Commonwealth v. New York, L. E. & W. R. Co.
Commonwealth v. New York, L. E. & W. R. Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion,
This case came into the Common Pleas of Dauphin county
The New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company is a corporation of the state of New York. It was originally incorporated in the year 1832, as the New York & Erie Railroad Company, with power to construct a railroad from the city of New York to Lake Erie, through the southern counties of the state of New York. To avoid certain engineering difficulties, the company was afterwards authorized by the legislature of Pennsylvania, under certain restrictions, to build a specific portion of its road through the counties of Pike and Susquehanna, in this state: Acts of February 16, 1841, P. L. 28, and March 26, 1846, P. L. 179 ; the said company, by the act of 1846, being required to pay to the state of Pennsylvania, after the completion of the road, the sum of $10,000 annually. The property and franchises of the New York & Erie Railroad Company afterwards became vested in the Erie Railway Company, and, in 1878, in the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company. A portion of the defendant’s road was made and is still maintained within the limits of this state, and since the completion and equipment of the road regular payment has been made by the company to the commonwealth of the said sum of $10,000 annually, pursuant to the provisions of the several acts of assembly already referred to. Although
The fourth section of the act of 1885 applies not only to all private corporations, created by and under the laws of this state or of the United States, but to such as are doing business in this commonwealth. The several questions raised by the assignments of error, from the first to the ninth inclusive, as we have already said, have been discussed and decided in the case of Commonwealth v. Delaware Div. Canal Company, 123 Pa. 594, and the ease of the Commonwealth v. The Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, argued at the present term, [ante, 429,] and will not be further considered here.
The only questions raised by the remaining assignments are, first, whether the provision of the fourth section of the act of 1885, so far as it applies to foreign corporations doing business in this' state, is a proper exercise of legislative power; and, second, assuming this to be so, whether there is anything in the said provision by which the defendant road was permitted to pass through the counties of Pite and Susquehanna, which would exempt the company from the obligation of this act.
Upon the first question suggested there can, we think, he but little room for discussion. In the Delaware Div. Canal Company case, already referred to, we said:
“ Foreign corporations, exercising their franchises under the laws of other states and countries, are beyond the reach, of our processes of taxation. We could not require them ordinarily to comply with any such regulation of our law, and, therefore, they are necessarily excluded from the provisions of the act. Such foreign corporations as are engaged in business in the state might doubtless be required to comply as a condition of their right so to do, but this could only embarrass the action of the local assessor, and upon this ground,' doubtless, they were wisely excluded from the operation of the act.”
The last member of the concluding sentence of the paragraph
It was competent for the legislature of Pennsylvania to impose as a condition upon foreign corporations doing business in this state that they shall assess and collect the tax upon that portion of their loans in the hands of individuals resident within this state, and otherwise comply with the provisions of the act of 1885. The act imposes no tax upon the company; it simply defines a duty to be performed and fixes a penalty for disregard of that duty. The legislature having so provided, compliance with the act may, in some sense, be said to form one of the conditions upon which corporations may do business within the state, and the corporation continuing its business subsequently would be taken to have assented thereto.
There is, however, a condition, implied even in the case of domestic corporations, that they will be subject to such reasonable
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- COMMONWEALTH v. NEW YORK, L. E. & W. R. CO
- Cited By
- 5 cases
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- Syllabus
- 1. Section 4, act of June 30, 1885, P. L. 193, requiring corporations, upon the payment of interest upon their corporate indebtedness, to deduct and return the state tax imposed, applies not only to domestic corporations, but to foreign corporations doing business in this state. 2. A corporation of one state cannot do business in another state without the latter’s consent, express or implied, and that consent may be accompanied with such conditions as the latter may impose, not unconstitutional in character and effect and inconsistent with jurisdictional authority. 3. It is competent for the legislature of Pennsylvania to- impose upon foreign corporations doing business in this state, the duty, upon the payment of interest upon their corporate bonds held by resident holders, to deduct and return the state tax imposed by § 4, act of June 30, 1885, P. L. 193. 4. The New York, L. E. & W. R. Co. is not relieved from this duty to collect and return said tax, or from liability therefor upon failure to perform such duty, by anything authorized, conferred, or required in the acts of February 16, 1841, P. L. 28, aud March 26, 1846, P. L. 179. 5. Other questions, relating to the constitutionality, etc., of said act of June 30, 1885, P. L. 193, are ruled by Commonwealth v. Delaware Div. Canal Co., 123 Pa. 594, and the appeals in Commonwealth v. Le-high Y. R. Co., ante, 429.