after stating the case as above reported, delivered the opinion of the court.,
The first question presented by the assignments of error relates to the refusal by the court below to remand the action' to the state court. If the defendant is a corporation of Kentucky, then its right to'have the.case removed from the state court cannot be denied.
Whether a corporation created by the laws of one state is also a corporation of another state within whose limits it is permitted, under legislative sanction, to exert its corporate powers, is often difficult to determine. This is apparent from the former decisions of this court. To some of those decisions i will be well to refer, before entering upon the examination of the particular statutes of Tennessee, which, k is claimed, created the defendant a corporation of that state.
In
Ohio & Mississippi Railroad Co.
v.
Wheeler,
In the opinion of the court it is said “ that a corporation by the name and style of the plaintiff appears to have been chartered by the states of Indiana and Ohio,” and, therefore, that the company was “ a distinct and separate corporate' body in Indiana from the corporate body of the same name in Ohio.”
In
Railroad Co.
v. Harris,
In
Railroad Co.
v.
Vance,
In
Memphis & Charleston Railroad Co.
v.
Alabama,
In the recent case of
Pennsylvania Company
v.
St.
Louis,
Alton & Terre Haute Railroad Company,
So that, the essential inquiry here must be, whether, within the doctrine 'established in the cases we have cited, the state *406 of Tennessee, by her legislation, granted a mere license to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company to exercise -within her limits all or some of the powers conferred .upon it by the state of Kentucky, or established a new corporation over which she could exert such direct control and authority as is usually exerted by a state over corporations of her own crea: tion.
The solution of this question depends upon the intent of the legislature of Tennessee, as gathered from the words used in the statutes now to be examined.
We lay out of view the acts of the General Assembly of Tennessee, approved February 1, 1850, incorporating a company by the name of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, and the act of February 9, 1850, entitled “ An act to incorporate the Nashville and Louisville Railroad Company.” It appears in evidence that no organization was effected under those acts, and we do not understand the counsel for the plaintiff to rely upon either of them as showing that the present defendant is a corporation of Tennessee.
By an act of the General Assembly of .Kentucky, approved March 5, 1850, a corporation was created by the name of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, with power to construct a railroad “ from the City of Louisville to the Tennessee line, in the direction of Nashville;” and by an act of the same body, approved March 20, 1851, authority was given to connect said road “ with any railroad extending to Nashville, on such terms and conditions as the two companies may, from time to time, agree on, for the through transportation and travel of freight and passengers.”
On the 4th of December, 1851, the General Assembly of Tennessee passed an act, the title of which is “ An act to incorporate the Louisville and Nashville .Railroad Company.” As the question of citizenship depends mainly upon the construction of that act, it is given in full, as follows:
“ Section 1. Be it enacted J>y the General Assembl'ipof the state of Tennessee, That the right of way for the construction of a railroad from the line between the states of Kentucky and Tennessee, so as to connect the cities of Louisville and *407 Nashville by railroad communication, be, and is hereby, granted to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad .Company, incorporated by the legislature of Kentucky, with all the rights, powers, and privileges, and subject to all the restrictions and liabilities set forth and prescribed in a charter granted to said company by the legislature of Kentucky, and approved March the 5th, 1850, and the amendments thereto, passed by said legislature, and approved March-the 20th, 1851, for the term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years, except as further provided in this.act.
“ Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That said, company shall construct said railroad from the boundary line between said states, beginning at said line where it shall be intersected by that part of said railroad which is to be within the state of Kentucky, to (a point within or convenient to) the city of Nashville: Provided, That in ..the construction of said r abroad said company shall commence at each end of the line at the' same time, and continue the work from each end untb said railroad is completed: Provided further, That said company shab not be compebed to use the capital, stock subscribed and paid in by the citizens, .companies, corporations, or counties in the state of Kentucky in the construction of that part of said railroad lying in the state of Tennessee until the part thereof lying in Kentucky is completed.
“Sec. 3. Be .it further enacted, That so soon as said company shab have, completed five miles of said railroad from Nashvibe, they may commence and prosecute their business, as provided in the twenty-first section of said charter; that the tariff of charges for transportation of passengers and for goods, wares, merchandise, and other articles and commodities, shab be equal on all parts of said railroad in proportion to distance, and that equal facilities for the transportation of the same in either direction shab be furnished.
“ Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That the stockholders in the state of Tennessee shab be entitled to be represented in said company by directors residing in Tennessee in proportion to their stock, to be chosen by the stockholders of the company in the manner and at the time the other directors are chosen.
*408 “ Sec. 5. Be it further enacted, That nothing in this act, or in said charter or amendments thereto, shall be so construed as to prohibit the legislature of Tennessee from passing any law authorizing the construction of railroads within this state parallel to, crossing, or.to unite with said railroad from Louisville to Nashville, and the state of Tennessee ieserves the right so to do.
“ Sec. 6. Be it further enacted, That the twentieth section of said charter and the fourth section of the amendments thereto shall be void and of no force or effect within this state.
“ Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth, and twenty-ninth sections of the act of the 11th December, 1845, incorporating the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Company, be, and are hereby, made a part of the said charter of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad company, to be in force within this state, and that this •bill shall take effect from and after its passage: Provided, That the Commonwealth of Kentucky shall grant to the state of Tennessee, or to such companies as the General Assembly may charter, the right of .way from Nashville to intefsect with the Lexington and Danville Railroad at Danville, Harrods-burg, or such other point on that road as the company may designate, provided it does not interfere with any vested rights of the citizens of Kentucky, with the like powers' and privileges granted to this company.
