The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-10-25
lature In aid Ioi the collection % Tho debt
was unconstitutional md void, n Iowa,

corporations, third edition, mentions tho
Iowa decision and ulheres 10 IN opinion
expressed In d iormeSt edition OF htb !worS,
tothe effect that tho cltyought 10 be held
liable upon tho bonds II it|recelved the
benefit from them, or, II the bonds arc
held void the city ought 70 DO compelled
torestore what II obtained. Y g9as ssi,
s,.Ilhave found no decisions upon, this
precise point, which support Mr.. billions
views. v N ...l Y v ~
Tho Constitution Of Illinois has pro.
vision like that OF Iowa above quoted. III
1880, 81 at tabout a the time OF the
issuing Of i the last edition OF Mr..
Dillon's work, a case iron Illinois
which Is not mentioned III his work, was
decided by tho Supreme Court Of tho Uni.
ted States, holding TINT bonds issued by
tho city Of Litchiclj, H., for tho con.
struction ofwatcr works when the lcity's
debt exceeded five percent OF tho value OF
taxable property, were void, and that4a
bona ,6de holder who brought suit upon M
unpaid interest coupon. was not entitled
TO recover. H. 7sylt 5..-3
Tho Court, At the conclusion Of tho
opinion, says: r. 0ur attention Is called by
Council 10 tho exceeding hardship Of this
case upon those whose money 1t Is alleged
has supplied the city Of Litchteld with q
system Of; water works, tho benefits OF
which are daily enjoyed by its inhabi;
tants. The defense Is characterized as
fraudulent and dishonest. Waving all
considerations OF tho case in its moral u.s.
pects,i 1t Is only necessary TO say that the
settled principles Of law cannot with safe.
tytto tho public,ib lisregarded tin order
% remedy the; hardships Of special cases.
legal obligation a to 4 make resti.
tuition sof the money obtained without
authority Of law, that Is, tUreturna to the
properparty or parties such Sums as were
actually received by its authorized agents
or officers upon tho sale OF the bonds, is
not a question arising in the present nc
ton, which is only for the recovery Of the
stipulated interest upon such bonds. Upon
this point 1t is not proper at this time, or
in this form Of action, to express mn
opinion" Buchanan vs.. Iitch6eld, TO-
EU.S. Rep. 49, So r',SH,5'-=
In q case decided by the U. S. Supreme
,, Court in 1870, in which the holder Of cur.
rency issued by the city Of Rich
mond was demanding from the city either
, the amount Of the notes, or the amount
! the city had received from him for them
and tho city WIS relying upon the defense
that the notes were Issued by the city and
received by the holder in violation OF q
Virginia statute, the court held that the
, notes were void, and that the holder could
!, neither recover upon the notes mol
: for the; money he paid for them
!, The. court shows why banking and
other private corporations should not be
permitted to make Illegal issues Of paper
!, and then refuse to pay any because o.
, their illegality, and then says:
!. TAN rAYEns' INTEREST.
E "Rut in the case Of municipal and Other
: public corporations, another consideration
+ intervenes. They represent the public
r and are themselves to be protected against
I the unauthorized acts of their officers and
l agents when 1t can be done without in
(. jury to thirLparties. This is necessary in
: order to guard against fraud and pecula
{ ton. Persons dealing with such officers
the powers which the corporation pos
, scsses, and are to be held responsible nc.
cordingly. The issuing Of bills as a cur.
; rency by such q corporation without
authority is not only contrary to positive
4 law, hut, being ultra rires, is an abuse Of
the publicfranchses which have been con.
, ferred upon it; and the receiver Of the
bills, being charseable with notice OF the
wrong is in pari delictu with the
officers, and should have no
remedy. even for money had and
!. received, against the corporation upon
which he has aided h in iniiicting the
wrong. The protecting OF public corpor.
atoms from sach unauthorized acts OF
their officers and agents is matter Of
,, public policy in which the whole com.
munity is concerned. And those who aid
in such transactions must do SO at their
, peril" Thomas vs. City, OF Richmond, u
Wall $50. M d. - ~ q -
4 The Supreme Court Of Illinois, in cases
lately decided, seems to fully coincide
with the Iowa decisions By, declaring that
a city having an Indebtedness exceeding
five percent Of. the taxable property
therein sis poweress to create my debt at
| all, even for its ordinary or current expen-
SEES, and that no contract Of any munici.
pality so situated, for tho payment OF
money can be enforced" Prince vs.:
SltS VI NullICNt lQtJ ILL., LOO ullu slJ.J fFt
The courts uniformly hold that these
constitutional prohibitions against in.
curing. Indebtedness will not apply against
claims for damages for injuries caused BY
municipal neglect or wrong. !. -l.,-., NJ
st5a CITY cREDlroEs CAN RECOVER.
I believe that the decided weight OF au.
thority is to the effect that any kind OF
contract creating municipal indebt.
edness exceeding the : amount which
the Constitution declares must not be in
any wiae exceeded, is void, and not only
so, but that the creditor under such void
contract is without remedy Of any kind.
All persons dealing with the corporation
are bound to. know the Limitation imposed
by law, and are bound TO know. at their
peril, whether il has been exceeded or
not-unless the city is estopped by false
official statements by the corporate Off
GERS, Of matters which they had authority,
by law, TO determine and state. Dixon
County VS.. Field, Ill U. s. Rep. S.
But the floating Indebtedness OF tho
City Of Wheeling, which is now, little
over two hundred : thousand dollars,
when added to the bonded indebted
ness. does not, : believe, canse the
aggregate to rcxeeed five percent Of tho
value OF the taxable property in Wheel
ing, as shown by the last assessment for,
State and county taxes. Therefore the
city has only violated the provision Of our
constitution which forbids any debts to be
contracted without first having The sanc'
ton ot-three.iifths of the voters upon all
questions connected Herewith. 5saE)
l have given the law above quoted in
regard to debts in excess OF the five per
cont limit, as the best index to what may
be the law; upon municipal debts in our
State, CONTRACTED without the consent oil
the voters, because l have failed to find
decisions which will come nearer to q de-
termination OF the status Of our floating
debt. r. ~. - q N 555 $50 - 80
But there are many considerations
which NAV affect the hearinc, If thos,, ,le.