Houston & Texas Central Railway Co. v. Texas

Citations

• 170 U.S. 243
• 18 S. Ct. 610
• 42 L. Ed. 1023
• 1898 U.S. LEXIS 1542

Syllabus

<p>In Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Baihvay Go. v. Texas, .ante, 226, the grants of land repealed by the operation of Section 6 of. Article X of the constitution of Texas of 1-869, were grants to aid in the construction of lines of railway not authorized until after that provision took effect.; whereas, in this case, the grants which are claimed tobe affected by it were grants made prior to the adoption of that constitution,'’ for- the purpose . of aiding in the construction of the road fromBrenham to Austin.. Held,that that constitutional provision, as thus enforced, impairs the obligation of the contract between tile State and the railway company, and cannot be sustained.</p> <p>Argument was urged on. behalf of defendant in error that the particular lands sued for are situated in what is known as the Pacific reservation, being a reservation for the benefit of the Texas and Pacific Railway Company, created by a special act of May 2,1873, and hence, that though the certificates were valid, they were not located, as the.law required, on unappropriated public domain. This question was not determined by. . either of the appellate tribunals, but, on the contrary, their judgments rested distinctly on the invalidity of the certificates for reasons involving the disposition of Federal questions. This court therefore declines to enter on an examination of the controversy now suggested on this point.</p>