Colyer v. Pierson
Colyer v. Pierson
Opinion of the Court
The relator holds a rule requiring the township committee of the township of White in the county of Warren to show-cause why a peremptory or alternative writ of mandamus should not issue commanding the township committee to pay over unto James D. Colyer, receiver of The Belvidere National Bank, the balance of $10,423.51 with interest on $18,587.93 from December 31st, 1930, to October 10th, 1931, and with interest on $10,423.51 from October 10th, 1931, to date of payment, or such percentage of each of the appropriations of 1931 of $3,000, of 1932 of $1,087.93 and of 1933 of $7,000 as has been collected by the collector of taxes of the township.
Depositions were taken pursuant to the rule.
On the other hand, the township answers that the issuance of the notes in question, in the form and substance in which they were issued, was not within the corporate powers of the township, was not authorized by the statutes, and that the notes were illegally issued and were not thereafter ratified. The township further answers that the $8,164.42 on deposit with the bank, and which the bank seeks to have applied to the township’s indebtedness, was appropriated to the various purposes of the township, and without the consent of the township, could not be applied to the notes in question, and relies upon the ease of Township Committee of Piscataway Township v. First National Bank, 111 N. J. L. 412; 168 Atl. Rep. 757.
From our examination of the record and briefs we do not think that the relator has made out such a case on the present record as entitles him to a peremptory writ of mandamus. A peremptory writ should be granted “only when the legal right is clear and the facts are not in dispute” (Hugg v.
An alternative writ will therefore be awarded.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.