Madera Water Works v. Madera

Citations

• 228 U.S. 454
• 33 S. Ct. 571
• 57 L. Ed. 915
• 1913 U.S. LEXIS 2385

Syllabus

<p>If the. constitution of the State authorizes municipalities to construct utility plants as well after, as before, such plants have been built by private parties, one constructing such a plant takes the risk of what may happen, and cannot invoke the Fourteenth Amendment to protect him against loss by the erection of a municipal plant.</p> <p>There is nothing in the constitution of California that can be construed as a contract,.express or implied, that municipalities will not construct water works that will compete with privately owned works built under the provisions of the constitution giving the right, subject to municipal regulation of charges, to lay mains in the streets of municipalities where there are no public works.</p>