UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE

UNION PACIFIC RY. CO. V. CHICAGO, R.I. & P. RY. CO., 163 U. S. 564 (1896)

163 U. S. 564

U.S. Supreme Court

Union Pacific Ry. Co. v. Chicago, R.I. & P. Ry. Co., 163 U.S. 564 (1896)

Union Pacific Railway Company v. Chicago,

Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company

Nos. 157-158

Argued April 21-22, 1896

Decided May 25, 1896

163 U.S. 564

Syllabus

Railroad corporations possess the powers which are expressly conferred by their charters, together with such powers as are fairly incidental thereto, and they cannot, except with the consent of the state, disable themselves from the discharge of the functions, duties, and obligations which they have assumed.

The general rule is that a contract by which a railroad company renders itself incapable of performing its duties to the public or attempts to absolve itself from those obligations without the consent of the state, clubjuris

Page 163 U. S. 565

or a contract made by a corporation beyond the scope of its powers, express or implied, on a proper construction of its charter cannot be enforced, or rendered enforceable by the application of the doctrine of estoppel, but where the subject matter of the contract is not foreign to the purposes for which the corporation is created, a contract embracing whatever may fairly be regarded as incidental to, or consequential upon, those things which the legislature has authorized ought not, unless expressly prohibited, to be held by judicial construction to be ultra vires.

The contract with the Rock Island Company on the part of the Union Pacific Company which forms one subject of this controversy was one entirely within the corporate powers of the latter company, and throughout the whole of it there is nothing which looks to any actual possession by the Rock Island Company of any of the Union Pacific property beyond that which was involved in its trains' being run over the tracks under the direction of the other company, and this was an arrangement entirely within the corporate powers of the Union Pacific Company to make, and which was in no respect ultra vires.

The common object of the Act of February 24, 1871, c. 67, regarding the construction of a bridge across the Missouri at Omaha, and the Act of July 25, 1866, c. 246, touching the construction of several bridges across the Mississippi, was the more perfect connection of the roads running to the respective bridges on either side, and being construed liberally, as they should be, the scheme of Congress in the act of 1871 was to accomplish a more perfect connection at or near Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska.

It being within the power of the Union Pacific Company to enter into contracts for running arrangements, including the use of its track and the connections and accommodations provided for by the contract in controversy, and that contract not being open to the objection that it disables the Union Pacific Company from discharging its duties to the public, it will not do to hold it void and to allow the Union Pacific Company to escape from the obligations which it has assumed on the mere suggestion that, at some time in the remote future, a contingency may arise which will prevent it from performing its undertakings in the contract.

Other objections made on behalf of the Union Pacific Company disposed of as follows: (1) the provision in the contract respecting reference does not take from the company the full control of its road; (2) its acts in constructing its road in Nebraska, not having been objected to by the state, must, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be deemed valid; (3) the contract is not to be deemed invalid because, during its term, the charter of the Rock Island Company will expire; (4) the Republican Valley Company, being a creation of the Pacific Company, is bound by the contract; (5) the Pacific Company has power, under its charter, to operate the lines contemplated by these contracts, it being a general principle that where a corporate contract is forbidden by a statute or is obviously hostile to the public advantage or convenience, the courts disapprove clubjuris

Page 163 U. S. 566

of it, but when there is no express prohibition and it is obvious that the contract is one of advantage to the public, the rule is otherwise.

The contracts in question were in proper form, signed and executed by the proper executive officers, attested by the corporate seal of the Union Pacific Company, approved and authorized by the executive committee, which had all the powers of the board, and ratified, approved and confirmed by the stockholders at their next annual meeting, and this was sufficient to bind the Union Pacific Company although no action by the board was had.

These contracts were such contracts as a court of equity can specifically enforce, and thereby prevent the intolerable travesty of justice involved in permitting parties to refuse performance of their contracts at pleasure by electing to pay damages for the breach.

The public interests involved in these contracts demand that they should be upheld and enforced. It is to the higher interest of all, corporations and public alike, that it be understood that there is a binding force in all contract obligations, that no change of interest or change of management can disturb their sanctity or break their force, but that the law which gives to corporations their rights, their capacities for large accumulations, and all their faculties is potent to hold them to all their obligations and so make right and justice the measure of all corporate as well as individual action.

