The City of Rochester, Appellant v. Rochester Railway Company, Respondent

Summary

The Court held that the 1869 statute granting the Rochester City & Brighton Railroad Company an exemption from street‑paving costs was not a contract right immune from later legislative action and that any such exemption was personal to the predecessor and did not pass to the defendant. Accordingly, the exemption could be altered or repealed by the legislature, and the defendant must pay its share of paving under the General Railroad Law. The judgment of the lower court was reversed and a new trial was ordered.