Cloud v. Town of Sumas
Cloud v. Town of Sumas
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
— In June, 1891, the town of Sumas became a municipal corporation of the fourth class. The town authorities, desiring to make certain public improvements, such as the grading of streets, etc., and the town not hav
A number of technical objections regarding the regularity of the proceedings of the council authorizing the obtaining of these moneys from the plaintiff are raised upon this appeal. It is also contended that municipal corporations of the fourth class have no authority to borrow money. And it is further contended that the present action will not lie in any event, as the remedy of the plaintiff, if he has any, is by mandamus, to compel the payment of the warrants issued to him for the moneys aforesaid.
Owing to the conclusion we have arrived at as to this last proposition, whatever may be our views upon the other questions raised, as to whether any of them are entitled to any merit, or whether the transaction was one of loaning money, or, rather, the payment of debts contracted by the town to other parties, they ai-e eliminated from the case and are not now entitled to consideration. We are of the opinion that the plaintiff mistook' his remedy. All he could obtain upon a judgment in his favor would be a warrant issued by the town authorities for the payment of his claim in accordance with the provisions of § 674, Code Proc., and he already has a warrant therefor. No execu
And the questions, if they are further insisted upon, affecting the legality of such warrants, can be tried in that proceeding. Jefferson Gounty v. Arrighi, 54 Miss. 668.
Reversed.
Stiles, Anders and Hoyt, JJ., concur.
(dissenting). — I dissent. It seems clear to me that the object of this suit, as gathered from the complaint, was to test the validity of the warrant heretofore issued, or, rather, to test the validity of the respondent’s claim against the city. The record shows that the validity or legality of this claim is denied by the treasurer and is the only real matter in issue. If that be true, then the issues may as well be determined in this case as in a mandamus proceeding, and the ends of justice will not be subserved by sending the respondent out of court and imposing upon him the expenses of another suit.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- J. A. Cloud v. The Town of Sumas
- Cited By
- 18 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS — REFUSAL TO PAY WARRANTS — REMEDY. An action cannot be maintained upon a warrant issued by a municipal corporation evidencing its indebtedness to the holder, but the remedy of the holder, in case of the refusal of the treasurer of the corporation to pay the warrant in its order, is to proceed against that officer by mandamus, and, in such proceeding, questions affecting the legality of the warrant can be tried. ( Dunbar, C. J., dissents.)