Covington & Cincinnati Bridge Co. v. Kentucky

Citations

• 154 U.S. 204
• 14 S. Ct. 1087
• 38 L. Ed. 962
• 1894 U.S. LEXIS 2229

Syllabus

<p>This company was incorporated under an act of the legislature of Kentucky, approved February 17, 1846, with authority to construct a bridge across the Ohio at Cincinnati. The third section of the act required its confirmation by the State of Ohio, before the corporation should open its books for subscription; and the eighth section declared that “the president and directors shall have the rights to fix the rates of toll for passing over said bridge, and to collect the same from all and every person or persons passing thereon, with their goods, carriages, or animals of every description or kind; provided, however, that the said company shall lay before the legislature of this State a correct statement of the costs of said bridge, and an annual statement of the tolls received for passing the same, and also the cost of keeping the said bridge in repair, and of the other expenses of the company; and the said president and directors shall, from time to time, reduce the rates of toll, so that the net profits of the said bridge shall not exceed fifteen per cent per annum, after the proper'deductions are made for repairs and charges of other descriptions.” By an act of the legislature of Ohio, enacted March 9, 1849, this company was made a body corporate and politic of that State, “ with the same franchises, rights, and privileges, and subject to the same duties and liabilities,” as were specified in its original incorporation. Some .subsequent legislation took place not affecting the matter in issue here. The bridge was completed in 1867 at a cost much in excess of what had been contemplated, and- has never earned 15 per cent on its cost. On the 31st of March, 1890, the legislature of Kentucky enacted that it should be unlawful to charge, collect, demand, or receive for passage over the bridge spanning the Ohio River, constructed under such act of incorporation, any toll, fare, or compensation greater than, or in excess of, certain rates prescribed by the act, which wer