J. C. Engleman Land Co. v. Donna Irr. Dist. No. 1
J. C. Engleman Land Co. v. Donna Irr. Dist. No. 1
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal from an or■der of a district judge, made in .vacation, denying the appointment of a receiver, and ■denying restraining orders as against the directors, agents, attorneys, and employes of the corporation, to prevent them from interfering with the receiver, and to deliver all property belonging to it. The suit was instituted by the Engleman Land Company against the irrigation district and G. B. Mer-riwether, F. G. Eppright, H. P. Jones, A. F. Hester, and A. T. Elliott, its directors, for a debt of $11,755.28, and in a subsequent petition the appointment of a receiver and a restraining order against the directors was sought, and in the alternative it was sought to remove the directors from office and restrain them from interfering with the management and control of the corporation. Nat Wetzel, claiming to be a voter in and resident of the district, intervened in the suit, adopting the pleadings of the plaintiff.
“The defendant is a public corporation, organized under a general law of the state, enacted by the Legislature for the purpose of promoting the general welfare.”
The statute creating irrigation districts places their'management and control in the hands of the board of directors, and there is no provision for dissolving such corporations, or the appointment of receivers at the instance of creditors. As said in the California case, herein cited, irrigation districts are not clothed with all the powers of municipal corporations, and yet all their powers and duties are public, and a receivership could with equal propriety be granted to take charge of the affairs of a city or county as of an irrigation district. Being created for public purposes by the state, the state alone can dissolve such corporations or take charge of its affairs. Fallbrook Irr. Dist. v. Bradley, 164 U. S. 112, 17 Sup. Ct. 56, 41 L. Ed. 369.
It follows that, if a receiver cannot be appointed for a public corporation, its directors cannot be restrained from performing the duties enjoined upon them by law. Indeed, under the pleadings of appellants, the restraint of the directors is made contingent-upon the appointment of a receiver.
There are no matters set out in the petition entitling appellants to an injunction. The supreme object of the proceedings was to place the property of the drainage district in the hands of a receiver, and the allegations were made with that end in view. If the receivership was properly denied, all restraining orders were properly denied.
If, by any act of his, any director has forfeited his office, he can be removed from office only in the name of the state of Texas, -as prescribed by statute. Rev. St. art. 6398.
The judgment is affirmed.
(&wkey;>For other cases see same topic ana KEY-NUMBER in all Key-Numbered Digests and Indexes
Reference
- Full Case Name
- J. C. ENGLEMAN LAND CO. Et Al. v. DONNA IRR. DIST. NO. 1 Et Al.
- Cited By
- 21 cases
- Status
- Published