Opinion of the Court. State v. Herrmann, 75 Missouri, 340; Commonwealth v. Pat ton, 88 Penn. St. 258; Devine v. Commissioners, 84 Ill. 590; County of Dougherty v. Boyt, 71 Georgia, 484. Mr. John H. Rogers for defendant in error cited: Memphis & Little Rock Railroad Co. v. Railroad Commissioners, 112 U. S. 609; McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316; Constitution Ark. 1874, Art. xvii, § 10; Stone v. Wisconsin, 94 U. S. 181; Munn v. Illinois, 94 U. S. 113; Chicago, Burlington &c. Railroad v. Iowa, 94 U. S. 155; Devine v. Commissioners, 84 Illinois, 590; 1 Rev. Stat. Missouri, 1879, 146; Howell's Ann. Stat. Mich. 1882, p. 840, § 3323, sub. secs. 7 and 9; Laws of Penn. 1876, No. 87, p. 116; Hittell's Code and Statutes of California, § 5489; Comp. Laws of Kansas, 1879, p. 225, § 57; Acts of Wisconsin, 1874, p. 600, § 4; Wheeler v. Philadelphia, 77 Penn. St. 338; Kilgore v. Magee, 85 Penn. St. 401; Morrison v. Bachert, 112 Penn. St. 322; Davis v. Clark, 106 Penn. St. 377; Van Riper v. Parsons, 40 N. J. L. 1. MR. JUSTICE GRAY delivered the opinion of the court. The general rule of law that governs this case has been clearly stated and developed in opinions of this court, delivered by the late Chief Justice. In Munn v. Illinois, 94 U. S. 113, decided at October Term, 1876, after affirming the doctrine that by the common law carriers or other persons exercising a public employment could not charge more than a reasonable compensation for their services, and that it is within the power of the legislature "to declare what shall be a reasonable compensation for such services, or, perhaps more properly speaking, to fix a maximum beyond which any charge made would be unreasonable,” the Chief Justice said: "To limit the rate of charges for services rendered in a public employment, or for the use of property in which the public has an interest, is only changing a regulation which existed before. It establishes no new principle in the law, but only gives a new effect to an old one." 94 U. S. 133, 134. In Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad v. Iowa, 94 Opinion of the Court. U. S. 155, decided at the same time, a corporation having a perpetual lease of the railroad of another organized under the general corporation law of Iowa of 1851, c. 43, with the same powers as private individuals to make contracts, as well as the power to establish by-laws and make all rules and regulations deemed expedient for the management of its affairs, in accordance with law, was held to be bound by the subsequent statute of Iowa of 1874, c. 68, entitled "An act to establish reasonable maximum rates of charges for transportation of freight and passengers on the different railroads of this state," by which those railroads were classified according to the gross amount of their earnings per mile for the preceding year; and the compensation per mile, which those of each class might receive for the transportation of a passenger with ordinary baggage, was limited to three cents, three cents and a half, and four cents, respectively. Iowa Laws of 1874, p. 61. The Chief Justice said: "Railroad companies are carriers for hire. They are incorporated as such, and given extraordinary powers, in order that they may better serve the public in that capacity. They are, therefore, engaged in a public employment affecting the public interest, and, under the decision in Munn v. Illinois, 94 U. S. 113, subject to legislative control as to their rates of fare and freight, unless protected by their charters." "This company, in the transactions of its business, has the same rights, and is subject to the same control, as private individuals under the same circumstances. It must carry when called upon to do so, and can charge only a reasonable sum for the carriage. In the absence of any legislative regulation upon the subject, the courts must decide for it, as they do for private persons, when controversies arise, what is reasonable. But when the legislature steps in and prescribes a maximum of charge, it operates upon this corporation the same as it does upon individuals engaged in a similar business." 94 U. S. 161, 162. The same rule was affirmed and acted on in several other cases decided at the same time, in the first of which the Chief Justice, in answering "the claim that the courts must decide what is reasonable, and not the legislature," said: "Where Opinion of the Court. property has been clothed with a public interest, the legisla ture may fix a limit to that which in law shall be reasonable for its use. This limits the courts, as well as the people. If it has been improperly fixed, the legislature, not the courts, must be appealed to for the change." Peik v. Chicago & Northwestern Railway, 94 U. S. 164, 178; Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad v. Ackley, 94 U. S. 179; Winona & St. Peter Railroad v. Blake, 94 U. S. 180; Stone v. Wisconsin, 94 U. S. 181. Upon like grounds, in Ruggles v. Illinois, 108 U. S. 526, and Illinois Central Railroad v. Illinois, 108 U. S. 541, decided at October Term, 1882, the statute of Illinois of April 15, 1871, (Illinois Laws of 1871, p. 640,) which classified the railroads in the State according to their gross annual earnings per mile, and put different limits on the compensation of the different classes per mile for carrying a passenger and his baggage, was adjudged, in opinions delivered by the Chief Justice, to be constitutional and valid, in restricting to the limit of three cents a mile existing corporations, whose charters gave them power to make all by-laws, rules and regulations