Hodges v. Western Union Telegraph Co.
Mississippi Supreme Court
From the circuit court of Lauderdale county. Hon. S. H. Terral, Judge. Action by the city of Meridian against the Western Union Telegraph Company, to recover rent claimed to be due for the use, by the defendant, of the streets of the city for its telegraph poles.
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From the circuit court of Lauderdale county. Hon. S. H. Terral, Judge. Action by the city of Meridian against the Western Union Telegraph Company, to recover rent claimed to be due for the use, by the defendant, of the streets of the city for its telegraph poles. The demand is based upon an ordinance of the city, passed in June, 1893, requiring all telegraph companies doing-business in the city to pay, as rent to the city, the sum of $2.50 per annum for each telegraph pole erected and used in the streets, alleys and public places therein. The sole question presented is the validity of said…
1Opinion of the CourtWhitfield, J.
The ground upon which the ordinance of the city of St. Louis, of which the one in this case is said to be a copy, is placed in 148 U. S., 92, and 149 U. S., 465, is that the city of St. Louis is the absolute owner of the fee in its streets, and the charter powers of the city are ‘' self-appointed. ” It is expressly declared that St. Louis occupies ‘ ‘ a unique position. It does not, like most cities, derive its powers by grant from the legislature, but it framed its own charter under express authority from the people of the state, given in the constitu*913tion;” and, again, it is said, “this…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Meriwether v. GarrettSupreme Court of the United States · 1880
- St. Louis v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1893
- The People v. . KerrNew York Court of Appeals · 1863
- St. Louis v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1893
- City of Clinton v. Cedar Rapids & Missouri River RailroadSupreme Court of Iowa · 1868
3Cited by12 opinions
- City of Tulsa v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · 1935
- In Re JohnstonCalifornia Supreme Court · 1902
- State ex rel. Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone Co. v. Mayor of Red LodgeMontana Supreme Court · 1904
- Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. City of MeridianMississippi Supreme Court · 1961
- Willmut Gas & Oil Co. v. Covington CountyMississippi Supreme Court · 1954
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