United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Wright v. Nagle, 101 U.S. 791 (1879)

Wright v. Nagle

101 U.S. 791

Syllabus

1. This Court follows the decision of the Supreme Court of Georgia that authority to grant the franchise of establishing and maintaining a toll bridge over a river where it crosses a public highway in that state is vested solely in the legislature, and may be exercised by it, or be committed to such agencies as it may select.

2. The construction by the state court of a statute under which a court made an exclusive grant of such franchise within designated limits, upon conditions which the grantee performed, is not conclusive here upon the question

whether a subsequent conflicting grant impairs the obligation of a contract.

3. The statutes of Georgia confer upon certain courts the power to establish such bridges, but not to bind the public in respect to its future necessities. The legislature could therefore authorize the erection and maintenance of another bridge within the limits of the original grant.