Historic Tales of Windham (American Chronicles) by Saffie Derek

Author:Saffie, Derek [Saffie, Derek]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2016-06-13T04:00:00+00:00

A photograph of Windham Depot as it would have appeared during the case. From History of Windham in New Hampshire (Rockingham County), 1719–1883.

One of the other major points of the case was the refusal of the Windham ticket sales agent to sell to Swan a ticket to Lawrence. The court ruled that Swan had been rightfully rejected at the Windham station for refusing to pay the conductor the full fare. As the sign at the station had clearly stated a ticket could not be purchased from the conductor for a discount, there was no legal reason for Swan to object to paying the full price. Again, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the defendant because the railroad company was not required to let Swan purchase a ticket to ride on the same train after being ejected by the conductor. On this point, the court decided that Swan was not just another passenger looking to begin a new transaction. Rather, he was attempting to renew the contract he had already broken. He could not at his own will arbitrarily break the transaction into two parts. As he had not paid for the trip from Derry to Windham, Swan had broken the contract and was, therefore, unable to continue the contract whenever he saw fit.

In the end, Swan was left with not only the cost of arranging his trip to Lawrence via a private carriage but also legal fees and the loss of many hours of his time spent tied up in the case. The case helped to provide added protection for the railroad industry from passengers who sought to take advantage of discount ticket sales. While many instances of case law were cited in the ruling for the case, Swan v. Manchester and Lawrence Railroad was significant in its ability to bring numerous rulings together to form a single ruling specifying the duties of the railroad in relation to the rights of passengers. In conclusion, the story of Albert Swan is one that highlights the nature of such frivolous lawsuits. Over the matter of fifteen cents, lawyers, judges and members of the court staff were left with many wasted hours, time that could have been spent on more pressing matters.

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