Fisher v. West Virginia Coal & Transportation Co.

Until the decision in this case I had believed that an owner of real estate in West Virginia had the sole and absolute right to the use thereof. Now I find that part of such right has been whittled away by court decisions, decisions of courts of other jurisdictions. The right so whittled away may be of little significance to the plaintiffs in the present case. On the other hand, it may effectually destroy, for many decades, the most beneficial use to which the remainder of their land can be put. The location and operation of a large mining plant in the immediate vicinity, which, we may assume…