TELEGRAPH COMPANIES

MCL ch. 484, subtit. Act 195 of 1893

in effect

MCL 484.251 Duty to serve; civil liability.

484.251. Duty to serve; civil liability. Sec. 1. That it shall be the duty of all telegraph companies incorporated either within or without this state, doing business within this state to receive dispatches from and for other telegraph companies' lines, and from and for any individual, and on payment of their usual charges for individuals for transmitting dispatches as established by the rules and regulations of such telegraph companies, to transmit the same with impartiality and good faith. Such telegraph companies shall be liable for any mistakes, errors or delays in the transmission or delivery, or for the non-delivery of any repeated or non-repeated message in damages to the amount which such person or persons may sustain by reason of mistakes, errors or delays in the transmission or delivery due to negligence of such company, or for the non-delivery of any such dispatch, due to negligence of such telegraph company or its agents, to be recovered with costs of suit, by the person or persons sustaining such damage. 1893, Act 195, Eff. Aug. 28, 1893; CL 1897, 5268; CL 1915, 6686; CL 1929, 11688; CL 1948, 484.251

MCL 484.252 Duty to transmit dispatches in order; civil liability.

484.252. Duty to transmit dispatches in order; civil liability. Sec. 2. It shall likewise be the duty of every such telegraph company to transmit all such dispatches in the order in which they are received. In case such telegraph company shall refuse or neglect to so transmit such dispatches, such telegraph company shall be liable for all damages sustained by any person or persons whose dispatch is postponed or delayed out of its order as herein prescribed, to be recovered as in the foregoing section: Provided, however, That arrangements may be made with the proprietors or publishers of newspapers for the transmission, for the purpose of publication, of intelligence of general and public interest, out of its regular order. 1893, Act 195, Eff. Aug. 28, 1893; CL 1897, 5269; CL 1915, 6687; CL 1929, 11689; CL 1948, 484.252

Source: Michigan Legislature (legislature.mi.gov)URL: https://legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/Chapter%20484.xmlFetched: 10/20/2026