“ Of course, if this were the city's defense, the controversy would be solved by merely ascertaining the proper construction of the ordinances and charter amendment, and there would be no occasion to consider the Constitution of the United States at all.
That the cross bill may be broader than the original and seek relief on a Federal ground does not affect the question of the circuit court's jurisdiction, for a cross bill is a mere auxiliary or dependency of the original, and is entertained and disposed of in the exercise of the jurisdiction invoked by the latter. ”

“ Whether $7,000,000 is an adequate price for the company's plant, and whether its value will be ruinously impaired by the construction of a municipal plant, are beside the question. Being under no obligation to purchase, the city is free to name its own terms, and the water company is likewise free to accept or reject them. ”

“ That ordinance, we have seen, provided for an appraisement of the water company's property in advance of the expiration of the existing franchise, for the fixing of a reasonable schedule of rates to be charged during a further period of twenty years, and for submitting to the electors of the city, at a single special election, the questions (a) whether the city should purchase at the appraisement, and (b) whether a new franchise should be granted to the water company for a further period of twenty years on the basis of the rates so fixed. ”

“ The exceptional power to review, upon certiorari, a decision of a circuit court of appeals, rendered on an appeal from an interlocutory order, is intended to be and is sparingly exercised. But there can be no doubt that the power exists where no appeal would lie from a final decree of that court, as is the case where the suit is one in which the jurisdiction of the court of first instance depended entirely upon diverse citizenship. ”

“ The point cannot be sustained. The section is in form and in substance a mere amendment. It does not alter the form of the city government, or make extensive changes in the existing charter, but is confined to matters pertaining to public utilities, more especially the acquisition, maintenance, and operation of a municipal water plant. ”

“ This ordinance, when the same shall be in writing accepted by the Denver Water Company, becomes a contract between the city of Denver and the said the Denver Water Company, its successors and assigns, and the same shall, as to every provision herein contained, as fully bind and inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the said the Denver Water Company as to the said company. ”

“ The ordinance contained various provisions regulatory of the right and privilege so granted, the duty of the water company to supply water for private use and for fire and other public purposes, the rates to be charged private users, and the hydrant rentals to be paid by the city. ”