People v. Boston, &c. Railway Co.

in the office of the secretary of state, April 11, 1881; when they were filed with the secetary of state of the State of Vermont, does not appear. The original Boston, Hoosac Tunnel & Western Railway Company was incorporated under the laws of the States of New York and Vermont, and at the date of the attempted consolidation operated about forty miles of road, partly within this State and partly within the State of Vermont. The routes or lines of the four constituent corporations are described in their several articles of incorporation, substantially as follows:

1. The Boston, Hoosac Tunnel & Western Railway Company's route or line begins at a point in the town of Pownal, in the State of Vermont, in the boundary line between the States of Vermont and Massachusetts, extending thence north-westwardly for six miles in the State of Vermont, crossing the west boundary line thereof into the State of New York; thence extending westwardly through the county of Rensselaer, crossing the Hudson river at Mechanicsville; thence extending westwardly through the counties of Saratoga, Schenectady, Montgomery, Herkimer, Oneida, Oswego, (passing north of Oneida Lake,) into the county of Cayuga, and terminating at an undefined point on Lake Ontario. Also, a route or line in the State of Vermont, beginning at a point in the town of Pownal, in the State Vermont, where the above described line crosses into the State of New York; thence northwardly for about fourteen miles through the towns of Pownal, Bennington and Shaftsbury, in Vermont, to another point in said last named town on the west line of the State of Vermont.

2. The Hoosac Tunnel & Saratoga Railway Company's route or line begins at the city of Troy, thence extending northwardly on the east side of the Hudson river to Mechanicsville; thence crossing the Hudson river on the bridge of the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel &

People v. Boston, &c. Railway Co.

Western Railway Company, to the west side of said river; thence extending northwardly in Saratoga county to Saratoga Springs. Also, a route or line. beginning at a point near Fish creek, in the line last described; thence extending eastwardly in Saratoga county to the Hudson river, near Schuylerville.

3. The Utica & Syracuse Air Line Railway Company's route or line begins in the city of Utica, at a point in the located line of the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel & Western Railway Company, the Utica, Clinton & Binghamton Railroad, and the Utica, Chenango & Susquehanna Valley Railroad, either or all of them; thence extending west fifty miles in the counties of Oneida, Madison and Onondaga, to the Syracuse, Binghamton & New York Railroad, to the Syracuse & Chenango Railroad, and to the Syracuse, Phoenix & Oswego Railroad, either or all of them in the city of Syracuse.

4. The Mohawk & Lake Erie Railway Company's route or line begins in the city of Syracuse, thence extending westwardly in the counties of Onondaga, Cayuga, Wayne, Ontario, Monroe, Genesee and Erie, to Buffalo and to the International Bridge. Also, a route or line, from the line last described, to the city of Rochester.

If the proceedings for the consolidation of the above described four corporations are valid, the consolidated corporation embraces the following routes or lines which are redescribed, for the purpose of clearly showing the relations of the several lines to each other, and the situation of the consolidated line:

A. A route or line beginning at a point in the town of Pownal, in the state of Vermont, thence extending north-westwardly for six miles in that State, and to the west line thereof; thence extending north-westwardly in the State of New York, crossing the Hudson river at Mechanicsville; thence extending south-westwardly to the city of Schenectady; thence westwardly

People v. Boston, &c. Railway Co.

through the cities of Utica and Syracuse, and terminating at the city of Buffalo, and at the International Bridge.

B. A route or line beginning at a point in the town of Pownal, in the west line of the State of Vermont, at a point where the consolidated line crosses into the State of New York, thence extending northwardly for about fourteen miles through the the towns of Pownall, Bennington and Shaftsbury, in Vermont, to a point in the last named town in the west line of Vermont.

C. A route or line beginning at the city of Troy, thence extending northwardly on the east side of the Hudson river to Mechanicsville; thence crossing the Hudson river on the bridge of the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel & Western Railway Company, to the west side of said river; thence extending northwardly in Saratoga county to Saratoga Springs.

D. A route or line beginning in the line last described at a point near Fish creek, thence extending eastwardly in Saratoga county to the Hudson river near Schuylerville.

E. A route or line beginning at the city of Utica and extending westwardly through the counties of Oneida, Oswego, passing north of Oneida Lake into the county of Cayuga, and terminating at an undefined point on Lake Ontario, which line is the western portion of the line of the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel & Western Railway Company (constituent).

F. A route or line beginning at a point on the main line (A) and extending to the city of Rochester.

In construing statutes, words are to be taken in their natural and obvious sense, unless it is apparent that they are used in a technical sense, in which case the technical meaning prevails (Sedgw. Stat. & Const. L. 220).

The words of this statute will be given their ordinary and popular signification, in which sense they were

People v. Boston, &c. Railway Co.

used by the legislature. It is contended that all connected lines are continuous, no matter how connected, or how divergent; and may be consolidated unless they are parallel or competing. It is said that "trains might run from either end of either branch, without interruption, to either end of the main line." This may be said of all roads which connect and have the same gauge.

The fallacy of this proposition consists in the assumption that all connected lines are continuous, because connected. A connection of lines is a prerequisite of continuity of lines, or otherwise stated, two or more lines or routes cannot be continuous without being connected; but the mere fact of connec tion does not, in the technical or statutory sense, form a continuous line. The phrase, "form a continuous line of railroad with each other," means a line or route extending and continuing in substantially the same general direction, connecting two principal points. Undoubtedly the term would not prevent, and was not intended to prevent, a road with unimportant branches forming no considerable part of the general plan, from consolidating with another corporation, if the lines of both, within the definition above given, form one main and continuous line. The general direction of the route or line of the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel & Western Railway Company (constituent), is east and west, and embraces no part of the routes or lines of the Hoosac Tunnel & Saratoga Railway Company. The general direction of the principal route "C" of the Hoosac Tunnel & Saratoga Railway, is north and south, and of its lateral line "D" east and west.

No part of either line "C" or "D" forms any part of the main consolidated, route. The principal line, "C," and the line of the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel & Western Railway (constituent), are intersecting lines and do not in any sense form a continuous line.

People v. Boston, &c. Railway Co.

Neither do the routes of the Hoosac Tunnel & Saratoga Railway Company form a continuous line of railroad with one or more of the routes of the other constituents, and it is impossible to combine all or any of the routes of the other constituents with either of the routes of the Hoosuc Tunnel & Saratoga Railway Company, so as to form a continuous line of railroad within the meaning of the statute.

The term "may form a continuous line of railroad" excludes the idea of plurality of lines, and conveys the idea that the consolidated line must must form one, instead of two or more lines of railroad.

Is the consolidation of the Utica & Syracuse Air Line Railway Company with the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel & Western Railway Company (constituent), prohibited by the ninth section ?

§ 9. "No . . . . corporations of this State whose railroads run on parallel or competing lines, shall be authorized by this act to merge or consolidate."

The routes or lines of these corporations connect at Utica, thence diverging, both extending in a westerly direction, one passing north, and the other south of Oneida Lake. The greatest distance between these two routes or lines does not exceed twenty-five miles. The evidence does not disclose the length of the route of the last named corporation, from Utica to Little Sodus Bay on Lake Ontario, but it cannot be less than eighty miles. The Utica & Syracuse Air Line Railway's route extends from the located line of the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel & Western Railway in Utica, to Syracuse, a distance, as stated, of fifty miles.

While it is apparent that these two routes or lines are not parallel in a mathematical sense, I think they are within the meaning of the statute, and for that reason cannot be consolidated.

It is a rule for the construction of statutes, that "and" and "or" are convertible, as the sense of the