Reed v. State Highway & Public Works Commission

It is well settled that public funds cannot be taken for private purposes, and private property can only be taken for public purposes upon the payment of “just compensation” to the owner.

In Stratford v. Greensboro, 124 N. C., 127 (132-133), we find: “In cases where the municipal authorities are empowered by the general law, or by their charters, as in this case, to open up, grade, and pave streets, the expediency or necessity of doing so, and the power of exercising the right of eminent domain, condemning the private property of the citizen for that purpose, are entirely within the…