96 Ga. 385 | Ga. | 1895
It appears from the record, that in the year 1889 (see Acts 1889, p. 227) the General Assembly granted to the Eatonton and Machen Railroad Company a charter, by the terms of which it was authorized “to lay out, maintain and operate a line of railroad from the town of Eatonton in the county of Putnam, to the town of Machen in Jasper county, in this State.” By another section of the charter, this corporation was authorized to extend the main line of its railroad, “in as direct a line as practicable, to the city of Atlanta or the city of Savannah in any direction that may be desired in the discretion of its board of directors.” It was further authorized “to build such branches along the main line at any time as may be desirable in the judgment of the board of directors.” At the same session of the General Assembly, by an amendment to its charter (see page 281 of Acts, supra), the name of the corporation thus chartered was changed to that of the Middle Georgia
1. The powers conferred upon the railroad company are such only as are derived from its charter; and such powers as are not expressly conferred and as do not necessarily arise by implication, are to be taken as denied to it. It is a creature of the law, strictly speaking, possessing none of the attributes which pertain to a natural person, save only such as are conferred upon it by its creator. Its right then, after having once located its line of road, to abandon the line upon which it was originally constructed and adopt another, must be determined according to the provisions of its charter. We are not called upon to inquire whether, having constructed its line between two designated points stated in the charter, for its own convenience, at any point along the line of its road, it might change its location to avoid particular obstacles. But the question is, whether, being authorized to construct its road between two points designated in the charter, it would be authorized so to construct its road as not to touch these two designated points. It will be observed that, according to the specifications of the charter, the railroad company was authorized to build a railroad from the town of Eatonton
2. The plaintiffs in this case relying, as they had a right to rely, upon the presumption that the railroad company in the construction and maintenance of its road would conform to its charter provisions, upon the strength of this presumption have made large investments at this point. According to the evidence, the town of Machen had grown to be a commercial centre of no mean consequence; though it must be allowed that there is other evidence that the value of the property of the citizens living in that town was of comparative insignificance. It is true it is denied by the railroad company that it has a purpose finally to abandon Machen to its fate. It is true it is proposed by the railroad company to run a spur-track into the town of Machen, and afford
Let the judgment of the court below be Reversed.