for the sale of their products, whether it be cut stone or any other article which is the subject of commerce. The citizens of this state have the right to enter the markets of every other state to sell their products, or to buy whatever they need, and all interference with the freedom of interstate commerce by state legislation is void." People ex rel. Treat v. Coler (1901) 166 N. Y. 144, 59 N. E. 776.

A foreign railroad corporation which operated a line of cabs in the city of New York was not, as to this part of its business, engaged in interstate commerce. People ex rel. Pennsylvania R. Co. v. Knight (1903) 171 N. Y. 354, 98 Am. St. Rep. 610, 64 N. E. 152, affirmed in (1904) 192 U. S. 21, 48 L. ed. 325, 24 Sup. Ct. Rep. 202. The provision of the act of 1862, chap. 487, amended in 1865, chap. 586, which imposed a tonnage tax on vessels entering the port of New York, was void under the commerce provision of the Federal Constitution, article 1, § 10, subd. 2. Inman S. S. Co. v. Tinker (1876) 94 U. S. 238, 24 L. ed. 118. The acts of 1867, chap. 256, and 1871, chap. 205, requiring the payment of certain fees to the New York harbor masters, were held void under this same constitutional provision. Cole v. Johnson (1881) 10 Daly, 258. For the same reason the court in Way v. New Jersey S. B. Co. (1904) 133 Fed. 188, held void the provision in the act of 1897, chap. 592, § 63, requiring the payment of certain fees to the Albany harbor master.

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION.

The legislature may create an investigating commission by concurrent resolution; it need not be done by statute. "There is no clause in the Constitution expressly prohibiting the creation of a commission by concurrent resolution." Appointing commissioners for various purposes by concurrent resolution has been practised by both state and national legislatures more or less from the organization of this government. It has been repeatedly done in this state since the adoption of the Constitution of 1846. People v. Learned (1875) 5 Hun, 626.

CORPORATIONS.

Actions. In an action against a corporation, foreign or domestic, including a municipal corporation, on an instrument for the payment of money only, the legislature may authorize a summary judgment unless the corporation procures an order of a judge, directing the trial of the issues. Section 1778 of the Code of Civil Procedure

was held to be constitutional. Moran v. Long Island City (1886) 101 N. Y. 439, 5 N. E. 80.

Banks.—The future debts of a banking corporation are subject to regulation by the legislature. Hagmayer v. Alten (1901) 72 N. Y. Supp. 623, 36 Misc. 59, citing Barnes v. Arnold (1899) 45 App. Div. 314, 61 N. Y. Supp. 85.

Cemeteries. Cemetery corporations may be required to discontinue interments, and to remove the dead from cemeteries which, by reason of their location, may be deemed detrimental to public health. Went v. Methodist Protestant Church (1894) 80 Hun, 266, 30 N.. Y. Supp. 157, (1896) 150 N. Y. 577, 44 N. E. 1129, citing Windt v. German Reformed Church (1847) 4 Sandf. Ch. 471; Richards v. Northwest Protestant Dutch Church (1859) 32 Barb. 42.

Consolidation.-Discussing the question of corporate consolidation, Judge Andrews, in People v. New York, C. & St. L. R. Co. (1892) 129 N. Y. 474, 15 L. R. A. 82, 29 N. E. 959, says that "the statutes for the consolidation of domestic corporations are to be treated as acts of incorporation, and that on consolidation being effected under their provisions, the constituent companies, unless such an intention is excluded by the language of the statute, are deemed to be dissolved and their powers and faculties, to the extent authorized, become vested in the consolidated company, as a new corporation, created by the act of consolidation. It is perfectly competent for the legislature, in consolidation acts, to declare what shall be the status of the domestic corporations which shall avail themselves of their provisions, and also of the consolidated company;" but it could not vest the franchise of an outside corporation in the consolidated company, “nor authorize any change or conversion of the stock of the constituent corporations into the stock of the consolidated company, nor confer any exclusive authority for their consolidation." It could only authorize a New York corporation, on the like consent being given by the home states of other corporations, "to merge the franchise, property, and interests of the several constituents into what would practically be one corporation."

Eminent domain.-The legislature may, by general or special law, grant to railroad corporations the power to take private property for public use on making compensation therefor. Buffalo & N. Y. C. R. Co. v. Brainard (1853) 9 N. Y. 100.

A foreign corporation may be authorized to take land in this state by eminent domain. Morris Canal & Bkg. Co. v. Townsend (1857) 24 Barb. 658; Re Townsend (1868) 39 N. Y. 171; New York,

N. H. & H. R. Co. v. Welsh (1894) 143 N. Y. 411, 42 Am. St. Rep. 734, 38 N. E. 378.

Franchise not exclusive.-"It is competent for the legislature, after granting a franchise to one person or corporation which affects the rights of the public, to grant a similar franchise to another person or corporation, the use of which shall impair or even destroy the value of the first franchise, although the right so to do may not be reserved in the first grant; unless the right so to do is expressly prohibited by the first grant." Ft. Plain Bridge Co. v. Smith (1864) 30 N. Y. 44, citing Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1837) 11 Pet. 420, 9 L. ed. 773; Mohawk Bridge Co. v. Utica & S. R. Co. (1837) 6 Paige, 554; Oswego Falls Bridge Co. v. Fish (1846) 1 Barb. Ch. 547.

Foreign corporations.—The legislature has power to prescribe the conditions on which foreign insurance companies may do business in this state, and to prohibit any person from acting as agent for them before their compliance with such conditions. People v. Imlay (1855) 20 Barb. 68.

The legislature has power to authorize suits against foreign corporations either in rem or in personam, and to prescribe the procedure in either case. Barnett v. Chicago & L. H. R. Co. (1875) 6 Thomp. & C. 358; Pope v. Terre Haute Car Mfg. Co. (1881) 87 N. Y. 137.

