Thorpe v. Rutland & Burlington Railroad
Supreme Court of Vermont
Power of the legislature to alter or repeal charters of private corporations ; their police powers. Railroad companies, hou> far subject to legislative control; their obligation to maintain cattle guards, S/-c. , Action on the case to recover damages for sheep of the plaintiff killed by one of the defendants’ locomotives, upon their railroad track, where said sheep had escaped in consequence of there being no cattle-guard at a farm crossing, across the defendants’ railroad…
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Power of the legislature to alter or repeal charters of private corporations ; their police powers. Railroad companies, hou> far subject to legislative control; their obligation to maintain cattle guards, S/-c. , Action on the case to recover damages for sheep of the plaintiff killed by one of the defendants’ locomotives, upon their railroad track, where said sheep had escaped in consequence of there being no cattle-guard at a farm crossing, across the defendants’ railroad on the plaintiff’s land in Charlotte. The only question reserved at the trial in the county court was, whether the…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered, at the circuit session, in September, 1855, by
Redfield, Ch. J.
I. The present case involves the question of the right of the legislature to require existing railways to respond in damages for all cattle killed or injured by their trains until they erect suitable cattle-guards at farm-crossings. No question could be made where such a requisition was contained in the charter of the corporation, or in the general laws of the state at the date of the charter. But where neither is the case, it is claimed that it is incompetent for the legislature to impose…
Also in this document: Dissent.
2Cases cited17 opinions
- Boyd's Lessee v. GravesSupreme Court of the United States · 1819
- Proprietors of the Charles River Bridge v. Proprietors of the Warren BridgeSupreme Court of the United States · 1837
- Providence Bank v. BillingsSupreme Court of the United States · 1830
- New Jersey v. WilsonSupreme Court of the United States · 1812
- Trow v. Vermont Central RailroadSupreme Court of Vermont · 1852
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3Cited by232 opinions
- Metropolitan Life Insurance v. MassachusettsSupreme Court of the United States · 1985
- Munn v. IllinoisSupreme Court of the United States · 1877
- Tennessee v. DavisSupreme Court of the United States · 1880
- Railroad Co. v. HusenSupreme Court of the United States · 1878
- Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway v. WaltersSupreme Court of the United States · 1935
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