Philadelphia & Wilmington Railroad Co. v. Maryland, 51 U.S. 376 (1850)
U.S. Supreme Court
Philadelphia & Wilmington Railroad Co. v. Maryland, 51 U.S. 10 How. 376 376 (1850)Philadelphia & Wilmington Railroad Company v. Maryland
51 U.S. (10 How.) 376
Syllabus
The Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company was formed by the union of several railroad companies which had been previously chartered by Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, two of which were the Baltimore & Port Deposit Railroad Company, whose road extended from Baltimore to the Susquehanna, lying altogether on the west side of the river, and the Delaware & Maryland Railroad Company, whose road extended from the Delaware line to the Susquehanna, and lying on the cast side of the river.
The charter of the Baltimore & Port Deposit Railroad Company contained no exemption from taxation.
This was an action of indebitatus assumpsit brought by the defendant in error, in the Baltimore County Court, to recover certain state taxes assessed upon the real and personal property of the plaintiff in error, being in Harford County in the State of Maryland.
The suit was docketed by consent, with an agreement that a judgment pro forma should be entered for the plaintiff, now defendant in error, upon a statement of facts. An appeal was taken from this judgment to the Court of Appeals, where it was affirmed pro forma, and the present writ of error was afterwards sued out. The statement of facts was as follows:
"'The Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company' was formed by an agreement of union, duly made and entered into between the following corporations, to-wit, the Baltimore & Port Deposit Railroad Company, the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company, and 'the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company,' of Pennsylvania. This agreement of Union was made on the day of its date, under the authority claimed under and in pursuance of the directions of the several acts of assembly therein recited, and was entered into after the primary meetings of stockholders, as required by said several acts. A copy of said agreement is herewith produced as a part of this statement, marked exhibit A. 'The Baltimore & Port Deposit Railroad Company' was incorporated by the act of 1831, chap. 288, of the General Assembly of Maryland; 'the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company' one of the parties to said agreement marked exhibit A was formed by an agreement of union duly made and entered into on 18 April, 1835, between the Delaware & Maryland Railroad Company and the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company of Delaware, in virtue and in strict pursuance of the several
acts in said agreement of union recited, to-wit, an Act of the General assembly of the State of Delaware passed on 24 July, 1835, and an Act of the General assembly of the State of Maryland, passed at December session, 1835, chap. 93, and was certified and recorded as directed by said several acts. The said corporation, 'The Delaware & Maryland Railroad Company,' was incorporated by the act of 1831, chap. 296, of the General Assembly of Maryland; 'The Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company' of Delaware was incorporated by an act of the General assembly of the State of Delaware, passed on 18 January, 1832; 'The Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company' of Pennsylvania was originally chartered by an act of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, approved on 2 April, 1831, by the name of 'The Philadelphia & Delaware County Railroad Company,' which, by a supplement to said act, passed 14 March, 1836, was changed to the corporate name of the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company. The agreement of union by which the 'Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company,' the party to this suit, was formed, of which said exhibit A is a copy, was made by authority and in pursuance of the Act of the General Assembly of Maryland, passed at December session, 1837, chap. 30, and other corresponding acts of the General assembly of the State of Delaware and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, recited in said agreement of union, marked exhibit A. All which said acts of assembly of the States of Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, above referred to, or referred to in said exhibit A, relating to the incorporation and charter of the defendant, are to be regarded as part of this statement, and, to save the trouble of transcribing them, either party may read them from the printed statutes; to have the same effect as if they were transcribed into this statement, or regularly certified copies of the same filed herewith."
