105 Me. 428 | Me. | 1909
On report. An appeal by the inhabitants of the town of Orono from a decision of the Board of Railroad Commissioners apportioning to that town a part of the expense of certain repairs upon the bridge therein across the Stillwater branch of the Penobscot river, over which bridge the street railroad of the defendant passes.
The statute under which the decision was made (chap. 51, sect. 75, R. S.) is as follows: "Bridges erected by any municipality, over which any street railroad passes, shall be constructed and maintained in such manner and condition, as to safety, as the board of railroad commissioners may determine. Said board may require the officers of the railroad company and of the municipality to attend a hearing in the matter, after such notice of the hearing to all parties in interest as said board may deem proper. Said
March 4, 1908 the Board of Railroad Commissioners, upon petition of the, defendant, and after notices to.all parties in interest and hearings, made their decision (so far as material here) "that the Bangor Railway and Electric Company shall repair the bridge under the direction of the Railroad Commissioners, so as to nlake it safe for the passage of cars and teams and carriages over it. We estimate the cost of repairing the bridge to the satisfaction of the Board of Railroad Commissioners, to be in the neighborhood of six thousand dollars, and we apportion the expense between the municipality and the railroad company as follows: The Bangor Railway and Electric Company shall repair the bridge, and the town of Orono shall pay said Bangor Railway and Electric Company towards said repairs, when the Board of Railroad Commissioners shall 'have given its certificate of safety, the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars.”
The bridge was originally built as a toll bridge by the Proprietors of the Stillwater Bridge, a corporation chartered and organized under chapter 390 of the Private and Special Laws of Maine, approved February 13, 1826, by which it was provided that "the tolls shall commence on the day when said Bridge is first opened for passengers and continue for and during the term of thirty years next ensuing.” It does not appear when the bridge was "first opened for passengers.” By an Act of the legislature, approved April 1, 1854, all rights under the charter were extended ten years, and authority was granted to the company to sell and to the town of Orono to buy the bridge at any time during the extension. Again, by an Act approved February 24, 1865 the charter was extended thirty years more, with provisions under which the bridge
At a meeting of the inhabitants of Orono legally called for the purpose a committee, appointed at the ‘previous annual meeting to negotiate a trade, if possible, with the Stillwater Bridge Company for the purchase of the bridge, made report recommending its purchase and that $500 be at once expended on it in repairs. The report was accepted. The town voted to buy the bridge and raised money for that purpose and to repair it. By deed dated May 7, 1889 the Proprietors of the Stillwater Bridge conveyed to the Inhabitants of Orono "The bridge of the said Proprietors over the Stillwater river in said town of Orono including piers, abutments, and all property of said Proprietors appurtenant to and connected with said bridge, together with all rights and franchises.” Subsequently the selectmen of Orono granted permission to the Bangor, Orono & Oldtown Railway Company, the predecessor of the defend-.
1. The first reason of appeal is predicated upon the contention that the statute here invoked "is by its terms applicable only to bridges ‘erected’ by municipalities,” and as this bridge was not "erected” by the town of Orono the Board of -Railroad Commissioners had no jurisdiction. We think this contention is not tenable.
It will be conceded that the letter of the language used imports the meaning attributed to it by appellants, "but the literal import of language used in statutes is, often, seemingly at variance with what was obviously intended. In such case the intention, and not the literal import is to govern.” Seiders v. Creamer, 22 Maine, 559. The meaning and intent of this statute is more readily perceived, perhaps, if the purposes to be accomplished by it are considered. Under statutory provisions street railroads were permitted to pass along and over our highways and bridges which our municipalities were then maintaining safe and convenient only for travellers with their horses, teams and carriages. Hence aróse a necessity that all the bridges in our highways over which any street railroad passes should be made and maintained sufficiently strong for this added use. To secure a prompt and efficient fulfillment of this necessity the statute in question was passed, giving the board of railroad commissioners full and complete control over the construction and maintenance, as to safety, of such bridges, with power to place the burden of the expense thereof upon those who ought justly to bear it.
It was obviously the intention of this statute to include in its provisions all highway bridges which municipalities were bound to maintain and keep in repair, and over which any street railroad passes, and full effect should, be given to that intention. That which is within the intention of a statute, is within the statute, as if it were within the letter of it. Holmes v. Paris, 75 Maine,
But the appellants further say, as noted above, that the town did not acquire a good title to the bridge structure, and for that reason this statute cannot apply to it. We think it has not been made to appear that the town did not acquire title to the bridge. But it is not necessary here to pass upon the questions raised by the appellants involving the sufficiency of the town’s title to this bridge structure, for the application of this statute to any particular bridge cannot, we think, depend upon the correct determination of nice questions respecting the title to the structure. Our interpretation of the statute is that it applies to any and all bridges which a municipality is bound to maintain and keep in repair, and over which a street railroad passes.
This Stillwater bridge, so called, has formed a part of a highway in Orono for upwards of eighty years; for sixty years it was a toll bridge, but more than twenty years ago Orono, by voluntary municipal action, took over the bridge, making it free forever after, and thereby assumed the duty to keep and maintain it as a part of its highway. It has performed that duty ever since. Under these facts and circumstances we hold that the statute applies to this bridge irrespective of the fact that it was not originally erected by the municipality of Orono, and irrespective also of the question whether or not the town acquired a good and sufficient title to the structure of the bridge in its voluntary purchase of it in 1889.
2. The second reason of appeal is that the Railway Company was obliged to keep this bridge in repair at its expense under the provisions of its charter, or that of its predecessor, that "Said corporation shall keep and maintain in repair such portions of the streets, town or county roads, as shall be occupied by the tracks of its railroad, and shall make all other'repairs of said streets or roads which shall be rendered necessary by the occupation of the same by such railroad.” Obviously the Railway Company was not necessarily required by this provision of its charter to maintain and keep in repair the entire structure of this bridge. The appellants claim
3. The third reason of appeal, that the Railway Company was bound by contract to maintain and repair this bridge, was not pressed in argument before this court, and the reason is not sustained.
4. Lastly, it is claimed by the appellants that the decision appealed from was unfair and unjust to the town of Orono, even if the statute applies to this bridge. They urge that the actual expense of the repairs was much less than the Commissioners determined, and that the burden of that expense should have been placed wholly or chiefly upon the Railway Company because its use of the bridge necessitated the repairs. This court has heretofore expressed its interpretation of another section of this statute, and its power and authority in appeals taken thereunder, ih these words: "It seems to us that the evident intention of the legislature was to leave the whole question of how railroad crossings should be constructed and maintained, and how the expense of such crossings should be borne, in the first instance to the sound judgment and discretion of the Railroad Commissioners, and we think that their decision should not be altered or reversed unless manifestly illegal or unjust.” Mr. Justice Walton in Railroad Co. v. Street Ry. Co., 89 Maine, 328, page 335.
It is not for this court to render its decision in place of that of the Commissioners, but to determine if their decision is manifestly illegal or unjust. All the facts upon which the Commissioners acted
As none of the reasons of appeal have been sustained the entry must be,
Decision of Board of Bailroad Commissioners sustained and affirmed, without costs.