Woods v. Nashua Manufacturing Co.
Superior Court of New Hampshire
This was an action of the case, for erecting- a dam across the river Nashua, in Dunstable, and continuing the same dam for two years from the 1st November, 1825, and by means thereof causing the water to overflow the plaintiff’s farm, whereby the farm was injured, the trees and timber destroyed, and the communication between different parts of the farm interrupted.
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This was an action of the case, for erecting- a dam across the river Nashua, in Dunstable, and continuing the same dam for two years from the 1st November, 1825, and by means thereof causing the water to overflow the plaintiff’s farm, whereby the farm was injured, the trees and timber destroyed, and the communication between different parts of the farm interrupted. The defendants pleaded in abatement of the writ, that by an act of the legislature of this state, passed on the 9th December, 1824, they were authorized to build and construct a canal, together with such locks and dams across the…
1Opinion of the Court
By the court.
It seems to be a good plea in abatement, that the remedy is misconceived by the plaintiff, although such a plea has been rarely used in modern times. 1 Chitty’s Pl. 442; Com. Dig. “ Abatement” G. 5; 1 Shower, 68, Wilkins v. Wilkins; 1 Tidd’s Practice, 583.
It is a well settled principle, that when the legislature authorizes an act, the necessary and natural consequence *530of which is damage to the property of another, and at tbe same time prescribes the particular mode in which the damage shall be ascertained and compensated, he who does the act cannot be liable as a wrong doer. 1 N.…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Stowell v. FlaggMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1814
- Steel v. President of Western Inland Lock NavigationNew York Supreme Court · 1807
- Town of Lebanon v. OlcottSuperior Court of New Hampshire · 1818
3Cited by4 opinions
- Briggs' PetitionSuperior Court of New Hampshire · 1854
- Aldrich v. Cheshire RailroadSuperior Court of New Hampshire · 1850
- Dearborn v. Boston, Concord & Montreal RailroadSuperior Court of New Hampshire · 1851
- Henniker v. Contoocook Valley RailroadSuperior Court of New Hampshire · 1854