"The railroad of the defendant extends from the City of Baltimore, in Maryland, to the City of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, passing through the counties of Baltimore, Harford, and Cecil, in Maryland, and thence over a part of the States of Delaware and Pennsylvania. That portion of said railroad which lies west of the Susquehanna River -- that is to say, between the City of Baltimore and the said river, lying partly in Baltimore County and partly in Harford County, was made and constructed prior to the agreement of union of which exhibit A is a copy, and owned in severalty by 'the Baltimore & Port Deposit Railroad Company.' That portion of said railroad
which lies east of the Susquehanna and between that river and the divisional line between the States of Delaware and Pennsylvania, was made by the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company, and prior to the said agreement of union, of which exhibit A is a copy was owned in severalty by said last-mentioned company. Previous to the consolidation of 'the Delaware & Maryland Railroad Company' and 'the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company' of Delaware into one company, the line of the road which the said corporation, 'the Delaware & Maryland Railroad Company,' was authorized to make, was that part of said road which lay east of the Susquehanna and between that river and the divisional line between the States of Maryland and Delaware and that part of said road which the said corporation, 'the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company' of Delaware, was authorized to make, is that part of said road which lies between the divisional lines of the States of Maryland and Delaware and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania each of said last-mentioned corporations, prior to the consolidation, had commenced the location and construction of their said several parts; but at the time of their consolidation under their agreement of union aforesaid, neither part was completed, but the whole was completed by the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company, after their agreement of union aforesaid. The River Susquehanna is passed over by the use of a steamboat belonging to the defendant, the said Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company, and used by said defendant for the sole and exclusive purpose of transporting persons and property across said river, from shore to shore, from the terminus of the railroad track on the other shore; said steamboat is especially constructed for its use in connection with said railroad, and has rails laid on its upper deck which are so constructed that the said rails are placed in juxtaposition with the railroad track of the railroad when the boat is in place for use, in connection with the terminus of the road on either shore; cars are received upon the said deck of said steamboat from the railroad track on one shore, and passed over the river by the said steamboat, and on to the railroad track on the other shore from off said boat, as the means of passing cars &c., across the river; and prior to the agreement of union, of which exhibit A is a copy, was owned jointly, but in unequal parts, by the Baltimore & Port Deposit Railroad Company and the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company, and was managed and kept in repair at the joint expense, in the proportion of their respective interest therein, by the said last-mentioned two companies. "
"The said steamboat, before and since the said agreement of union of which exhibit A is a copy, usually remained, and still usually remains, in a dock constructed in the Susquehanna River by protecting piers projecting from the Harford shore, when not actually in use, which dock is on the west shore of the Susquehanna River, and within the limits of Harford County. That part of said road which lies east of the divisional line between the States of Delaware and Pennsylvania, and thence extending to the City of Philadelphia, was, prior to the said agreement of union of which exhibit A is a copy, constructed and owned in severalty by the said corporation, called the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company of Pennsylvania. The principal office of the defendant, ever since the agreement of union of which exhibit A is a copy, for the transaction of the business of said company, has been established and held in the City of Philadelphia, at the eastern terminus of said railroad."
"The stated meetings of the board of directors, by the terms of said agreement of union, are to be held alternately at Wilmington and Philadelphia. There are offices at Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore, at anyone of which transfers of stock may be made; the stated meetings of the stockholders were to be held in the City of Wilmington. Prior to said agreement of union, the principal office of the Baltimore & Port Deposit Railroad Company was held in the City of Baltimore, and the principal office of the defendant within the State of Maryland has been, and is now, in said city, at which place one of the vice-presidents of the said corporation resides. All the corporate funds and capital stock of said defendant have been expended and contained in the location and construction of said road, and in the construction of such works and improvements as were necessary and expedient to the proper completion and use of said road, and in the purchase of cars and machinery of transportation &c., necessary and indispensable to the completion and use of said road; and the said company has not, at any time, since the said agreement of union, owned or held, and does not now own or hold, any estate, real, personal, or mixed, other than what forms a part of, or necessarily appertains to, the construction and completion of said road, and its works and improvements, and in the purchase of cars and machinery of transportation &c., necessary and indispensable to its use; and over and beyond its actual capital, it was found necessary to raise by loan a large additional amount for the purposes aforesaid, and which amount has been so applied. The defendant was assessed, under the act of the General Assembly of Maryland of March session, 1841, chap.
