United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Railroad Company v. Mississippi, 102 U.S. 135 (1880)

Railroad Company v. Mississippi

102 U.S. 135

Syllabus

1. A petition for a mandamus was filed in one of her courts by the State of Mississippi to compel a railroad company, a corporation existing under the laws of that State, to remove a stationary bridge which it had erected over Pearl River, a navigable stream on the line between Louisiana and Mississippi. Thereupon the company presented its petition, duly verified, praying for the removal of the suit into the circuit court of the United States, and alleging that the right to erect, use, and maintain the bridge was vested by the company's charter; that its maintenance over said river was authorized by the Act of Congress approved March 2, 1868, 15 Stat. 38; that thereunder it became a part of a post road over which for several years the mails of the United States have been carried, and that therefore the suit impugns the rights, privileges, and franchises granted by said act. The petition was accompanied by a bond with good and sufficient security, conditioned as required by the Act of March 3, 1875. 18 Stat. part 3, p. 471. Held that under the latter act, the company was entitled to the removal prayed for.

2. The decisions of this Court affirming the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States in cases arising under the laws of the United States, or where a state is a party, cited and commented on.

3. The ruling in Insurance Company v. Dunn, 19 Wall. 214, and Removal Cases, 100 U. S. 457, that a party loses none of his rights who, after failing to obtain its removal, contests a suit on its merits in the state court, reaffirmed.