Columbia Water Power Co. v. Columbia Electric Street Railway Light & Power Co.

Citations

• 172 U.S. 475
• 19 S. Ct. 247
• 43 L. Ed. 521
• 1899 U.S. LEXIS 1392

Syllabus

<p>Beading the complaint and the answer in this case together, the question whether the contract of the plaintiff' was impaired by subsequent state action appears on the face of the pleadings, and this court has jurisdiction to hear and determine the case.</p> <p>Under Bev. Stat. § 709 there are three classes of cases in which the final decree of a state court may be examined here: (1) where is drawn in question the validity of a treaty, or statute of, or authority exercised under, the United States, and the decision is against their validity; (2) where is drawn in question the validity of a statute of, or an authority exercised under, any State, on the ground of their being repugnant to the Constitution, treaties or laws of the United States, and the decision is in favor of their validity; (3) where any title, right, privilege or immunity is claimed under the Constitution, or any treaty or statute of, or commission held or authority exercised under, the United States, and the decision is against the title, right, privilege or immunity specially set up and claimed by either party under such Constitution, statute, commission or authority, and in this class the Federal right, title, privilege or immunity must, with possibly some rare exceptions, be specially set up or claimed to give this court jurisdiction.</p> <p>But where the validity of a treaty or statute of the United States is raised, and the decision is against it, or the validity of a state statute is drawn in question, and the decision is in favor of its validity, if the Federal question appears in the record and ivas decided, or if such decision was necessarily involved in the case, and the case could not have been determined without deciding such question, the fact that it was not specially set up and claimed is not conclusive against a review of such question here.</p> <p>The provision in the act of the South Carolina legislature of December 24, 1887, that the right of the State to the five hundred horse