23, by the assessors, appointed under said act, for Harford County, with the sum of $127,000, as shown by a copy of said valuation and assessment, filed herewith as a part of this statement, marked exhibit B. The several parcels or tracts of land, valued for 200 acres at $10 per acre, as held and occupied by said company from the Gunpowder Falls to the Susquehanna River, lie within the limits of Harford County, and consist of the land held and occupied by said company for the bed of its railroad, water stations, depots, and ticket offices of said company; portions of which said land were acquired under condemnations for the use of said company, under the provisions of the said act of the General Assembly of Maryland, of December session, 1831, chap. 233, and other portions of which were acquired by agreement with the owners thereof."
"The title acquired in each case of agreement with the owner being consummated by deed of bargain and sale to the president and directors of said company and their successors, in the ordinary terms of a conveyance in fee. The houses and other improvements on the road, and at Havre de Grace, and the depots, ticket offices, and water stations of said company, lie within the limits of Harford County. The railroad track iron within the limits of Harford County, valued at $95,000, consists of the rails actually laid down and in use as the track of said railroad within the limit aforesaid. And the steam ferry boat at Havre de Grace, valued at $15,000, is the steamboat hereinbefore mentioned, used as aforesaid for the sole and exclusive purpose of transporting persons and property across the River Susquehanna, from the terminus of the railroad track on one shore to the terminus of the railroad track on the other shore, in the manner hereinbefore mentioned; said steamboat is, and continually since its use as aforesaid has been, duly enrolled and licensed at the custom house in Baltimore, according to the act of Congress. The capital stock of the defendant, under the agreement of union, of which exhibit A is a copy, is divided into 45,000 shares of $50 each, which stock is held by various persons, many of whom reside in the State of Maryland, and others of whom, and a large majority of whom, reside in other states, and in Europe, and was so held at the time of said union. The stockholders residing in the City of Baltimore, in Maryland, had actually been assessed to the extent of the stock by them respectively held, no objection being taken to said assessment, nor any appeal prosecuted therefrom; no assessment has been made on the stock of any of the stockholders residing in Harford County, or Cecil County, if any reside there, nor on the stock of nonresident stockholders. It is further admitted that the taxes assessed and levied upon the
said property of the said defendant were for state purposes for the years 1842, 1843, 1844, and 1845, and that the same were assessed and levied by the Commissioners of Harford County, under the Act of the General assembly of the State of Maryland passed at March session, 1841, chap. 23, and that the said paper, marked exhibit B, filed as a part of this statement, is a correct statement of the rate and amount of taxes so assessed and levied, and that said rate of taxation is the same as that imposed for said years upon all real and personal property not expressly exempted by said act of assembly in said state. It is further agreed, that if the court shall be of opinion, on the aforegoing statement, that the said property of said defendant is liable to be assessed for taxes for general state purposes, under the act of assembly aforesaid, that then judgment be rendered for the plaintiff for $1,455.19 and costs, but if the court shall be of opinion that the said property of the said defendant is not liable to be assessed and taxed as aforesaid, but the same is exempt from such assessment and taxation under the charter of the defendant, or the said Act of the General Assembly of Maryland of March session, 1841, chap. 23, then judgment to be given for defendant."
"GEO. R. RICHARDSON, Attorney for Plaintiff"
"REVERDY JOHNSON, for Defendant"
Exhibit A, referred to in the foregoing statement, is as follows, to-wit:
"Agreement between the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company, the Baltimore & Port Deposit Railroad Company, and the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company."
