Horace Gray

“ But the insuperable difficulty in the way of sustaining these writs of error is that it does not appear that the court of appeals of Kentucky gave effect to the statutes of 1870 and 1873 as making any change in that contract. The statutes of Kentucky require written opinions to be delivered by the court of appeals in all cases, and to be recorded by its clerk. ”

“ By the settled course of decision under the existing judiciary acts of the United States, this court may examine opinions so delivered and recorded, to ascertain the ground of the judgment of the state court. ”

“ It is contended for the plaintiffs in error that the statutes of 1851 and 1869 created a contract by which the stockholders of the Shelby Railroad Company were those persons who had become so by subscribing for stock or by the payment of taxes, and the right to vote upon stock subscribed for by counties or other municipal subdivisions was in tax-payers only ”