Southern Express Co. v. Memphis & Little Rock R. R.
United States Circuit Court
The complainant, an express company, has been engaged for many years in carrying on an express business over the respondent’s railroad. No written contract was ever entered into between the parties; but the business was carried on without objection and upon terms mutually satisfactory, until some time in the year 1880, when the railroad company asserted its own right to transact all the express business upon its line, and attempted to eject the complainant therefrom.
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The complainant, an express company, has been engaged for many years in carrying on an express business over the respondent’s railroad. No written contract was ever entered into between the parties; but the business was carried on without objection and upon terms mutually satisfactory, until some time in the year 1880, when the railroad company asserted its own right to transact all the express business upon its line, and attempted to eject the complainant therefrom. Upon the application of complainant, and upon the allegations contained in the original bill, a temporary injunction was, on…
1Opinion of the CourtMcCrary, Circuit Judge
I will consider—first, the motion to dissolve the injunction. This is urged upon two grounds, to wit:
First—That the railroad company is, by its charter, possessed of the exclusive privilege of conducting the express business over and upon its own road; and
Second—That, even if this were not so, the express company has no right to carry on its business upon said road without the consent of the railroad company.
Does the charter of the respondent, railroad company, confer upon it the exclusive right to carry on the express business upon its own road? The answer to this question depends upon the…
2Cited by4 opinions
- Northern Pac. Ry. Co. v. Pacific Coast Lumber Mfrs.' Ass'nCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1908
- Tift v. Southern Ry. Co.District Court, S.D. Georgia · 1903
- Jewett Bros. & Jewett v. Chicago, M. & St. P. Ry. Co.U.S. Circuit Court for the District of South Dakota · 1907
- Public Grain & Stock Exchange v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Illinois Circuit Court · 1883