Railroad Company v. Richmond

Citations

• 86 U.S. 584
• 22 L. Ed. 173
• 19 Wall. 584
• 1873 U.S. LEXIS 1468

Syllabus

<p>1, The act of Congress of June 15th, 1866, authorizing every railroad company in the United States, whose road was operated by steam, and its successors and assigns, to carry upon and over its road, boats, bridges, and ferries all passengers, troops, government supplies, mails, freight, and property, on their way from one State to another State, and to receive compensation therefor, and to connect with roads of other Slates so far as to form continuous lines for the transportation of the same to their place of destination; and the act of July 25th, 1850, authorizing the construction of certain bridges over the Mississippi Kiver, and among others a bridge connecting Dubuque with Dunleith, in the Slate of Illinois, and providing that the bridges, when constructed, should be free for the crossing of all trains of railroads terminating on either side of the river, for reasonable compensation, were designed to remove trammels upon transportation between different States, interposed by State enactments or by existing laws of Congress, and were not intended to interfere with private contracts and annul such as had been made on the basis of existing legislation and existing means of interstate communication.</p> <p>2. Contracts valid when made, continue valid, and capable of enforcement, so long as peace lasts between the governments of the contracting parties, notwithstanding a change in the conditions of business which originally led to their creation.</p> <p>3. The power to regulate commerce among the several States was vested in. Congress in order to secure equality and freedom in commercial intercourse against discriminating State legislation ; it was not intended that the power should be exercised so as to interfere with private contracts not designed at the time they were made to create impediments to such intercourse.</p> <p>4 Accordingly, a contract between a railroad company and an elevator company, that the latter company, in consideration of erecting and usin