These were petitions in equity filed by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company against the Union Pacific Railway Company and the Omaha & Republican Valley Railway Company, and by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company against the Union Pacific Railway Company in the District Court of Douglas County, Nebraska, January 2, 1891, to compel the specific performance of two contracts, dated May 1, 1890, and April 30, 1890, respectively, and removed on petition of the Union Pacific Railway Company to the United States Circuit Court for the District of Nebraska, where they were heard by MR. JUSTICE BREWER, and decrees rendered in favor of complainants. 47 F. 15. From these decrees, defendants appealed to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, by which they were affirmed. 51 F.3d 9. Thereupon these appeals were prosecuted.

To the contract of May 1, 1890, the Union Pacific Railway Company, the Omaha and Republican Valley Railway Company, and the Salina and Southwestern Railway Company clubjuris

Page 163 U. S. 567

were parties on one side, and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company and the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway Company on the other, and the contract of April 30th was between the Union Pacific Railway Company and the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company.

The Union Pacific Railway Company controlled and operated more than five thousand miles of railroad, and, among others, a main line extending from Council Bluffs, Iowa, by way of Omaha and Valley Station, Nebraska, to Ogden in Utah territory, a distance of about eleven hundred miles; a main line from Kansas City, Missouri, by way of Topeka and Salina, Kansas, to Denver, Colorado, the Republican Valley Railroad, extending from Valley Station, Nebraska, by way of Lincoln and Beatrice in that state, to Manhattan, Kansas, the Salina Railroad, extending from Salina to McPherson, in Kansas, a railroad extending from Hutchinson, in Kansas, to the southern border of that state, and other auxiliary roads.

The Rock Island Company owned and operated a line of railway extending from Chicago, by way of Davenport, to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and from Davenport to St. Joseph, Missouri. As the owner of the latter line and lessee of the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway Company and other corporations, it controlled and operated a through line of railway from Chicago, by way of Davenport, St. Joseph, and Beatrice, Nebraska, to Colorado Springs and Denver, Colorado, a line from St. Joseph, Missouri, by way of Horton, Topeka, and Hutchinson, to Liberal, Kansas, and other lines, amounting in the aggregate to more than three thousand miles of railway.

The Union Pacific Railway owned nearly all of the stock and bonds, elected the directors, and built, controlled, and operated the railroads of the Republican Valley and Salina Companies, and the Rock Island Company owned and operated the roads of the Kansas Company under a lease for 999 years, so that the Pacific Company and the Rock Island Company were practically the real parties in interest to the contract of May 1. clubjuris

Page 163 U. S. 568

The St. Paul Company was operating more than six thousand miles of railroad, and one of its lines extended from Chicago to Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The following sketch roughly indicates the domain of the contracts:

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clubjuris

Page 163 U. S. 569

Early in 1890, the Rock Island Company determined to connect its lines from Chicago to Council Bluffs with its southerly line to Colorado Springs by constructing a bridge across the Missouri River at Council Bluffs, and a railroad from that terminus, by way of Omaha land South Omaha and Lincoln, to Beatrice, Nebraska, thereby shortening its line from Chicago to Denver and Colorado Springs, and the St. Paul Company joined in the undertaking in order to extend its line from Council Bluffs on to Omaha and South Omaha. Acting in concert, the two companies caused a corporation to be created under the laws of the State of Iowa by the name and style of the Nebraska Central Railway Company, with power to build a bridge across the river at Omaha, and one or more lines from that city west. Congress granted to this corporation the necessary franchise for the bridge. 23 Stat. 43. Preliminary surveys and estimates were made which showed that the entire cost of the bridge and tracks to South Omaha would be about $2,500,000. In February, 1890, the presidents of the St. Paul and Rock Island Companies visited New York for the purpose of arranging for the construction of the proposed work, when the Pacific Company requested them to suspend operations, and proposed to make a trackage arrangement with them by which they could use the bridge and tracks of the Pacific Company between Council Bluffs and South Omaha for their terminal facilities in Omaha and South Omaha, and the continuous line desired by the Rock Island Company could be completed. By direction of the President and at least two directors of the Pacific Company, its chief of construction and two of its directors obtained a meeting with the presidents of the St. Paul and Rock Island Companies and agreed with them upon the terms of the contracts in question. From the memoranda then made by the chief of construction of the Pacific Company, the contracts were subsequently drawn. They were examined and approved by the general solicitor of the company at Omaha. The executive committee of the board of directors of the Pacific Company, at a meeting on April 22, 1890 at which six of the seven members of that committee clubjuris

Page 163 U. S. 570

were present, five in person and one by proxy, considered and unanimously voted to approve of the contracts and authorized the president to execute them. The custom of the secretary had been not to specify in the notice of the meetings of the executive committee the subjects to be considered, and the notice of this meeting did not state that the subject matter of these contracts would be considered. The member of the executive committee who was absent and not represented was a government director.