“ Sec. 8. Be it further enacted, That the company shall bring said railway to the city of Nashville, or South Nashville, and locate their depot convenient to the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, so as to form the connection.”
Some stress is laid upon the title of that act, as indicating a purpose to create a' corporation, and not simply to recognize an existing one of another state, and invest it with authority to exert its functions within the state of Tennessee. While the title of a statute should not be entirely ignored in determining the legislative intent, it cannot be used “to extend or restrain any positive provisions contained in the body of the act,” and is of little weight even when the meaning of such
*409
provisions is doubtful.
Hadden
v.
Collector,
If the legislature of the latter state intended to do anything more than grant a license to a corporation of another state to construct a railroad and exert its corporate functions within her limits; if it was intended to bring into existence a corporation subject to the paramount authority of Tennessee as were other corporations created by her laws; certain sections of the act incorporating the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Company would not have been made a part of the charter of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, to be in force simply “ in this [that] state.; ” but would have been-incorporated into the company’s charter, to be in force wherever and whenever it exerted the powers granted to it. And the same observation applies to the proviso in the 7th section of the act of December 4, 1851, which requires that Kentucky should grant to Tennessee, or to such companies as the latter state might “charter,” the right of way from Nashville to intersect with a named road at certain points in Kentucky, with the like powers and privileges granted by Kentucky to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company.
Taking the whole of that act together, we are satisfied that *410 it was not within the' mind of the legislature of Tennessee to create a new corporation, but only to give the assent of that state to the exercise by the defendant, within her limits, and subject to certain conditions, of some of the powers granted to it by the state creating it.
This construction is not, if indeed it could be, affected by the subsequent legislation of Tennessee. While the titles of the acts of January 10, 1852, December 15, 1855, and March 20,1858, give some slight support to the position taken by the plaintiff, the acts themselves do not militate against the conclusions here expressed. In legal effect, they only impose other terms and conditions than those prescribed in the original act, upon the exercise by the defendant, within Tennessee, of the powers and privileges conferred by its charter, as granted by Kentucky.
Upon the authority of the .cases. cited, and for the reasons herein stated, we are of opinion' that the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company is a corporation of Kentucky, and not of Tennessee, and, consequently, that the action was removable, upon its petition and bond, into the Circuit Court of the United States.
It only remains to consider the assignments of error relating to the charge to the jury, and to the refusal of the court to give certain instructions in behalf of the plaintiff. The bill of exceptions states, that “ on the trial of this cause the following testimony was submitted to the jury.” Then follows the evidence of numerous witnesses for the respective sides, given in narrative form, and the charge of the court. The court, among other things, charged the jury, that the plaintiff did not himself exercise reasonable care and prudence, but was guilty of negligence, so that had the people upon the train, or the persons controlled by him, been injured, they could have recovered against his employer for his negligence. “ Under the facts proven in this case,” the judge said, “ were-you to give a verdict against the defendant, I should feel bound to set it aside and grant a new trial. In such a state of the case, it is my duty to instruct you to find a verdict for the defendant, aiid I accordingly do so, declining to give the *411 instructions requested by plaintiff’s. counsel.” Tho bill of exceptions does not, in express words, state that it contains all the evidence introduced at the trial.
Assuming, but without deciding, that the bill of exceptions sufficiently shows that all the evidence is embodied in the record, the question arises whether the court erred in withdrawing the case from the jury, and directing a verdict for the company. In
Phoenix Insurance Company
v.
Doster,
These authorities sustain the charge to the jury. The evidence makes a case of utter recklessness upon the part of the deceased, who was a section boss of the defendant, charged with the duty of keeping its road in repair between certain points, so that trains could pass over it in safety. He was guilty of the grossest negligence in running his hand-car into the deep cut where he was injured, without having sent any one ahead to watch for, and warn the passenger train, which he knew was approaching, or would soon reach that point on the road. But for his negligence in that respect he would not have been injured.
It is said, however, that despite any negligence to be fairly imputed to the deceased, the agents of the company, who were in charge of the passenger train, might have avoided injuring him had they exercised reasonable diligence to that *412 end. This position is supposed by counsel to be justified by §§ 1166, 1167, and 1168 of the Code of Tennessee, which provide :
“ Sec. 1298 (1166). Every railroad company shall keep the engineer, fireman, or some other person upon the locomotive, always upon the lookout ahead; and when any person, animal, or other obstruction appears upon the road, the alarm whistle shall be sounded, the brakes put down, and every possible means employed to stop the train and prevent an accident.
“Sec. 1299 (1167). Every railroad company that fails to observe these precautions, or cause them to be observed by its agents and servants, shall be responsible for all damages to persons or property occasioned by or resulting from any accident or collision that may occur.-
“Sec. 1300 (1168). No.railroad company that observes, or causes to be observed, these precautions, shall be responsible for any damages done to person or property on its road. The proof that it has observed said precautions shall be upon the company.” Code Tenn. 1884 (Milliken and Yertrees),§§ 1298-1300.
Without considering the question whether those sections are intended for the benefit of the general public only, not for the servants of the company. — especially one whose negligence caused or contributed to cause the accident — it is sufficient to say that the court below correctly held that the requirements of the Tennessee Code were complied with by the company, so far at least.as the circumstances attending the injury of the deceased are concerned. A verdict based upon a different view of the evidence should have been set aside, upon motion by the defendant. .
The jury having been properly directed, in view of all the evidence, to find a verdict for the company, it is unnecessary to consider the exceptions taken to its refusal to grant, certain instructions asked in behalf of the plaintiff. The judgment is
Affirmed.
