In Winona & St. Peter Railroad Company v. Barney & Others, the United States Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a railroad company had the right to take possession of a piece of land that had been granted to the company by the state of Minnesota. The land in question had been granted to the company in 1857, but the company had not taken possession of it until 1871. The plaintiffs argued that the company had no right to take possession of the land because the grant had expired in 1867. The Supreme Court held that the company had the right to take possession of the land. The Court reasoned that the grant was still valid because the state of Minnesota had not taken any action to revoke it. Furthermore, the Court noted that the company had taken reasonable steps to take possession of the land, and that the delay in taking possession was due to circumstances beyond the company's control. As a result, the Court held that the company had the right to take possession of the land.

In the case of Winona & St. Peter Railroad Company v. Barney & Others, Chief Justice Waite delivered a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the majority had failed to consider an important point: whether or not the railroad company was liable for damages caused by its negligence in failing to provide adequate safety measures on its tracks. He noted that while it may have been true that there were no specific laws requiring such safety measures at the time, this did not absolve them from liability if they had acted negligently and put passengers' lives at risk as a result. Furthermore, he argued that even if there were no laws specifically prohibiting their actions, common law principles should still apply and hold them accountable for any harm done due to their negligence. In conclusion, Chief Justice Waite believed that since the railroad company's failure to take proper precautions could be seen as negligent behavior resulting in injury or death of passengers using their tracks, they should be held responsible for any damages incurred by those affected parties regardless of whether or not specific statutes existed governing such matters at the time.