special franchise

A franchise distinct from the franchise to be a corporation or the franchise in the sense of the powers granted in the charter. 18 Am J2d Corp § 66. A right to do something in a public street or place which, except for the grant under which it is exercised, would be a trespass. People ex rel. New York C. & H. R. R. Co. v Gourley, 198 NY 486, 92 NE 398; People ex rel. Harlem River & Port Chester Railroad Co. v State Board of Tax Comrs. 215 NY 507, 109 NE 569. The right to be a corporation is frequently called a "franchise," as it is in one sense, but not in the sense that a grant of a right to build a railroad in a public street is a franchise; and it is unfortunate that the same word is used with widely different meanings, for it leads to confusion unless qualified by an appropriate adjective, such as "general" or "special." The right to be a corporation, or the corporate right of life, is inseparable from the corporation itself. It is part of it, and cannot be sold or assigned. That franchise is general and dies with the corporation, for it cannot survive dissolution or repeal. On the other hand, grants to do something in the public streets, or special franchises, are not part of the corporation. They can be made to an individual with the same legal force or effect as to a corporation. Unless there is some legislative restriction, they can be mortgaged and sold. They are no part of corporate life if owned by a corporation, any more than they are no part of corporate life if owned by an individual. Lord v Equitable Life Assur. Soc. 194 NY 212, 87 NE 443.