New Orleans Gas Co. v. Louisiana Light Co.

Citations

• 115 U.S. 650
• 6 S. Ct. 252
• 29 L. Ed. 516
• 1885 U.S. LEXIS 1879

Syllabus

<p>A gas company incorporated in 1835, with the exclusive privilege of making and selling gas in New Orleans, its faubourgs and Lafayette, up to April 1, 1875, and another gas company incorporated in 1870, with a like exclusive privilege in New Orleans on and after that day, could, just before that day, consolidate under the provisions of the act of December 12, 1874, of the legislature of Louisiana, which provided that “any two business or manufacturing companies now existing, whose objects and business are in general of the same nature, may amalgamate, unite and consolidate.”</p> <p>A legislative grant of an exclusive right to supply gas to a municipality and its inhabitants, through pipes and mains laid in the public streets, and upon condition of the performance of the service by the grantee, is a grant of a franchise vested in the State, in consideration of the performance of a public service, and, after performance by the grantee, is a contract protected by the Constitution of the United States against State legislation to impair it.</p> <p>In granting the exclusive franchise to supply gas to a municipality and its inhabitants, a State legislature does not part with the police power and duty of protecting the public health, the public morals and the public safety, as one or the other may be affected by the exercise of that franchise by the grantee.</p> <p>The prohibition in the Constitution of the United States against the passage of laws impairing the obligation of contracts applies to the Constitution, as well as the laws, of each State.</p>