Word v. Southern Mutual Insurance

After a mature deliberation and a careful investigation of the authorities, I have reached the conclusion that the decision of our brother Reagan, in which he held “ that the *593defendant is only liable to the plaintiff for three fourths of the value of the property destroyed,” was correct; and therefore I am compelled to dissent from the judgment rendered by a majority of the court. In the Dartmouth College case (4 Wheat. 517), the Supreme Court of the United States declared that the charter of a private corporation constituted a contract between the Sovereign granting the same and the…