Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad v. Dunbar

Citations

• 95 Ill. 571
• 1880 Ill. LEXIS 211

Syllabus

<p>1. Franchise—what is, under constitution relating to appeals, etc. Power in. a railroad company to exercise the right of eminent domain in a city is a franchise, within the meaning of that word as used in the constitution, in defining what cases must be taken to the Supreme Court by appeal or writ of error. It is not essential to a franchise, in its legal sense, that it should, in all cases, be exclusive.</p> <p>2. Supreme Court—appellate jurisdiction in case of franchise. Although the direct object of a bill in chancery be not to oust a railroad company from the possession of a franchise claimed by it, but to enjoin it from exercising the right to condemn private property within a city, and a decree is rendered granting the relief sought on the assumed ground that the company has no such right in the case, thus depriving the company of the exercise of the right claimed, an appeal will lie from such decree directly to this court.</p>