64 Neb. 679 | Neb. | 1902
This action was commenced in this court to recover the sum of $435,000 claimed by the state from the Missouri Pacific Railway Company on account of nineteen alleged violations of the act of 1893, commonly known as the “Maximum Freight Rate Law.” No question is made as to the validity of the statute, and the defendant, by its counsel, disclaims any wish or intention to evade responsibility for the acts described in the petition. It denies, however, that the case is one which this court has original authority to hear and determine. The argument urged in support of the jurisdictional objection is that the action is grounded upon a statute providing for the punishment of crime; that its purpose is to vindicate public justice, and that it is, therefore, in substance, and should be in form, distinctively criminal. The provision of the constitution (sec. 2, art. 6) conferring jurisdiction upon this court declares that “It shall have original jurisdiction in cases relating to the revenue, civil cases in which the
The action is dismissed for want of jurisdiction.
Dismissed.
Not till judgment is rendered on a verdict of guilty, is the accused convicted. Faunce v. People, 51 Ill., 311.—REPORTER.