Vinton Colliery Co. v. Blacklick & Yellow Creek Railroad
Vinton Colliery Co. v. Blacklick & Yellow Creek Railroad
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
This bill was filed to restrain the appellee railroad company, incorporated under the act of 1868, from taking lands of appellant under condemnation proceedings, because, as alleged, the right of eminent domain sought to be exercised was not for a public use, but for a purely private purpose. The right to thus proceed in equity is claimed under the act of 1871 and the authority of McCandless’s App., 70 Pa. 210; Edgewood Railroad Company’s App., 79 Pa. 257; Mory v. Railroad Company, 199 Pa. 152, and Deemer v. Bells Run Railroad Company, 212 Pa. 491. It is true equity jurisdiction was sustained in these cases for the general purpose stated, but solely upon the ground that the corporations in question, while possessing under their charter powers 'the right to appropriate lands for public uses, in point of fact were undertaking to condemn land for private purposes. The cases cited have gone this far and no farther. The charter powers of a corporation cannot be attacked in this manner, but must be inquired into in a proper proceeding to which the commonwealth is a party.
Decree affirmed at the cost of appellant.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Vinton Colliery Company v. Blacklick & Yellow Creek Railroad Company
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- 7 cases
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- Syllabus
- Railroads — Condemnation of land — Public use — Private use — Equity. 1. A bill in equity to restrain a railroad company incorporated under the Act of April 4, 1868, P. L. 62, from condemning land, on the ground that the land was intended for a purely private, and not a public use, is properly dismissed, where the court finds from sufficient evidence that it was the intent and purpose of the incorporators of the defendant company to complete, equip and operate its railroad as required by law, and that public necessity demands the construction and operation of the road. 2. Questions growing out of the exercise of the powers granted to a corporation cannot be raised in a proceeding under the Act of June 19, 1871, P. L. 1360, under which act the inquiry is always limited to a consideration of the question, Does the corporation possess the power to do what it is attempting to do, and not whether it is'exercising its power in an improper manner.