Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 8.djvu/209

CANADA SOUTHERN RT. 00. U. INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE 00. 195 �apon such terms and' conditions as shall be prescribed by the district court," etc. �It is not a reasonable inference from the adoption by congress of that part of the charter uf the bridge company which created and defined the rights and privileges of the railway companies, that con- gress intended to reafSrm and protect the same rights and privileges, without trenching upon the charter of the bridge company; commit- ting, however, the practical enforcement of those rights and privi- leges, in cabe of controversy, to a federal court. �Considering the phraseology of the act as though it had been orig* inally employed by congress, it seems to be appropriate and exact to confer upon the railway companies equal rights and privileges in the physical use of the bridge, its machinery, and its approaches, while its detail of specification is inconsistent with any generalities which might be otherwise implied from the terms used in conferring juris- diction upon this court to enforce these rights. �If jurisdiction had been conferred on this court to prescribe the terms and conditions upon which the railway companies should enjoy the use of the bridge in case the parties should fail to agree, and the charter of the bridge company had been ailent upon the subiect, there would have been no room to doubt what congress intended. But when the act defines in detail the estent and character of the use to which the railway companies are privileged, by language which lim- its the easement to an equality in the facilities for using the bridge, and then authorizes the court to prescribe the terms and conditions under and upon which this easement shall be protected, it would seem to be an unwarrantable stretch of construction to hold that thereby the court is authorized to prescribe terms and conditions which will secure the rallway companies a far more important and extensive easement. �But when it is sought to confer on a judicial tribunal a power so unu8ual,and invest itwith discretion to adjudge what shall be the value of franchises granted to a corporation by the legislatures of sovereign states ; and when it is apparent that the existence of such a power would discourage if not wholly deter capitalists from investing their money in an enterprise involving a large outlay and exceptional hazards, and thus defeat the object which the act was intended to sanction, — it would be repugnant to common sense to expect to find this power conferred in vague and uncertain terms, or by language which would leave the legislative intent obscure. ��� �