Ward v. Minnesota & Northwestern Railroad

Citations

• 119 Ill. 287
• 10 N.E. 365

Syllabus

<p>1. Eminent domain—corporate existence of the railroad company petitioning—whether it must he shown, and in what way, etc. The defendant, in a proceeding to condemn his land by a railway company, by going to trial on the merits, waives the necessity of the preliminar)- proof of the corporate existence of the petitioner.</p> <p>2. The proof of the corporate existence of a railway company, if required to be made, is addressed to the court, and not to the jury called to assess the damages. The right to exercise the right of eminent domain is a question exclusively for the court to determine. The defendant may raise the question of the petitioner’s right, without plea or answer.</p> <p>3. Proof of the exercise of corporate acts, though slight, will be sufficient to authorize the proceeding to condemn land by a railway company. So the filing of a cross-petition by the defendant for the assessment of damages to other land than that sought to be taken, may be regarded as an admission of the corporate capacitj' of the petitioner. The defendant, by asking the court for a rule on the petitioner to exhibit the plan and profile of its road over and. across the lands sought to be condemned, may be regarded as admitting that the petitioner is a de facto corporation.</p> <p>4. Same—proof of inability to agree with land owner. Where, from the contest and the acts of the parties, it is evident that the parties could not agree as to the compensation to be paid for land sought to be condemned for a right of way, the judgment will not be reversed, because no direct testimony was offered to show such inability to agree.</p>