At the annual meeting of the stockholders of the company held April 30, 1890, at which more than two-thirds of the stock was represented, these contracts and the action of the executive committee thereon were considered, and resolutions passed, by a unanimous vote of that stock, approving and ratifying the contracts and the action of the committee authorizing their execution. The call of the annual meeting did not state that the subject matter of these contracts would be considered, but that certain other subjects would be, and that the meeting was for the selection of directors for the coming year and the transaction of any other business which might legally come before the meeting. The record of the meeting of the executive committee, April 22, 1890, reads thus:

"The president submitted Vice President Holcomb's letter No. 1,139, dated April 18, 1890, enclosing an agreement between this company and the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company, and an agreement between this company, the Omaha and Republican Valley Railway Company, the Salina and Southwestern Railway Company, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company, and the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway Company, dated May 1, 1890."

"Whereupon, after consideration, it was,"

"On motion of Mr. Spaulding,"

"Voted unanimously that the agreement submitted to the committee between this company and the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway Company, granting trackage rights to the latter company over this company's lines between Council Bluffs, Omaha, and South Omaha, for a period of

Page 163 U. S. 571

999 years from May 1, 1890, at a monthly rental of $3,750 is approved, subject to the ratification of the stockholders, and the president is hereby authorized to execute the same on behalf of this company;"

"Voted unanimously, that the agreement submitted to the committee dated May 1, 1890, between this company, the Omaha and Republican Valley Railway Company, the Salina and Southwestern Railway Company, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company, and the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway Company, providing for the use of this company's lines from Council Bluffs to Omaha, including the bridge over the Missouri River and the lines of this company's Omaha and Republican Valley Branch from Lincoln to Beatrice, Nebraska, and for the use by this company of the Chicago, Kansas, and Nebraska Railway Company's lines between McPherson, Kansas, and South Hutchinson, Kansas, for a period of 999 years from May 1, 1890, and for the use of the line between the Cities of South Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, for a period of 999 years from October 1, 1890 at the rentals severally provided for therein, is approved, subject to the ratification of the stockholders, and the president is hereby authorized to execute the same on behalf of the company."

The following are the resolutions severally adopted by a separate vote of the entire stock represented in favor of each:

"Resolved that the agreement between the company and the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway Company, dated May 1, 1890, granting trackage rights to the latter company over this company's lines, between Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha and South Omaha, Nebraska, a copy of which is herewith submitted, be, and is hereby, approved, and the action of the executive committee in authorizing its execution is hereby ratified, approved, and confirmed."

"Resolved that the agreement between the Union Pacific Railway Company, the Omaha and Republican Valley Railway Company, the Salina and Southwestern Railway Company, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway

Page 163 U. S. 572

Company, and the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway Company, dated May 1, 1890, a copy of which is herewith submitted, granting to the latter companies trackage rights over this company's lines from Council Bluffs to Omaha, including the Omaha bridge, and the lines of this company's Omaha and Republican Valley Branch from Lincoln to Beatrice, Nebraska, and providing, further, for the use by this company of the Chicago, Kansas, and Nebraska Railway Company's line between McPherson and South Hutchinson, Kansas, and the line from South Omaha to Lincoln, Nebraska, on the terms therein provided for, be, and is hereby approved, and the action of the executive committee in authorizing the execution thereof is hereby ratified, approved, and confirmed."

At this time, the whole number of shares was 608,685, and 437,376 shares were voted.

It is not disputed that the board of directors and the body of the stockholders of the other corporations, parties to the contracts, took proper action to authorize and ratify the execution thereof by their respective corporations, and that the formal execution of the contracts by the parties to them was sufficient.

The preamble to the Rock Island contract described the several railways owned by the parties, and recited that the Rock Island Company had become a domestic corporation of the State of Nebraska, and proposed to extend its railway from its terminus at Council Bluffs to a connection with its leased line, the Chicago, Kansas, and Nebraska Railway at the City of Beatrice. That the parties to the contract believed that the interests of all would be promoted by using, for a part of said extension, the main tracks of the Union Pacific Railway Company in the Cities of Council Bluffs and Omaha, the bridge over the Missouri River, and that portion of the Omaha and Republican Valley Company, owned by the Union Pacific Company, between Lincoln and the point of junction at the City of Beatrice; by a lease from the Rock Island Company to the Union Pacific Company of a portion of the railroad controlled by it, between McPherson and clubjuris

Page 163 U. S. 573

Hutchinson, Kansas, a distance of about thirty miles, and a lease of the right of the Union Pacific Company to operate its trains over the road which the Rock Island Company was about to build between the cities of South Omaha and Lincoln.

