William R. Day

“ The said company may regulate and establish, from time to time, such rates of fare for the transportation of passengers and freight over its lines of railway as it may deem proper; provided, that the charge for carrying a person, including hand baggage, from one point to another within the city limits, whether by one or more lines operated by the same company, shall not exceed 5 cents on any one line ”

“ Passenger cars on all said lines shall run between extreme limits on all extensions to or near the intersection of Washington avenue with Hennepin avenue, without change to passengers traveling thereon, and after November 1, 1890, said street railway company shall issue transfer checks at the junction of said lines at Washington and Hennepin avenues, to any passenger on any of said lines who shall pay one full fare, which transfer check shall entitle passenger so receiving the same to a continuous passage on either of said connecting lines ”

“ The amount of capital stock in any such corporation shall in no case be less than $10,000 nor more than $500,000, and shall be divided into shares of not less than $10 nor more than $50 each, except that the capital stock of mutual building and loan associations may be divided into shares of $200 each, but the capital stock and number of shares may be increased at any regular meeting of the stockholders ”

“ That the Minneapolis Street Railway Company be and is hereby granted, during the term of its charter, the exclusive right and privilege of constructing and operating a single or double track for a passenger railway line, with all necessary tracks for turnouts, side tracks, and switches, in such streets of said city, as the city council may deem suited to street railways, subject to the terms, conditions, and forfeitures hereinafter contained ”

“ Any such association is authorized and empowered to purchase at any sheriff's or other judicial sale, or at any other sale, public or private, any real estate upon which such association may have or hold any mortgage, judgment, or lien, or other encumbrance, or in which such association may have an interest, and the real estate so purchased, to sell, convey, lease, or mortgage at pleasure, to any person or persons whatsoever. ”

“ Any mutual saving fund, loan, or building association, as authorized to loan funds and to secure such loans by mortgage or other security, and any premiums taken by any such association for the preference or priority of such loans, shall not be deemed interest within the meaning of § 1 of chapter 23 of the general statutes. ”

“ It is unreasonable to suppose that the city and the company at that time entered into and inquiry or controversy as to whether the company could lawfully incorporate for more than thirty years. The charter referred to in the ordinance could not have been anything else than the certificate of incorporation required by law. Of this the city was bound to take notice; and when it granted the privileges 'during the term of the charter,' it could have meant nothing less than during the period named in the charter. As was declared by the supreme court of Minnesota in Duluth v. ”

“ Any number of persons, not less than five, may associate themselves and become incorporated for the purpose of building, improving, and operating railways, telegraphs, canals, or slack- water navigation, upon any river or lake, and all works of internal improvement which require the taking of private property or any easement therein. ”

“ No such corporation shall be formed to continue more than fifty years in the first instance, but it may be renewed from time to time for periods not longer than fifty years: Provided, that three fourths of the votes cast at any regular election for the purpose are in favor of such renewal, and those desiring a renewal purchase the stock of those opposed thereto at its current value. ”

“ It was held that, by a long course of legislation and practical construction, such legislation was justified and ought not to be disturbed. The constitutional amendment of 1881, it was said, made such legislation impossible thereafter, because the legislature is therein prohibited from enacting any special or private laws in the following cases: '. . . For granting corporate powers or privileges, except to cities.' In this case the court referred to Ames v. Lake Superior & M. R. Co. ”