The legislature may impose a tax on an outside corporation doing business in this state. "The tax is not imposed upon its property, but for the privilege which is extended to it by the state of doing business here as a corporation and in its corporate name." People ex rel. Southern Cotton Oil Co. v. Wemple (1892) 131 N. Y. 64, 27 Am. St. Rep. 542, 29 N. E. 1002.

The legislature may constitutionally authorize a corporation to collect and receive premiums on insurance effected in this state, and appropriate such sums to the payment of the expenses of the fire patrol. It is a proper exercise of the police power. New York Fire Underwriters v. Whipple (1896) 2 App. Div. 361, 37 N. Y. Supp. 712.

Forfeiture.-"The general principle is not disputed that a corporation, by omitting to perform a duty imposed by its charter, or to comply with its provisions, does not, ipso facto, lose its corporate character or cease to be a corporation, but simply exposes itself to the hazard of being deprived of its corporate character and franchises by the judgment of the court in an action instituted for that purpose by the attorney general in behalf of the people; but it

cannot be denied that the legislature has the power to provide that a corporation may lose its corporate existence without the intervention of the courts, by any omission of duty or violation of its charter or default as to limitations imposed." Brooklyn Steam Transit Co. v. Brooklyn (1879) 78 N. Y. 524.

An action against a corporation to enforce a forfeiture is "always within the control of the state, as the sole party interested, to prosecute or abandon at its mere will and pleasure," and it “can, through the action of its legislature, not only discontinue an action brought by it, but can also repeal or confirm charters, waive or abolish causes of forfeiture, release rights of action, and limit the operation of its statutes upon individuals and corporations at its own will." People v. Ulster & D. R. Co. (1891) 128 N. Y. 240, 28 N. E. 635

Increased burdens. It is competent for the legislature to lay upon corporations burdens in addition to those prescribed by their charters. New York, L. E. & W. R. Co. v. Dunkirk (1892) 65 Hun, 494, 20 N. Y. Supp. 596. See other cases on this point in notes to article 8, § 1.

Insurance. The constitutional rights of a member of a fire insurance company are not affected by 125 of the insurance law prescribing the method by which a mutual company may be changed to a stock company. Grobe v. Erie County Mut. Ins. Co. (1899) 39 App. Div. 183, 57 N. Y. Supp. 290.

Mileage books.-The legislature may compel railroad corporations to issue mileage books. Beardsley v. New York, L. E. & W. R. Co. (1897) 15 App. Div. 251, 44 N. Y. Supp. 175.

Plank roads.-The legislature had power, by the act of 1864, chap. 25, to provide that if plank roads therein specified should be abandoned, or the charter expire by its own limitation, such road should become a public highway on making compensation to the owners of reversionary interests. People ex rel. Mitchell v. Lawrence (1869) 54 Barb. 589.

Railroads.-"Railroad corporations hold their property and exercise their functions for the public benefit, and they are therefore subject to legislative control. The legislature which has created them may regulate the mode in which they shall transact their business, the price which they shall charge for the transportation of freight and passengers, the speed at which they may run their trains, and the way in which they may cross or run upon highways and turnpikes used for public travel. It may make all such regulations as are appropriate to protect the lives of persons carried upon rail

al

roads, or passing upon highways crossed by railroads though the power to alter and amend the charters of such corporations has not been reserved." People ex rel. Kimball v. Boston & A. R. Co. (1877) 70 N. Y. 569.

The legislature had power, by the railroad law of 1848, to impose on railroad companies the duty of maintaining fences and cattle guards. Waldron v. Rensselaer & S. R. Co. (1850) 8 Barb. 390.

Reserved power of amendment or repeal.-It is proper for the legislature to reserve to itself the right to amend or repeal a charter granted to a private corporation. McLaren v. Pennington (1828) 1 Paige, 102. Beal v. New York C. & H. R. R. Co. (1886) 41 Hun, 172, where it was held that, under a charter reserving this power, the legislature might extend the existence of the corporation, provide for its consolidation with other corporations, and authorize its successors to receive its property and effects. New York v. Twenty-third Street R. Co. (1889) 113 N. Y. 311, 21 N. E. 60, sustaining a statute requiring a railroad corporation to pay into the city treasury a percentage of its gross receipts, instead of a license fee, as under an earlier statute. People v. O'Brien (1888) 111 N. Y. 1, 2 L. R. A. 255, 7 Am. St. Rep. 684, 18 N. E. 692, but the reserved power was held not to authorize the legislature to take away or destroy property or annul contracts.

"The legislature ... had the power, without violating the Federal Constitution, to repeal or amend laws pertaining to business or stock corporations organized under the law of 1875, and to prescribe the liability of stockholders in such corporations to its creditors for all debts contracted after the act was repealed or amended." Berwind-White Coal Min. Co. v. Ewart (1895) 11 Misc. 490, 32 N. Y. Supp. 716, affirmed without considering this point in (1895) 90 Hun, 60, 35 N. Y. Supp. 573.

School districts.-The legislature may transfer territory from one union free school district to another, or merge it in such other district, or abolish it entirely. Board of Education v. Board of Education (1902) 76 App. Div. 355, 78 N. Y. Supp. 522.

Town aid.-An act authorizing towns to aid in the construction of a railroad was sustained in Grant v. Courter (1857) 24 Barb. 232. The constitutional amendment of 1874 prohibited such local aid.

Trusts. The legislature has power to transfer the legal title from the mere naked trustees to the cestui que trusts (after the latter are incorporated) in a case where the trustees might themselves, under a decree of the court, be compelled to make such a transfer. Reformed Protestant Dutch Church v. Mott (1838) 7 Paige, 77.