City of Erie v. Erie Canal Co.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Court of Common Pleas of Hrie county: No. 129, to October and November Term 1867. This was an action of debt, brought May 25th 1865, -by The City of Erie against The Erie Canal Company, to recover $1409.95, the sum expended by the plaintiff in repairing a bridge over the defendants’ canal within the city of Erie.
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Error to the Court of Common Pleas of Hrie county: No. 129, to October and November Term 1867. This was an action of debt, brought May 25th 1865, -by The City of Erie against The Erie Canal Company, to recover $1409.95, the sum expended by the plaintiff in repairing a bridge over the defendants’ canal within the city of Erie. The questions in the case arose on the following Acts of Assembly:— The incorporation of the canal company was authorized by an Act of Assembly approved March 7th 1848. By the 11th section of the act (Pamph. L. 41), it was provided that immediately, upon issuing letters…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered, January 5th 1869, by
Sharswood, J.
There are two questions which must be considered to have passed in res judicatas. The first is that where the state has made a grant of a public work to a corporation, the grantees are discharged from those duties to the public growing out of the work which the state has been accustomed to perform before the grant, unless there are express words in the transfer imposing those duties on the corporation. The second is that the charter of the Erie Canal Company does not impose upon that company the duty of making or keeping…
2Cited by2 opinions
- Commonwealth v. HiltnerSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1932
- Gas & Water Co. v. Corporation of Borough of DowningtownSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1896