163 Mass. 356 | Mass. | 1895
The justice of the Superior Court, by his report, presents two questions, first, whether Katherine C. Lefstrom, the petitioner for a modification of the report of the commissioners, is entitled as matter of right, before confirmation of the decision of the commissioners, to become a party to the suit and be heard in that court upon the question she raises; and secondly, whether the court has power to revise the action of the commissioners and try the question whether more land is taken than is reasonably necessary. If both of these questions are answered in the affirmative, the case is to be remanded for further proceedings; otherwise, her petition is to be dismissed. The questions depend on the construction to be put upon St.
Persons whose land is' taken under a decree of the commissioners are to receive compensation, and, if they fail to agree with the other parties interested in regard to the amount, they are entitled to an assessment by a jury. But such persons have no constitutional right to a hearing upon the question whether their land shall be taken. Lynch v. Forbes, 161 Mass. 302. Collins v. Holyoke, 146 Mass. 298. Brock v. Old Colony Railroad, 146 Mass. 194. Holt v. Somerville City Council, 127 Mass. 408. Kuschke v. St. Paul, 45 Minn. 225. When charters have been granted to railroad corporations in this Commonwealth, landowners along the route have never been made parties to the proceedings for fixing the location, and' under our general railroad law, when the route is to be fixed, the only notice required is by publication and posting, which may or may not reach the individual owners whose land is taken. Pub. Sts. c. 112, § 39. In reference to the question what land shall be
But after the commissioners had determined to take her land, and had filed in court their report of their doings, showing a taking of her land, she had an interest different from that of the general public in the question whether their report should be confirmed. The confirmation of the report, and the recording of it and of the decree of the court in the registry of deeds, would constitute a taking of the land which would be binding upon her. St. 1890, c. 428, § 4. If there was error in the proceedings of the commissioners, she could not have it corrected by a writ of certiorari, as she could if the judgment or decree was by the county commissioners or some similar tribunal. Her only opportunity to be heard on the question whether the taking of her property by the commissioners was regular and legal was before the court after the filing of the report. Her interest was such as to entitle her to call in question the legality of their action, and in a similar case before county commissioner’s to prosecute á petition for a writ of certiorari. Powers v. Springfield City Council, 116 Mass. 84. Dwight v. Springfield City Council, 4 Gray, 107. We are therefore of opinion that after the report was filed she had a right to come into court and present objections to the confirmation of the report, and be heard
The other question is whether the court has power to revise the action of the commissioners in this particular. Their decision cannot become effective unless it is confirmed by the court. The statute implies that the court will consider the question whether it should be confirmed. It implies that the court will not confirm it if errors of law are apparent in it. If the court has reason to suspect that the report is founded on an error of law it may inquire into the matter, and take testimony if necessary, to ascertain whether the suspicion is well founded. If by reason of a suggestion of one of the parties, or for any other cause, there is reason to believe that the report is founded on an important mistake of fact, or if there seems to have been an irregularity in the proceedings which has affected the report the court may properly recommit it that the error may be corrected. In case of misconduct of the commissioners, or gross error, or refusal to regard the direction of the court to correct an error of law, we have no doubt of the power of the court to reject the report, revoke their appointment, and appoint other commissioners. On the other hand, the commissioners constitute a tribunal which is finally to decide the matters of fact on which alone the abolition of a grade crossing can be ordered. Commonwealth v. Westborough, 3 Mass. 406. Kingman v. County Commissioners, 6 Cush. 306. Thorpe v. County Commissioners, 9 Gray, 57. The court has no power to revise their report and order a change to be made otherwise than as they finally recommend. So long as they keep within the authority conferred by the statute to act under the petition, and in the proceedings which determine their jurisdiction, the court has no power to substitute its opinion for theirs. In Norwood v. New York & New England Railroad, 161 Mass. 259, this court has held that, upon the facts before the Superior Court, on which presumably the decision of that court was founded, there was error of law in the construction of the statute. It has never been intimated that in a case of this kind the court can take the report of the commissioners, and, on hearing evidence, amend it into a new report, and order a change of a crossing to be made in a mode different from that adopted by the commissioners.
We are of opinion that the matters which the petitioner Lefstrom offered to prove related to facts passed upon by the commissioners in regard to which, .in the absence of irregularity of procedure or gross error, their decision was final, and that therefore upon these offers of proof the court has no power to revise their action. Petition dismissed.