The contract provided:

"The Pacific Company hereby lets the Rock Island Company into the full, equal, and joint possession and use of its main and passing tracks, now located and established, or which may be hereafter located and established, between the terminus of such tracks in the City of Council Bluffs, in the State of Iowa, and a line drawn at a right angle across said tracks within one and one-half (1 1/2) miles southerly from the present passenger station of South Omaha, in the State of Nebraska, including the bridge on which said tracks extend across the Missouri River, between said Cities of Council Bluffs and Omaha; connections with Union Depot tracks in Omaha, the side or spur track leading from its main tracks to the lower grade of the Pacific Company's sidings and spur tracks in Omaha, and such extensions thereof as may be hereafter made; side tracks in Omaha, on which to receive from and deliver to the Rock Island Company freight that may be handled through the warehouses, or switched by the Pacific Company; the connections with the Union Stock Yards tracks in South Omaha, and conveniently located grounds in South Omaha, on which the Rock Island Company may construct, maintain and exclusively use a track or tracks, aggregating three thousand (3,000) feet in length, for the storage of cars and other purposes, for the term of nine hundred and ninety-nine (999) years, commencing on the first day of May, in the current year,-for which possession and use the Rock Island Company covenants, promises, and agrees to pay to the order of the said Pacific Company, monthly, during the continuance of said term, the sum of three thousand seven hundred and fifty (3,750) dollars,"

and a certain portion of the expense incurred in maintaining and operating the property between Council Bluffs and South Omaha, and of the assessments and taxes levied thereon, in proportion as its wheelage should be to the entire wheelage clubjuris

Page 163 U. S. 574

over the same, and also a reasonable compensation for handling its traffic in Omaha. That the Pacific Company lets the Rock Island Company into the full, joint, and equal possession and use of its tracks, stations, and appurtenances along the line of the railway of the Republican Valley Company, from a point near the northern boundary of the City of Lincoln to the point where its tracks connect with those of the Kansas Company at Beatrice, Nebraska, for the same length of time, for which the Rock Island Company agrees to pay the Pacific Company a certain rental, computed on a percentage of the value of the main track, and a proportion of the cost of maintenance. That the Rock Island Company lets the Pacific Company into the full, joint, and equal possession and use of its tracks and stations along the lines of the Kansas Company from McPherson to Hutchinson for the same length of time, for a rental to be computed in the same way. That the Rock Island Company lets, leases, and demises to the Pacific Company, for a like term, commencing October 1, 1890, the right to move and operate over the tracks of the railway it proposes to construct between the Cities of South Omaha and Lincoln, in the State of Nebraska, its freight and passenger trains, engines, and cars of all classes for a rental based upon a mileage of the trains. That each of the parties to the contract shall take such steps as will be necessary to continue all the stipulations of the contract in force. That each contract of lease shall attach to that portion of the railway leased during the corporate existence of the owner thereof, and all extensions of such existences, by renewal or otherwise, and that the contract shall bind the parties thereto, their successors, grantees, and assigns. That

"schedules of rules and regulations for the movement of engines and trains over the several railways hereby let and demised shall be made for each railway by the duly authorized officers of the lessor and lessee companies by which such railways shall at the time be operated. Such schedules shall, as nearly as may be practicable, accord equality of right, privilege, and advantage to trains of the same class operated by the lessor and lessee, and to trains of a superior class operated by either a preference over trains of an

Page 163 U. S. 575

inferior class operated by the other. All rules and regulations shall be reasonable and just to both lessor and lessee, and shall secure to neither any preference or discrimination against the other. They shall be executed and all trains moved under the immediate direction of the superintendent or other officer of the lessor company. If the parties cannot agree upon the adoption of any schedule, rule, or regulation, or as to the modification of any one existing, either party may demand a decision of such controversy by referees as hereinafter provided. The referees are hereby invested with power to prescribe schedules, rules, and regulations, and to modify existing ones, and, in case of willful disregard by either party of the rights of the other, to award damages to the party injured for injuries sustained because of such willful act."