"Copy -- Articles of union made and concluded this 5th day of February, in the year of our Lord 1838, between the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company, the Baltimore & Port Deposit Railroad Company, and the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company, by virtue and in pursuance of an act of the General Assembly of the State of Delaware, entitled 'A further supplement to an act entitled an act to incorporate the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company,' and of an act of the General Assembly of Maryland entitled"
"An act to authorize the union of the Baltimore & Port Deposit Railroad Company, the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company, and the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company,"
"and of an act of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, entitled 'An act supplementary to the act incorporating the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company.' "
"First. The said three corporations are hereby united, and from and after the first election of directors hereinafter provided for in the third article shall be merged into one body corporate under the name and style of the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company, and the stocks of the said three corporations so united shall form one common stock, and all the estate, real, personal, and mixed, and the rights, privileges, advantages, and immunities belonging to each of the said corporations, become and be vested in the said body corporate, and the debts and liabilities of each of the said corporations shall be deemed, and are hereby declared to be, the debts and liabilities of the said body corporate."
"Second. The stock of the said body corporate is hereby divided into shares of fifty dollars each, of which the present stockholders of the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company are hereby declared to be entitled, in all, to sixteen thousand shares, the present stockholders of the Baltimore & Port Deposit Railroad Company to nineteen thousand shares, the present stockholders of the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company to ten thousand shares, including those forfeited heretofore, which are to be held for the use of this corporation; and certificates of stock, as may be regulated by the president and directors of the said body corporate, shall be granted and issued accordingly to each of the said stockholders so soon as the said stockholders shall have paid up all installments due upon the shares of stock held by them respectively, and shall have surrendered the certificates previously issued to them as stockholders in the respective companies hereby united, and the capital stock of the said corporation shall consist of such number of shares as aforesaid, subject to the right and privilege of increasing the same from time to time, according to the provisions of the respective charters of the said companies hereby united."
"Third. There shall be fifteen directors to manage the affairs and business of the said body corporate, and a meeting of the stockholders of the three corporations hereby united for the election of the first directors shall be held at Wilmington on Wednesday, the 14th day of February instant, of the time and place of which meeting notice shall be given by the present president of the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company by advertisement in at least three newspapers, at which meeting fifteen directors shall be elected by the said stockholders, voting in person or by proxy, and each share being entitled to one vote, and the directors so elected shall hold their offices until the ensuing annual meeting of the stockholders, and until their successors are elected. "
"Fourth. The stated meetings of the stockholders shall be held in the City of Wilmington, on the second Monday of January in each and every year hereafter, at which time and place an annual election of directors shall be made by the stockholders, and fifteen days' notice of the time and place of each stated meeting shall be given by advertisement in at least three newspapers; the election shall be by ballot, and each share of the stock shall entitle the holder thereof to one vote, to be given either in person or by proxy, provided it has been held for three calendar, months before the time of voting; the directors shall, after the first and each subsequent election, choose by ballot one of their own number to be president of the said body corporate, who shall serve one year, or until the election of a successor; the omission to hold an election for directors at the time prescribed shall in no wise affect the said body corporate, but such election may be had upon due notice from the said president and directors, published as aforesaid, at any time within three months after the time so prescribed as aforesaid."
"The directors shall hold their offices for one year, and until a new election shall take place, and the powers of the said president and directors shall be the same as are now vested in the president and directors of the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company; the president may be removed from his office by a vote of two-thirds of all the directors. The directors may, in each year that they may deem it advisable, elect a vice-president from their own number, who, in the absence of the president, shall have all the powers of the president, and shall be liable to removal in like manner as the president. Five directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The directors may, if they shall deem it advisable, appoint an executive committee, consisting of six members, from the states of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, for such time, and for the performance of such duties, as any resolutions of the directors, or any by-law, may prescribed and assign; and the president, or vice-president, and any two members of said committee, shall constitute a quorum thereof. All officers and agents of the corporation, other than directors, shall be appointed by the directors, who may prescribe and exact such security as they may deem proper for the performance of their duties."
