Schilling ex rel. First National Bank v. Ohio Township
Schilling ex rel. First National Bank v. Ohio Township
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Plaintiff’s action is based on a judgment note for $2,500 dated December 27,1912, given by the supervisors of Ohio Township, Beaver County, in payment for labor and materials furnished in the construction of township bridges to replace others destroyed by flood. The note sued on was discounted by the First National Bank of
Previous to the date of the note in suit, a contract was entered into with plaintiff for the erection of five bridges, and a portion of the work had been completed conformably to its provisions when the contractor was directed to cease work and the note in question was given in payment for labor and materials furnished under the contract to that date. The trial judge excluded evidence of the terms and conditions of the agreement and failure to comply with its requirements and charged that, if the labor and materials were furnished, the supervisors were clothed with authority in their discretion to compensate the contractor. The meeting of the board of supervisors at which the note involved in this action was given was held December 27, 1912, after the contractor had completed, or substantially completed, three of the bridges and furnished materials for others. The reason given
The first, second, third and fourth assignments, complain of the action of the trial judge in excluding evidence offered by plaintiff and raise the question of the right to defend against the note by reason of nonperformance of plaintiff’s contract to complete the bridges, and by showing plaintiff had, previous to the execution of the note, received payment in full for all work done. The court excluded the evidence offered, except to the extent it tended to prove the special meeting at which the note was authorized was not duly convened and that there was fraud and collusion in the transaction. Neither fraud nor collusion was proved and the testimony shows that after the construction of the bridges had progressed to almost completion, the contractor was
Tbe judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Schilling, for use of First National Bank v. Ohio Township
- Cited By
- 11 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Municipalities — Townships—Promissory notes — Work done — Defenses — Want of consideration — Township supervisors’ authority to borrow money■ — Sufficiency of revenues — Honest mistake — Meetings — Notice of meetings — Evidence—Charge of court. 1. Where in an action on a promissory note made by the supervisors of a township in payment for work done and material furnished, the defense was that the giving of the note was authorized at a meeting of the supervisors not legally called, that the amount was beyond the revenues of the township and no tax levy made to secure its payment, and that the note was without proper consideration, but where it appeared that the meeting of the supervisors had been called by the secretary “for the purpose of executing a note of $2,500” to the contractor who had performed work for the township it was not material that only two of the supervisors of the township attended the meeting, where it appeared that the third member had received a postal card notifying him of the meeting and of the business to be transacted but had mislaid it. 2. Where in such case it appeared that the supervisors had levied .a tax of five and one-half mills, and that, upon the happening of an extraordinary flood, whereby roads and bridges were destroyed, an additional levy of four and one-half mills was made before the execution of the note in question, instructions to the jury are proper, to the effect that ,if the township supervisors honestly believed that the revenues so provided were sufficient to pay the note in question, it was not material that it afterwards appeared that they were mistaken in their judgment. 3. Where in such case it appeared that contracts had been made by the supervisors for repairs to roads and bridges, and that after certain of the work had been done the contractor was Ordered to cease the work and was given the note in payment for the work which he had done, the trial judge made no error in excluding evidence offered by plaintiff to show that the contract had not been performed, in the absence of fraud or collusion between the plaintiff and the former supervisors of the township. Even though the contract was not fully completed, the supervisors had a right to compensate the contractor for the work which he had done and the note given for that purpose could not subsequently be defeated by alleging want of consideration.