Ferguson v. Moore
Ferguson v. Moore
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The plaintiff in the court below filed this bill in equity, seeking by perpetual injunction to restrain the defendants, who were.
An act of assembly was passed the 2d of April, 1869, P. L. 668, revising the road laws in the township of Clinton, in the county of Butler. The principal question in controversy in -this ease turns upon the construction of the sixth section of that act. The court below found, as a matter of fact and also as a question of law, that the taxes claimed by the defendants as road commissioners and tax collector for the township of Clinton aforesaid were actually due and unpaid. The testimony, as developed in the hearing justified this finding. The act of 1869, supra, provides for the election of six road commissioners, the sixth section of the said act providing “ that said commissioners, each two having charge of a district, are hereby authorized to give out the opening of new roads and the repairing and keeping in repair of all the old roads in their respective districts, giving preference to those persons living most convenient to said roads; said contracts for continuous repair not to extend longer than for a period of six years; and provided further, that if said commissioners and said taxpayers cannot agree upon a contract, then their tax is to be collected as levied and applied to the improvement of said roads as aforesaid.” The eleventh section of the said act provides that “ all laws inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.” The appellant admits that he refused to sign a contract prepared by the road commissioners and offered to him for signature. The main point in the case as narrowed by the appellant in his argument is the proper construction of-the proviso in the sixth section of the act of 1869, supra, which provides “ that if said commissioners and said taxpayers cannot agree upon a contract then their tax is to be col
Upon 'a careful review of all the facts of the case and an examination of the special act of 1869, supra, and of the general acts relating to the collection of taxes herein referred to, we are of opinion that the court below was entirely correct in the disposition which was made of the case in refusing the injunction prayed for and dismissing the plaintiff’s bill. Although numerous assignments of error are presented to us, they embrace practically but the two questions herein referred to. Our disposition of the case embraces them all. They are all overruled and the decree is, therefore, affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.