Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Shaw v. Covington — Opinion of the Court
“ Therefore it can claim the franchises and privileges of its constituent companies by succession, only under the words 'property,' or 'assets and effects,' if at all. These words certainly are not happily chosen to express the transfer of a franchise, still less to express the continuance of a right not to be competed with, granted by the legislature to a named corporation, after that corporation shall have ceased to exist. ”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Shaw v. Covington — Opinion of the Court
“ We cannot be so ingenious. However the plaintiffs may stand as to using the streets, the Covington Company's monopoly in business was distinct from its rights in the streets. When the Covington Company died its monopoly came to an end. ”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Shaw v. Covington — Opinion of the Court
“ After September 28, 1897, the provisions of the chapter are to apply to all corporations if they would be applicable to such corporations if organized under that chapter. There was nice discussion, and it is a fair question whether this section did not repeal the exclusive privilege given to the Covington company in 1897, if that privilege survived the consolidation. But we refer to it only as an aid in construing § 556. It is another evidence of the wish and intent of the legislature to bring all corporations to a level when it could. ”
