City of Chicago v. Insull
Opinion of the Court
By contract ordinance made some years prior to 1893 Chicago & Oak Park Elevated Railroad Company had the right to enter Chicago from the west and to proceed along Lake street eastwardly as far as Canal street, which is a street running north and south near the west bank of the Chicago river. By contract ordinance of 1893 the elevated railroad company was granted the right to continue its elevated structure eastwardly along Lake street, across the Lake Street bridge, thence eastwardly to the east line of Market street (which runs north and south), and thence south in Market street to Madison street. In 1914 the city passed an ordinance by virtue of which it undertook to revoke the right of the railroad company to maintain the elevated structure in Market street and to compel removal thereof.
No claim is made that the. railroad company ever expressly surrendered the rights obtained by it in 1893, or ever expressly consented to the abrogation of the contract ordinance of that year. The sole basis for the city’s insistence upon an abrogation by implication arises from the railroad company’s acceptance of a contract ordinance in 1894; and the only provision therein which is said to compel the implication of a surrender of the rights granted in 1893 is the following:
“All trains operated by said company over its line of road, passing over the Lalce Street bridge eastwardly, shall at least alternately continue eastwardly over the line of road hereby authorized, and in case said company shall hereafter obtain the right to build or use a loop lino for running its trains, then all its trains proceeding eastwardly over Lake Street bridge shall continue to proceed eastwardly over the elevated railroad hereby áuthorized, and no trains or said company shall move westwardly over the elevated railroad hereby authorized between Wabash avenue and Market street, except such trains as have first proceeded eastwardly over the elevated railroad hereby authorized.”
“The elevated railroad hereby authorized” extended from the east line of Market street along Lake street to Wabash avenue. The railroad company did subsequently obtain the right to use a loop line, and its own line between Fifth avenue and Wabash avenue constituted the north side of the loop.
As this construction, which is based upo.n the plain reading of the documents, disposes of the case, it is unnecessary to detail the evidence in support of the findings of the master, approved by the chancellor, which shows that the practical construction placed upon the contract by the parties themselves during many years confirm and accord with the plain reading.
The decree is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- CITY OF CHICAGO v. INSULL
- Status
- Published