Wilmington Railroad v. Reid, Sheriff
Supreme Court of the United States
Error to the Supreme Court of North Carolina; the ease being thus: In 1853 the legislature of North Carolina chartered the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad Company.
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Error to the Supreme Court of North Carolina; the ease being thus: In 1853 the legislature of North Carolina chartered the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad Company. One section of the charter ran thus: “ It shall bo lawful for the president and directors to purchase with the funds of the company, and place on the said railroad, all machines, wagons, vehicles, carriages, and teams of any description whatsoever which may be deemed necessary for the purposes of transportation; and all the property purchased by the said president and directors, and that which may be given to the company, and the…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Davis
It has been so often decided by this court that a charter of incorporation granted by a State creates a contract between'the State and the corporators, which the State cannot violate, that it would be a work of supererogation to repeat the reasons on which the argument is founded. It is true that when a corporation claims an exemption from taxation, it must show that the power to tax has been clearly relinquished by the State, and if there be a reasonable doubt about this having been done, that doubt must be solved in favor of the State. If, however, the contract is plain and unambiguous, and…
2Cited by68 opinions
- New Jersey v. AndersonSupreme Court of the United States · 1906
- Pearsall v. Great Northern Railway Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1896
- Bailey v. StateSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1998
- Morgan v. LouisianaSupreme Court of the United States · 1876
- Wright v. Georgia Railroad & Banking Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1910
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