not repugnant to law, and gave their directors power to establish such rates of toll as they should by their by-laws determine. And two Justices who did not assent to those opinions concurred in the judgments, because it was not shown that the rate prescribed by the legislature was unreasonable. In Stone v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., 116 U. S. 307, decided at October Term, 1885, the obligation of a contract, created by a charter granting similar powers to a railroad corporation and its directors, was held not to be impaired by a statute of Mississippi, establishing a board of railroad commissioners charged with the duty of preventing the exaction of unreasonable or discriminating rates upon transportation done within the limits of the State; and the Chief Justice said: "It is now settled in this court that a State has power to limit the amount of charges by railroad companies for the transportation of persons and property within its own jurisdiction, unless restrained by some contract in the charter, or unless what is done amounts to a regulation of foreign or interstate Opinion of the Court. commerce." 116 U. S. 325. He added, however: "From what has thus been said it is not to be inferred that this power of limitation or regulation is itself without limit. This power to regulate is not a power to destroy; and limitation is not the equivalent of confiscation. Under pretence of regulating fares and freights, the State cannot require a railroad company to carry persons and property without reward; neither can it do that which in law amounts to a taking of private property for public use, without just compensation, or without due process of law." 116 U. S. 331. The opinions of the two dissenting Justices were grounded upon the provisions of the charter, and upon its not having been expressly made subject to alteration or repeal by the legislature. The cases, decided at the same time, of Stone v. Illinois Central Railroad, 116 U. S. 347, and Stone v. New Orleans & Northeastern Railroad, 116 U. S. 352, were substantially similar. As applied to freights and fares for transportation not extending beyond the limits of the State by which the railroad company is incorporated, the authority of the legislature is not affected by the later decision in Wabash, St. Louis & Pa cific Railway v. Illinois, 118 U. S. 557. The case at bar is quite clear of any of the questions upon which the members of the court have heretofore differed in opinion. If the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad Company, as reorganized by the purchasers at the sale under the decree of foreclosure of the previous mortgages, was a lawful corporation of the State of Arkansas, it was not the same corporation as that chartered by the legislature in 1853, but was a new corporation, subject to the provisions of the Constitution and laws in force when it first came into existence, that is to say, in 1877. Memphis & Little Rock Railroad v. Railroad Commissioners, 112 U. S. 609. The Constitution of Arkansas of 1874 contains the following provisions: "Corporations may be formed under general laws, which laws may, from time to time, be altered or repealed. The general assembly shall have power to alter, revoke or annul VOL. CXXV-44 Opinion of the Court. any charter of incorporation now existing and revocable at the adoption of this constitution, or that may be hereafter created, whenever, in their opinion, it may be injurious to the citizens of the State, in such manner, however, that no injustice shall be done to the corporators. Art. 12, § 6. "The general assembly shall pass laws to correct abuses and prevent unjust discrimination and excessive charges by railroad, canal and turnpike companies, for transporting freight and passengers, and shall provide for enforcing such laws by adequate penalties and forfeitures." Art. 17, § 10. The legislature of Arkansas, by the statute of April 4, 1887, fixed the maximum fare that any corporation, trustees, or persons, operating a line of railroad, might charge and collect for carrying a passenger within the State, at eight cents a mile on a line fifteen miles long or less, five cents a mile on a line more than fifteen and less than seventy-five miles long, and three cents a mile on a line more than seventy-five miles long. The line of the road of the plaintiffs in error is more than seventy-five miles long, and they charged more than three cents a mile, and were therefore held to be subject to the penalty imposed by the statute for any violation of its provisions. The plaintiffs in error do not contend that it is always or generally unreasonable to restrict the rate for carrying each passenger to three cents a mile. They argue that it is so in this case, by reason of the admitted fact, that with the same traffic that their road has now, and charging for transportation at the rate of three cents per mile, the net yearly income will pay less than one and a half per cent on the original cost of the road, and only a little more than two per cent on the amount of its bonded debt. But there is no evidence whatever as to how much money the bonds cost, or as to the amount of the capital stock of the corporation as reorganized, or as to the sum paid for the road by that corporation or its trustees. It certainly cannot be presumed that the price paid at the sale under the decree of foreclosure equalled the original cost of the road, or the amount of outstanding bonded debt. Without any proof of the sum invested by the reorganized corporation or its trustees, the court has no means, if |