Shaffer v. Public Service Commission

Citations

• 268 Pa. 456
• 111 A. 877
• 1920 Pa. LEXIS 716

Syllabus

<p>Corporations — Telephone companies — Constitutional law — Act of July 22, 1919, P. L. 1128 — Merger.</p> <p>1. A statute is void only when it clearly, palpably and plainly violates the Constitution.</p> <p>2. A doubt as to the constitutionality of an act of assembly is to be resolved in favor of the validity of the act.</p> <p>3. The Act of July 22, 1919, P. L. 1123, providing for the incorporation and regulation of telephone companies, does not violate article XVI, section 12, prohibiting the consolidation of telegraph companies.</p> <p>4. At the time the Constitution of 1874 was adopted, the telephone was unknown, and could not have been in the minds of the members of the constitutional convention when they submitted their work to the people for approval.</p> <p>5. Where a telephone company has charter rights as a telegraph company, it must surrender such rights when it merges with another telephone company.</p>