edward Baxter, for the plaintiff in error.
No. counsel appeared for the defendant in error.
This was a bill in equity filed in the Chancery Court of Nashville, Tenn., to enjoin the collection of taxes upon that part of the railroad of the St. Louis and Southwestern Railway Company which was originally owned by the Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad Company. The facts are these:——
Tennessee chartered the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Company for the purpose of building a railroad from Nashville to Chattanooga. The thirty-eighth section of that charter is as follows:——
'The capital stock of said company shall be forever exempt from taxation, and the road, with all its fixtures and appurtenances, including workshops, warehouses, and vehicles of transportation, shall be exempt from taxation for the period of twenty years from the completion of the road, and no longer.'
On the 1st of January, 1852, the Nashville and Southern Railroad Company was incorporated to construct another line of road, and was to 'have all the rights, powers, and privileges, and be subject to all the liabilities and restrictions, prescribed in the charter of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Company,' with a single exception, which is unimportant for any of the purposes of this case.
On the 13th of February, 1852, the Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad Company was incorporated to build a road from Nashville to the Kentucky State line, with the following as the sixth section of its charter:——
'That the company hereby incorporated is invested, for the purpose of making and using said road, with all the powers, rights, and privileges, and subject to all the liabilities and restrictions, that are conferred and imposed on the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Company by an act passed on the 11th of December, 1845, so far as the same are not inconsistent with the provisions of this act.'
By an act of the General Assembly of the State passed Feb. 11, 1852, entitled 'An Act to establish a system of internal improvement in this State,' the governor was authorized to issue under circumstances therein mentioned to certain railroad companies the bonds of the State for the purpose of aiding in the completion of their respective roads; and it was further provided that upon such issue and the completion of the road the State should 'be invested with a lien, without a deed from the company, upon the entire road, including the stock, right of way, grading, bridges, masonry, iron rails, spikes, chairs, and the whole superstructure and equipments, and all the property owned by the company as incident to, or necessary for, its business, and all depots and depot stations, for the payment of all said bonds issued to said company as provided in this act, and for the interest accruing on said bonds.' Acts of 1851-52, c. 151, sects. 1, 4, pp. 204-206. On the 8th of February, 1854, the privileges of this act were extended to the Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad Company. Acts of 1853-54, c. 131, sect. 1, p. 205.
Afterwards, on the 15th of December, 1855, the charter of the Edgefield and Kentucky company was amended, and the following is sect. 2 of that amendment:——
'That the said company shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges that were conferred upon the Nashville and Southern Railroad Company, by an act of the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, passed Jan. 1, 1852, entitled 'An Act to charter the Nashville and Southern Railroad Company."
The company availed itself of the privileges of the internal improvement act, and subjected its property to the statutory lien therein provided for.
Default having been made by many of the railroad companies in meeting their obligations for the bonds of the State issued to them, several attempts were made to enforce the liens on some of the roads without success, and on the 22d of December, 1870, the legislature passed an act, sections 1 and 10 of which are as follows:——
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