"Fifth. The stated meetings of the board of directors shall be held alternately at Wilmington and Philadelphia, and special meetings may be held either at Wilmington, Philadelphia, or Baltimore. The corporation shall have offices opened at Wilmington, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, at either of which transfers
of stock may be made, under such regulations as the board of directors may prescribe."
"Sixth. All by-laws shall be made, altered, or repealed only by a majority, consisting of not less than two-thirds of all the directors; it being understood that no by-law shall contravene any of these terms or stipulations; and the existing by-laws of the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company shall, until altered or repealed as aforesaid, be the by-laws of this corporation; and all rules and regulations necessary for the management and conduct of the business of the company, not provided for in a by-law, may be made by the directors."
"In witness whereof, the said corporations, parties to this agreement, have caused their respective corporate seals, attested by the signatures of their respective presidents, to be hereunto affixed, the day and year first hereinbefore written."
"JAMES PRICE, [L.S.]"
"Pres. Wilm. and Susq'a Railroad Co."
"J. I. COHEN, JR. [L.S.]"
"Pres. Balto. and Port Deposit Railroad Co."
"M. NEWKIRK [L.S.]"
"Pres. Philad., Wilm., and Balto. Railroad Co."
"In pursuance of the provisions of an act of the General Assembly of Maryland, entitled"
"An act to authorize the union of the Baltimore & Port Deposit Railroad Company, the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company, and the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company,"
said corporations do hereby certify, under their respective corporate seals, attested by their respective presidents, that the within and foregoing instrument of writing is a true copy of an agreement for the union of the said company, made and concluded on 5 February, A.D., 1838.
"JAMES PRICE, [L.S.]"
"Pres. Wilm. and Susq'a Railroad Co."
"J. I. COHEN, JR. [L.S.]"
"Pres. Balto. and Port Deposit Railroad Co."
"M. NEWKIRK [L.S.]"
"Pres. Philad., Wilm., and Balto. Railroad Co."
"Received to be recorded 12 February, 1838, at 5 o'clock, P.M.; same day recorded and examined."
"Per THOMAS KELL, Clerk"
"In testimony that the aforegoing is a true copy, taken from liber T K, No. 276, folio 392 &c., one of the land records of Baltimore County, I hereto subscribe my name and affix the seal of Baltimore County Court, this 3d day of December, 1846."
"A. W. BRADFORD, Clerk of Balto. Co. Court."
"Exhibit B, referred to in said statement, is as follows, to-wit:"
" A list of the real and personal property of the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company, as per the assessors' books on file in the office of the Commissioners of Harford County, on which taxes are due for the years of 1842, 1843, 1844, and 1845, to-wit:"
Different tracts of land, from the Gunpowder
Falls to the Susquehanna, containing 200
acres, at $10 per acre . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 2,000
Track iron &c. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95,000
Houses and other improvements on the road,
and at Havre de Grace. . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,000
Steamboat at Havre de Grace. . . . . . . . . . . 15,000
---------
$ 127,000
" I hereby certify, that the above is a true transcript of the property of the Railroad Company from the assessors' books."
" Given under my hand and seal of the commissioners of Harford County, this"
1842. To state tax on $127,000, at 25 cents per $100 . . $ 317.50
Commission at 1 1/2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.05
Interest for three years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60.57
1843. To state tax on the same, at 25 cents per $100 . . 317.50
Commission at 1 3/4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.22
Interest for two years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40.75
1844. To state tax on the above, 25 cents per $100 . . . 317.50
Commission at 1 3/4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.22
Interest for one year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.38
1845. State tax on the above, 25 cents in $100 . . . . . 317.50
---------
$1,455.19
"JAMES SPICER, Collector"
" It is agreed that any errors in the foregoing statement may be corrected by counsel, at the trial of the cause, either in the County court, Court of Appeals, or Supreme Court of the United States; and that said statement may be added to or amended, by agreement, at any time."
