103 Ga. 491 | Ga. | 1898
The facts are stated in the official report.
It is impossible for us to conceive in what particular the provisions of the statute above quoted either impair any obligation the State has ever been under to the defendant in error, or how it deprives the defendant of any substantial rights it has under its charter. We recognize the soundness of the doctrine advanced by Judge Warner in his dissenting opinion given in the case of Cutts & Johnson v. Hardee, 38 Ga. 350, above cited, to the effect that the General Assembly has not, under the form or guise of remedial legislation, the constitutional power to take away from a party any substantial right he had by virtue of his contract under the laws of the State existing at the time of its execution. But this is not true of the case we are now considering. The defendant in error has never had a right to enjoy its franchises and, at the same time, act in utter disregard of its obligations to the public. No one has ever a vested right to do a wrong. When this charter was granted, the State, independently of the statute above cited, had the right to institute proceedings for its forfeiture in the event of any flagrant abuse of its privileges by the corporation.
Applying the above principles to the facts in this case, we think the petition set forth a sufficient, cause of action, that the remedy adopted by proceeding under the above section was the correct one, and that the court erred in sustaining the demurrer. Judgment reversed.