General Legislation in Other States Previous to 1853 . 341 
away from special legislation. And after reading several score 
of charters in any state, one cannot help but wonder why, in¬ 
stead of all those long and tiresome repetitions, often with few 
or no variations, or with only a slightly transposed order and 
miscellaneous omissions, the custom followed so generally in 
New York should not have been adopted more widely. Of 
course, there was no occasion for it after general legislation 
had been enacted. The first comprehensive general act of New 
York was passed in 1848. This law prescribed the conditions 
under which railroad companies could organize, while the act of 
1850, which is the general railroad law of New York, provides 
also for the regulation of such companies; and it furthermore 
prohibits the formation of corporations by special act “except 
for municipal purposes and in cases where, in the judgment of 
the legislature, the objects of the corporation can not be at¬ 
tained under general laws.” But prior to this time New York, 
beginning with an act to prevent injury to railroad property 
and to insure the safety of passengers, by 1834, had passed no 
less than thirty general acts relating to railroads. These laws 
embraced such subjects as the relation of railroads to canals, 
highways, and Indian lands where they cross the same; subject¬ 
ing railroads to road tajfes; maps and profiles, contracts among 
railroad companies; lending the credit of the state and paying 
interest on state loans; requiring annual reports to be made to 
the secretary of state (1843); mails; junctions: baggage checks; 
altering lines; transportation of freight; suits against com¬ 
panies; and the destruction of noxious weeds on railroad 
grounds. 
But the impression must not prevail that there was little 
special legislation in New’ York and other states where, fortu¬ 
nately, general legislation made headway early. The New York 
and Erie Railroad secured no less than seventeen amendments 
before 1850. The Portsmouth and Concord one amendment for 
each of the first ten years of its corporate life. The Western 
Branch (Mass.) charter was amended twenty-two times before 
1853, and the Eastern Branch eighteen times; the Housatonic 
(Conn.), thirteen from 1838 to 1850; the Camden and Amboy 
fifteen; Delaware and Raritan fourteen; the Pennsylvania 
