Southern Wisconsin Railway Co. v. City of Madison

Background

The City of Madison sued a street railway company to recover the cost of asphalt paving between the rails and one foot outside them along University Avenue. A 1910 city ordinance required the company to do that work under a penalty. The company argued that forcing it to pay would take away its property and contract rights under its charter without proper legal protection. The trial judge found the space was in disrepair and that crushed stone then used was not a proper pavement.

Reasoning

The central question was whether the city could enforce its 1910 ordinance without unlawfully impairing the railway company’s charter rights. The state supreme court treated the company’s charter as a contract but interpreted the charter to allow reasonable city rules. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed that the duty to keep the space between rails in repair and to follow reasonable city regulations supported the later ordinance. The Court relied on the finding that crushed stone would be unsuitable and that the asphalt requirement fit within rules the company was bound to obey, so the judgment for the city was correct.

Real world impact

The decision affirms that a city can require a street railway company to keep the area between and just outside its rails properly paved with suitable material. Where the city finds the existing surface unsuitable, it may enforce ordinances making the company pay for proper pavement. The ruling upholds municipal authority to set reasonable maintenance rules for streets used by railways.