Chicago & Alton Railroad v. City of Carlinville

200 Ill. 314
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 16, 1902
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 200 Ill. 314 (Chicago & Alton Railroad v. City of Carlinville) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chicago & Alton Railroad v. City of Carlinville, 200 Ill. 314 (Ill. 1902).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Hand

delivered the opinion of the court:

This was a suit brought by the appellee, against the appellant, before a police magistrate, to recover a penalty for a violation of the following ordinance of the' city of Carlinville:

“Sec. 261. No railroad company, or conductor, engineer or other employee of such company managing or controlling any locomotive engine, car or train upon any railroad track, shall run, or permit to be run, within the limits of said city, any passenger train or car at a greater rate of speed than ten miles per hour, nor any freight train or car at a greater rate of speed than six miles per hour, under a penalty, in either case, of not exceeding §25 for each offense.”

A trial was had and judgment was rendered against the appellant, from which it appealed to the circuit court, where a jury was waived and a trial had before the court, which resulted in a judgment against the appellant for §5 and costs, which judgment has been af-' firmed by the Appellate Court for the Third District, and a further appeal has been prosecuted to this court.

The appellant objected to the introduction of said ordinance in evidence on two grounds: First, that said ordinance was unreasonable, and therefore void; second, that said ordinance is an unreasonable restriction upon inter-State commerce and an unnecessary hindrance to the speedy carrying of the United States mail, and in conflict with the constitution of the United States. The court overruled said objections and admitted the ordinance in evidence, to which ruling of the court the appellant excepted and has assigned the same as error, in this court. The objections will be disposed of in the order in which they were made and are here presented.

The city of Carlinville is located upon the main line of the appellant’s railroad and is about midway between the cities of Springfield and East St. Louis. It has a population of about 3600 and is the county seat of Macoupin county. The tracks of appellant run through the incorporated limits of the city from the north-east towards the south-west for about one mile and a quarter. The principal part of the city is located on the east side of its tracks, which cross four streets within the city, two of which are among the principal thoroughfares of the city. The city has the usual residences, stores, shops and public buildings common to a county seat of its size, and a coal shaft, grain elevator and pickle factory are located within the city near the main line of appellant, which obstruct, to a considerable extent, the view of its tracks and approaching trains. The “Alton Limited” is a fast train, which was equipped for the accommodation of through passengers between the cities of Chicago and St. Louis. It makes but few stops, and runs in competition with similar trains operated between said points by the Illinois Central and Wabash railroads, which very nearly parallel its route. The distance between Chicago and St. Louis by appellant’s line is about two hundred and eighty miles, about sixty-five miles of which is within incorporated cities, towns and villages in the State of Illinois. The distance between said cities by the other railroads referred to is about the same as that over appellant’s line, but the Illinois Central and Wabash railroads have a less amount of track within the limits of incorporated cities, towns' and villages. The Alton Limited schedule time between Chicago and St. Louis is seven and three-fourths hours. It carries the United States mail, and runs to make connection with railroad- lines from the east and north-west entering and leaving Chicago, and from the west and south-west entering and leaving St. Louis, carrying through passengers and the United States mail. It was admitted that the Alton Limited had been run by the appellant within the incorporated limits of the city of Carlinville at from fifty to sixty miles per hour, and at a prohibited rate of speed, and in violation of said ordinance, if said ordinance was valid and binding upon it.

The city of Carlinville is organized under the general law providing for the incorporation of cities and villages, and passed the ordinance in question under and by virtue of the power conferred upon it by that act, subject to the limitation imposed by the act in regard to fencing and operating railroads. Paragraph 21 of section 1 of article 5 of the general Incorporation act (Hurd’s Stat. 1899, p. 275,) provides that cities shall have the right “to regulate the speed of * * * cars and locomotives within the limits of the corporation,” and section 24 of the act in regard to fencing and operating railroads (Hurd’s Stat. 1899, p, 1332,) provides “that no such ordinance shall limit the rate of speed, in case of passenger trains to less than ten miles per hour, nor in any other case to less than six miles per hour.” Subject to the limitation that no ordinance shall be passed which limits the speed of a passenger train to less than ten miles per hour, and in any other cases to less than six miles per hour, the matter of regulating the speed of trains within incorporated cities and villages is left entirely to the municipal authorities. (City of Lake View v. Tate, 130 Ill. 247.) That cities and villages have the power, by ordinance, to regulate the speed of trains within their corporate limits is recognized by the courts of this country, so far as we have been able to discover, without exception, provided such regulation is reasonable. Toledo, Peoria and Warsaw Railway Co. v. Deacon, 63 Ill. 91; Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Co. v. Haggerty, 67 id. 113; Meyers v. Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Co. 57 Iowa, 555; Crowley v. Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway Co. 65 id. 658; Whitson v. City of Franklin, 34 Ind. 392; C., C., C. & I. Ry. Co. v. Harrington, 131 id. 426; Weyl v. Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Co. 40 Minn. 350.

In Toledo, Peoria and Warsaw Railway Co. v. Deacon, supra, on page 93 it is said: “Though the legislature has granted franchises to railway corporations, and authorized them to procure the right of way and operate their trains by the power of steam, yet they have not unlimited discretion in the regulation of the speed of trains. They cannot act recklessly and in disregard of the safety and rights of others. The State has reserved to itself the power to enact all police laws necessary and proper to secure and protect the life and property of the citizen. Prominent amongst the rights reserved, and which must inhere in the State, is the power to regulate the approaches to and the crossing of public highways and the passage through cities and villages, where life and property are constantly in imminent danger by the rapid and fearful speed of railway trains. The exercise of their franchises by corporations must yield to the public exigencies and the safety of the community.”

In Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Co. v. Haggerty, supra, an objection was made to the admission in evidence of an ordinance of the town of Gamp Point prohibiting the running of trains within the town at a greater rate of speed than six miles per hour. On page 115 the court say: “It is contended that the ordinance is null and void because the town had no authority to pass such an ordinance, and because the company was expressly authorized by law to ñx and regulate the rate of speed of trains upon its road. There is no grant of power to this town, in express terms, to regulate the rate of speed of railway trains passing through the town, but by its charter (Private Laws 1857, pp.

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Bluebook (online)
200 Ill. 314, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chicago-alton-railroad-v-city-of-carlinville-ill-1902.