Joseph McKenna

“ It acted upon the faith of the statute alone, and committed its rights to a judicial interpretation of the statute. The rule which governs interpretation in such cases has often been declared. We expressed it, following many prior decisions, in Detroit Citizens' Street R. Co. v. Detroit R. Co. 171 U.S. 48, 43 L. ed. 67, 18 Sup. Ct. Rep. 732, to be that the power of a municipal corporation to grant exclusive privileges must be conferred by explicit terms. If inferred from other powers, it is not enough that the power is convenient to other powers; it must be indispersable to them. ”

“ Rep. 334, 388, 1191, by Chief Justice Waite, of the power of the regulation of rates:
'This power of regulation is a power of government, continuing in its nature, and if it can be bargained away at all it can only be by words of positive grant, or something which is in law equivalent. If there is reasonable doubt, it must be resolved in favor of the existence of the power. ”

“ It became a condition, therefore, of the privileges granted to plaintiff. The act of 1891 only repeated and emphasized the power.
The third ground urged why plaintiff is deprived of its property without due process of law is as abstract, as free from real grievance to plaintiff, as the other grounds. With what functions the circuit courts of the state may be invested may not be of Federal concern. It is also a matter of construction, in which we might be obliged to follow the state courts. ”