Ausable Chasm Co. v. State of New York

The claimants have recovered judgments in the Court of Claims for the amounts which they expended for the construction of a bridge over the Ausable river. The Legislature by special statute authorized the hearing of the claim. The question presented upon this appeal is whether the statute is a valid exercise of legislative power.

It appears that the Legislature in 1911 appropriated moneys for the construction and improvement of parts of Route 22, a State highway (Laws of 1911, chap. 133). In the years 1912 and 1913 the State Highway Commission, pursuant to statutory provision, entered into…