"GEORGE R. RICHARDSON, Attorney for Plaintiff"
"REVERDY JOHNSON, for Defendant."
"The following is a summary of the act imposing the tax, as
well as of the acts incorporating the different companies, so far as they bear upon the question before the court."
"The first section of the Act of 1 April, 1841, imposing the tax sought to be recovered, after enumerating the several kinds of property which are to be the subject of taxation, including 'all stocks or shares, owned by residents of this state, in any bank, institution, or company incorporated in any other state or territory,' also 'all stocks or shares in any bank, institution, or company incorporated by this state,' declares that such"
"and all other property of every description whatsoever shall be valued agreeably to the directions of this act, and shall be chargeable according to such valuation with the public assessment, provided, &c."
"The ninth section makes it the duty of the assessor to inform himself of all property liable to assessment, and to make a return thereof under prescribed heads, the fifth of which was, 'Bank stocks and other stocks particularly specified, with their respective values.'"
"The sixteenth section provided that, for the valuing of stock in private corporations held by nonresidents, the locality of such stock should be deemed to be at the place where the principal place of business of such corporation should be situate."
"The seventeenth section enacted that the president or proper officers of corporations should make out and deliver to the assessors of the proper county an account of stock in such corporation."
"The forty-fifth section made it the duty of the levy court or commissioners of the several counties to impose a tax of twenty cents in every $100 of assessable property, according to their valuation."
"The fifty-third section provided that the tax imposed 'shall be collectible and payable into the state Treasury according to the provisions of this act, and be in all respects subject thereto.'"
"The second section of the act of 1831, ch. 288, entitled 'An act to incorporate the Baltimore & Port Deposit Railroad Company,' enacted that"
" The subscribers of the said stock, their successors and assigns, shall be and they are hereby declared to be incorporated into a company by the name of the Baltimore & Port Deposit Railroad Company, and by that name shall be capable in law of purchasing, holding, selling, leasing, and conveying estates, real, personal, and mixed, so far as shall be necessary for the purposes hereinafter mentioned, and no further, and shall have perpetual succession, and by said corporate name may sue and be sued. "
"The twelfth section gave authority to construct a road one hundred feet wide from the City of Baltimore to Port Deposit &c."
"The twentieth section declared that 'the shares of the capital stock of said company shall be deemed and considered personal estate.'"
"The act of 1831, ch. 296, entitled 'An act to incorporate the Delaware & Maryland Railroad Company,' gave a perpetual charter, and authorized the construction of a road one hundred feet wide 'from some point on the Delaware & Maryland line . . . to Port Deposit, or any other point on the Susquehanna River.'"
"The nineteenth section, after giving authority to purchase property, charge tolls &c., and declaring that the property specified should be vested in said company and their successors forever, proceeds:"
" And the shares of the capital stock of said company shall be deemed and considered personal estate, and shall be exempt from the imposition of any tax or burden by the state's assenting to this law, except upon that portion of the permanent and fixed works of said company which may lie within the State of Maryland; and that any tax which shall hereafter be levied upon said section shall not exceed the rate of any general tax which may at the same time be imposed upon similar real or personal property of this state for state purposes."
"The Act of 14 March, 1836, ratifies and adopts the Act of the General Assembly of Delaware, passed 24 July, 1835, which provided for the union of the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company incorporated by the General Assembly of Maryland into one company, to be styled 'the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company,' and which also provided that"
"the holders of the stock of the said railroad companies, so united as aforesaid, shall hold, possess, and enjoy all the property, rights, and privileges, and exercise all the power granted to and vested in the said railroad companies, of either of them, by this or any other law or laws of this state, or of the State of Maryland."
"The act of 1837, ch. 30, authorizes the union of the Baltimore & Port Deposit Railroad Company, and the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad Company, with the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company, and provides that said"
"body corporate so formed shall be entitled within this state to all the powers and privileges and advantages now belonging to the two first above-named corporations.
"
