State ex rel. Tacoma Industrial Co. v. White River Power Co.

Citations

• 39 Wash. 648
• 82 P. 150
• 1905 Wash. LEXIS 918

Syllabus

<p>Eminent Domain—Public Use—Public Service Corporations— No Condemnation by Electric Light and Power Company Organized for Commercial Purposes—Public Necessity and Control. The right of eminent domain cannot be exercised in favor of an electric light and power corporation organized for the purpose of diverting water for power purposes for the generation of electricity to be sold commercially to manufactories, railways, and cities, in the absence of statutory regulation and guarantees of the public use and enjoyment of the property; since the same is not a public service corporation, and the use not a public use, and public necessity does not require it.2</p> <p>Same—Constitutional Authority for Using Waters for Manufacturing Purposes. Const., art. 21, declaring the use of waters for manufacturing purposes a public use, is in conflict with the due process clause of the Federal Constitution in so far as it may be construed to extend the right of eminent domain to take private property for uses essentially private.</p>