That the referees shall be appointed, when needed, by the selection of one by each party, and the appointment of a third by the two so chosen, with further provision for their action in cases of disagreement in other particulars.

It was also agreed that the Pacific Company might admit any other company to the joint use and possession of the same tracks and property upon substantially the same terms, provided such additional burden did not interfere with the Rock Island Company. Another provision was as follows:

"If for any reason any of the covenants, promises, and agreements in any of these articles expressed, and not material to the right of the lessee to use the property leased and demised, shall be adjudged void, such adjudication shall not affect the validity or obligation of any other covenant, promise, or agreement which is in itself valid. In the event of a failure in law of any of the covenants, promises, and agreements herein contained, such steps shall be taken and contracts made as shall be advised by counsel to carry into effect the purpose and intent herein expressed."

The Rock Island Company was chartered to exist until 1930, but the charter provided that its existence might "be renewed from time to time as may be provided by the laws of the states of Illinois and Iowa."

The Rock Island Company, upon the construction of its proposed clubjuris

Page 163 U. S. 576

line from South Omaha to Lincoln, obtained by the agreement access to Omaha and South Omaha, and a shorter continuous line from Chicago to Denver by way of Council Bluffs, Lincoln, and Beatrice, than by its southerly route, while, by the use of the proposed road from South Omaha to Lincoln, the Pacific Company obtained a line from Omaha to Lincoln and Beatrice about forty miles shorter than its former route by way of Valley Station, and, by its use of the road from McPherson to Hutchinson, it filled the gap between its line there, and obtained a continuous line, by way of Salina, to the southern boundary of Kansas, and a rental of $45,000 a year, and other compensation as provided.

The contract with the St. Paul Company let it into the joint and equal use of the tracks and bridge between Council Bluffs and South Omaha for the same time and on the same terms named in the contract with the Rock Island Company. The main tracks of the Pacific Company, to be used under this contract, were two, extending a distance of about seven miles, from Council Bluffs, across the bridge, and through the City of Omaha, to South Omaha.

On the 17th of May, the superintendent of the Pacific Company addressed a letter to the superintendent of the Rock Island Company, requesting the construction of the connecting track which would enable it to use the Kansas Railway between McPherson and Hutchinson. The Rock Island immediately constructed the track, and the Pacific Company at once began to use it, and continued to use it until January 12, 1891.

The Rock Island proceeded with the construction of its road from South Omaha to a connection with the tracks of the Republican Valley in Lincoln, and secured depots and yards in Omaha and South Omaha, and made an arrangement with the Pacific Company for the construction of freight and passenger stations and a yard on the ground of the Republican Valley road in Lincoln, to be used by the Rock Island and Pacific Companies jointly. Prior to December 1, 1890, it had expended in such construction between South Omaha and Lincoln over $1,400,000. All this was done in reliance upon the contract, and the railway and buildings erected could be used clubjuris

Page 163 U. S. 577

for the principal purpose for which they had been constructed only in connection with the tracks of the Union Pacific at and between Council Bluffs and South Omaha and at and between Lincoln and Beatrice. The work at Lincoln had commenced on December 1st, when the Pacific Company notified the Burlington and Missouri Company, whose depot it had theretofore been using, that after December 31st it would abandon such use. This notice was given with the intention of entering into the joint use of the Rock Island depots and tracks.

About June 1, 1890, the St. Paul Company entered upon the use and possession of the bridge and the tracks between the points named in its contract.

November 26, 1890, a change of management in the Union Pacific took place, and opposition to the contracts developed. Early in January, 1891, the Pacific Company forcibly prevented the use by the Rock Island and St. Paul Companies of its tracks at Omaha, which they were entitled to use under the contracts, and absolutely refused to perform the contracts. Thereupon these suits were commenced, one by the Rock Island Company against the Pacific Company and the Republican Valley Company and the other by the St. Paul Company against the Pacific Company. The Pacific Company set up, by way of defense, that the use of this road as claimed would deprive it of the means granted to it under the act of Congress to earn moneys with which to maintain its corporate existence, perform the duties of a common carrier, and meet the demands of the government; that the officers of the Pacific Company were not so authorized to execute the contracts as to make it competent for them to do so, and that they were not so entered into as to bind the company to the performance thereof; that the contracts were unjust and inequitable, and were improvidently made, and ought not to be sanctioned and enforced by a court of equity; that the government directors of the Pacific Company did not authorize or sanction the contracts; that the contracts were ultra vires, and that that company did not have any right, power, or authority to enter into them, and that the contracts were not such as a court of equity could or should specifically enforce. clubjuris

