Jersey City & Bergen Railroad v. Jersey City & Hoboken Horse Railroad

20 N.J. Eq. 61
CourtNew Jersey Court of Chancery
DecidedMay 15, 1869
StatusPublished

This text of 20 N.J. Eq. 61 (Jersey City & Bergen Railroad v. Jersey City & Hoboken Horse Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Court of Chancery primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jersey City & Bergen Railroad v. Jersey City & Hoboken Horse Railroad, 20 N.J. Eq. 61 (N.J. Ct. App. 1869).

Opinion

The Chancellor.

The complainants and the defendant corporation, whom I shall call the defendants, are both authorized by their charters, granted by the legislature, to lay rails in the streets of Jersey City, upon obtaining the consent of the common council of the city; both had the right to build a horse railroad to the Jersey City ferry, at the foot of Montgomery street in that city, and both had the right, by consent of the common council, to lay their railroad tracks in the streets that lead to that ferry. These charters were both granted [63]*63m March, 1859, and each granted the right or franchise of rauning cars and carrying passengers over their road when two miles of it should be completed.

The mayor and common council of Jersey Oity, by an ordinance approved December 20th, 1859, gave their consent to the complainants to lay a single track in certain streets in Jersey Oity, including Montgomery street, from Hudson street to Newark avenue, Newark avenue to Grove street, thence through Grove street, Montgomery street, Gregory street, York street, and Hudson street, to the foot of Mont* gomery street. And in the third section of this ordinance it was enacted that the consent to lay said track in Montgomery street to Newark avenue, and in Grove, Gregory, and York streets, was upon condition that the Jersey City and Hoboken Horse Railroad Company should have the joint use of any tracks that should be laid in said streets by virtue of said consent; and that if any disagreement should arise between the said two companies as to the expense or manner of laying said tracks, or the use thereof, such disagreement should be finally adjudicated and settled by the common council of said city. Other sections of this ordinance directed with what kind of rail, and of what width, the track should be laid, and required the company to pave with Belgian pavement the space between the rails and for two feet outside of them, and to keep this pavement in repair. It also provided that the city might at any time remove the tracks to lay down or repair water-pipes, sewers, or gas-pipes, or alter the grade of the streets, and that the company should replace the track and pavement at their own cost, and might, in the meantime, lay temporary rails in such street as the city should designate. It also provided that the company should pay city taxes, although exempt by their charter, and should only charge five cents fare within the city. The ninth section provided that the ordinance should go into effect as soon as the company should, under their seal, agree that they would apply at the next session of the legislature and obtain, if possible, an amendment to their charter, so [64]*64that in obtaining the consent of the common council to lay their rails, they should be subject to such conditions as the common council may have, by ordinance, imposed upon them. This agreement was executed by the complainants on the day after the approval of the ordinance.

The legislature, by an act approved March 17th, 1860, provided that the complainants, “in laying, repairing, and maintaining their rails, and in constructing their roads in the streets of Jersey Oity, shall be subject to such conditions as the common council of said city, in the ordinance granting consent to lay such rails and construct said road, shall have imposed, or shall impose upon them.”

The common council also, by an ordinance approved January 18th, 1860, gave consent for the Hoboken company to lay a single track of rails in certain streets in Jersey Oity, including Grove street and Jersey avenue, north of, and until their respective intersections with Newark avenue, but not including any street in which their consent had been given to the cornplainants for laying rails. The third section of this ordinance provided “that the Jersey Oity and Hoboken Horse Railroad Company shall have the joint use of the tracks of the Jersey Oity and Bergen Railroad" Company to and from their tracks in Jersey avenue and Grove street to Hudson street, upon their agreement with said Jersey Oity and Bergen Railroad Company, in accordance with section three of the ordinance to authorize said company to lay their rails, approved December 20th, 1859.”

The complainants, by virtue of the ordinance granting them consent, laid their tracks in Newark avenue, from Jersey avenue, crossing Grove street to Montgomery street, and along that street to Hudson street, also in Grove, Montgomery, Gregory, York, and Hudson streets to the foot of Montgomery street. These tracks were laid by them at their own expense, without any aid from the defendants. The defendants laid their tracks in Pavonia avenue and Grove street to Newark avenue, and then by virtue of a verbal agreement between them and the complainants, ran [65]*65their cars on the complainants’ tracks to the foot of Montgomery street. The terms of this agreement were that the complainants might use the track of the defendants for an equal distance as compensation, and that either party could put an end to the agreement by one month’s notice. The complainants, on the 23d day of March, 1868, gave a notice to the defendants by which this agreement was terminated on the 1st day of May, 1868.

The defendants, by a written application made shortly after the receipt of the notice, formally applied to the common council of Jersey City, to give them the use of the necessary tracks to enable them to run their cars to tho Jersey City ferry, under the provision of the third section of the ordinance of December 20th, 1859, for a nominal consideration.

Upon this application a committee was appointed, and upon their report, the common council, by an ordinance, approved September 21st, 1868, directed that the defendants should pay to the complainants, for the use of their tracks, the sum of §300 a year for each car run upon such tracks; that said sum should be computed from the 1st of May then last past, and that payment should be made at that rate on the first of every month, and that the money due for the use of the track from the 1st of May to the 1st of September, should be paid immediately. The second section of the ordinance provided, if the defendants upon demand made, should refuse to pay to the complainants the compensation so provided, at the times and in the manner provided, that the defendants should thenceforth cease to use the tracks of the complainants, and the complainants should thenceforth be released from all conditions and obligations on account of the provisions of the third section of the ordinance, approved December 20th, 1859. The complainants on the 23d of September, 1868, demanded the money due of the defendants, who refused to pay it, and answered that they would relinquish the use of the complainants’ tracks.

After this the defendants discontinued running their cars [66]*66on the tracks of the complainants, until February 5th, 1869. The common council, by an ordinance, approved January 15th, 1869, amended the first section of the ordinance of September 21st, 1868, so that the rate required to be paid for each car should be $100 a year, and the payment should commence from January 1st, 1869, and be payable on the first of each month, and the amount from January 1st, 1869, be payable immediately. After this ordinance went into effect, the defendants commenced running their cars over the tracks of the complainants, from Jersey avenue and Grove street, to the foot of Montgomery street. It is this use that complainants seek to enjoin.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Fletcher v. Peck
10 U.S. 87 (Supreme Court, 1810)
Brooklyn Central Rail Road v. Brooklyn City Rail Road
32 Barb. 358 (New York Supreme Court, 1860)
Craig v. Rochester City & Brighton Rail Road
39 Barb. 494 (New York Supreme Court, 1863)
Sixth Avenue Railroad v. Kerr
45 Barb. 138 (New York Supreme Court, 1864)
Elliott v. Fair Haven & Westville Railroad
32 Conn. 579 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1860)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
20 N.J. Eq. 61, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jersey-city-bergen-railroad-v-jersey-city-hoboken-horse-railroad-njch-1869.