Pearsall v. Great Northern Ry. Co.
U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Minnesota
This case came before the court upon a motion for a preliminary injunction, upon a bill and answer that disclose the following facts: In 1856 the legislature of the territory of Minnesota passed “An act to incorporate the Minneapolis & St. Cloud Railroad Company” (Laws Minn. 1856, c. 160). By that act, the territory granted to that corporation the right to be a corporation, the right to acquire by purchase, gift, grant, devise, or otherwise, to hold and to convey, all such…
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This case came before the court upon a motion for a preliminary injunction, upon a bill and answer that disclose the following facts: In 1856 the legislature of the territory of Minnesota passed “An act to incorporate the Minneapolis & St. Cloud Railroad Company” (Laws Minn. 1856, c. 160). By that act, the territory granted to that corporation the right to be a corporation, the right to acquire by purchase, gift, grant, devise, or otherwise, to hold and to convey, all such estate and property, real and personal, as should be necessary or convenient to carry into effect the object and purpose…
1Opinion of the Court
SANBORN, Circuit Judge.
If there is any principle of jurisprudence that is beyond dispute and discussion in this nation, it is this: An accepted act of incorporation of a private corporation is a contract between the state and the corporation. Any law of a state which impairs or destroys a valuable franchise granted by such an act impairs the obligation of the contract, and is without effect, unless, before- or at the time of the passage of the act, the state reserved the right to enact such a law. Const. U. S. art. 1, § 10; Dartmouth College Case, 4 Wheat. 518, 684, 693, 695, 703; Bank v.…
2Cases cited58 opinions
- Boyd's Lessee v. GravesSupreme Court of the United States · 1819
- Monongahela Navigation Co. v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1893
- United States v. FisherSupreme Court of the United States · 1805
- Kent v. . Quicksilver Mining Co.New York Court of Appeals · 1879
- Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railway Co. v. Keokuk & Hamilton Bridge Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1889
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3Cited by1 opinion
- Baker v. Town of ManitouCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · 1921