Page 163 U. S. 578

In the Rock Island case, the circuit court decreed that the contract was "the valid obligation of the parties thereto, and should be performed in good faith by each of them," and that it secured the several rights embraced thereby, all of which were specifically set forth, subject to the following limitations:

"1. That the engines, cars and trains of complainant shall be moved on said tracks under rules and regulations to be agreed upon by and between the parties, or ordained by referees selected and appointed in the manner provided by said contract, and securing equality of right, privilege, and advantage to trains of the same class operated by both parties, and to trains of a superior class operated by either a preference over trains of an inferior class operated by the other, which rules and regulations shall be executed, and all engines, cars, and trains moved, under the immediate direction of the superintendent or other officers of the defendant the Union Pacific Railway Company."

"2. That the Union Pacific Railway Company may admit any other company or companies operating a connecting railway or railways to the joint possession and use of the railway, or any part thereof at and between Council Bluffs and South Omaha, upon substantially the same terms as those granted to the complainant, and apply the compensation which it may receive from such additional company or companies to its own use, without accounting for the same or any part thereof to the complainant."

"3. The complainant shall not do any business as a common carrier of persons or property to or from any stations on said line between said Cities of Lincoln and Beatrice."

"4. That complainant shall make compensation for such possession and use as provided by said contract."

The decree then continued:

"III. That the defendants, the Union Pacific Railway Company and the Omaha and Republican Valley Railway Company, are commanded severally to specifically perform, keep, and observe the several covenants, promises, and agreements in said contract set out, to be by them either jointly or severally observed, kept, or performed, and that said railway

Page 163 U. S. 579

companies, and the officers, agents, attorneys, and employees of each, are hereby commanded and enjoined to wholly refrain from directly or indirectly interposing any obstacle, interference, hindrance, or delay to the performance of the several promises, covenants, and agreements in said contract set out, or to the enjoyment of any of the rights or privileges by said contract granted, concerning the railway and railway property above described, by any and all of the parties to said contract, or by any of the officers, agents, attorneys, or employees of said parties, or any of them, and especially from in any manner obstructing or interfering with said complainant in restoring and maintaining the connections which have heretofore been constructed, or in constructing and maintaining at such point or points as may be determined under the contract, additional necessary connections between the railways of the Chicago, Kansas, and Nebraska Railway Company and the Omaha and Republican Valley Railway Company at Beatrice, and between the railway of complainant and that of the Omaha and Republican Valley Railway Company at Lincoln, in the State of Nebraska, and between the railway of complainant and the railway of said Union Pacific Railway Company at South Omaha and Omaha, in the State of Nebraska, and the City of Council Bluffs, in the State of Iowa, and from doing any act or thing, or permitting the doing of any act or thing, if it shall have power to prevent the same, whereby said complainant may be prevented from enjoying any and all of the benefits and advantages secured to it by said contract or doing any act or thing which the complainant by the terms of said contract is authorized to do, from interfering with the use of, and from removing, injuring, or destroying buildings or other structures erected by the complainant upon the grounds of the defendant the Omaha and Republican Valley Railway Company, in the City of Lincoln, in the State of Nebraska, without the consent of said complainant."

"IV. That each and every party hereto is commanded to refrain from interposing any obstacle or hindrance to the establishment, or alteration, or amendment in the manner provided

Page 163 U. S. 580

by said contract, of time cards, rules, and regulations governing the operations of engines, cars, and trains over said railways and every part thereof, or to the execution and enforcement of such time cards, rules, and regulations, when so established, altered, or amended, otherwise than by apt proceedings in a court having competent jurisdiction."

"V. That nothing in this decree contained shall operate to estop any party hereto from recovering against another party or parties, by appropriate proceedings in law or equity, the compensation to which it is now or may be hereafter entitled, for the use of any of the railway and appurtenant property between and at Council Bluffs and South Omaha, between and at South Omaha and Lincoln, between and at Lincoln and Beatrice, and between McPherson and South Hutchinson, or from recovering in such proceedings damages which it has sustained, or may sustain, because of any breach or violation of said contract."

"VI. That while this decree is final in determining the rights of the parties under said contract, the court reserves the power to make additional orders from time to time, as may be necessary to enforce such rights."

The decree in favor of the St. Paul Company was to the same effect, mutatis mutandis.


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