People ex rel. San Francisco & San Joaquin Railway Co. v. Craycroft

Citations

• 111 Cal. 544
• 44 P. 463
• 1896 Cal. LEXIS 620

Syllabus

<p>Railroads — Extension of Track Through Streets of City — Sale of Franchises to Highest Bidder — Construction of Statute — Absence of Bona Fide Competition.—The act of Miarch 23, 1893, requiring the sale of railroad franchises in the streets of cities to the highest bidder, must be construed as applying only to cases of street railroads where bona fide competition is possible; and is not to be construed to require the city trustees to sell to the highest bidder a franchise applied for by a steam railroad for the extension of its track through the streets of the city en route between its termini, in which case there can be no bojia fide competition, and the effect of competing bids might be merely to prevent the road from passing through the city. Id.—Reasonable Construction of Statutes.—The construction of statutes must be reasonable; and where it is evident that the legislature could not have intended the consequence of a literal construction which leads to an absurdity, such literal construction cannot obtain.</p> <p>Id.—Mandamus to Board of Trustees. — Mandamus will lie to compel the board of trustees of the city to act upon the merits of the application of a steam railroad to extend its track through the streets of the city, without subjecting the franchise applied for to sale to the highest bidder.</p>