Samuel Freeman Miller

“ To this there are two sufficient answers, the first of which is that, if the statute creating this corporation gave it no power to receive and hold lands in the manner we have mentioned, then it had no such power by virtue of any law of the state of Wisconsin; for a corporation, in order to be entitled to buy and sell, to receive and hold, the title to real estate, must have some statutory authority of the state in which such lands lie to enable it to do so, and the absence of such provision in the law of its incorporation does not create any general statute which authorizes any such right. ”

“ Indeed, the distinction between public and private acts has become very artificial and shadowy since legislative bodies have adoped the principle of publishing in printed form all statutes which they pass. ”

“ It is next objected to the principle adopted by the court that the limitation upon the power of the corporation to receive land is one which concerns the state alone, and the title to such lands in a corporation can only be defeated by a proceeding, in the nature of a quo warranto, on behalf of the state. ”