St. Paul daily globe., 1896-04-09
DISTRICT COURTS DECISION IN
THE FOURTH INSANE HOsPI-
TAI NATTER
INJUNCTION is DISSOLVED.
INGS PEOPLE FOR AN AP-
PEAL
JUDGE KELLY DIssENTs IN PART,
Not Locate and Relocate at the
Members Whims.

Anoka has come out victor in the legal fight
over the location of the fourth state hospital
for the insane. The decision of the three dis
trict judges, Brill, Otis and Kelly who tried
the case was filed yesterday, and in it they
all agree to order granting the motion of
the respondents for a dissolution of the tenn
porary injunction, but they do not all agree
as to the grounds on which that order is
based, Judge Kelly dissenting from the other
two and giving his reasons fully therefor in a.
separate memorandum. The facts and legal
aspects of the are fully discussed in the
memoranda, which, with the order, follows:
State of Minnesota ex rel. Henry W. Childs.
attorney general, plaintiff VS.. Clarence E.
bondy ct al, as commissioners, etc. and the
city of Anoka, defendants.
1hls action having been heard and submit
ted upon motion of defendants to dissolve the
writ of injunction herein.
ordered, that said motion be and the same
is hereby granted.
Ordered, that all proceedings herein are
hereby stayed for ten days to enable plaintiff
70 take an appeal if so advised. "
The memorandum of Judges Brill and Otis
is as follows:
The position of the plaintiff In brief. is this:
4 he board of commissioners for location and
pulchdse OF a site Tor the fourth hospital for
the insane by contract with the CITY of Hast
1ngs located and purchased a site for such
hospltal, and thereupon, to such duty i'm
posed upon 1t by statute, became functus
onlclo. 1t could not undo the work so done.
nor could II make further location and pur-
chase. II the premises upon which plaintiff
predicates this claim are conceded the con-
clusion for which it contends necessarily fol-
lows. We are, however unable to spell out
cd fan OP fla
tract of location and purchase.
First-Whether legal and valid contract
was entered into between the commissioners
and the city of Hastings depends upon the
erect to be given to the action taken by the
board at its meeting on Dec. IS, for as to what
this action was there is no controversy. There
had been submitted to the board for it's con-
stderation a large number of propositions Of
Iering sites for the hospital and guaranteeing
conveyance thereof at the prices therein re-
spectively named. Among these PROPOSE
HCns was one from the city of Hastings, offer
ing tract of 643 acres, and one from the city
OF Anoka offering choice of any one of three
separate and distinct tracts. The board, hav-
Ing decided that it was inexpedient to receive
my further proposition until those received
had been disposed of, proceeded to take an
informal vote on location of site; the precise
motion being that we takeSan informal vote
on location of Site" 1t is to be observed that
this was not nor can it be construed as a vote
to accept any of the propositions offered. 1t
was simply a vote on location of site and this
DONE the matter of it's acquisition required
further action. Without more evidence,
and aside from the statute of frauds,
TO be considered later on, we do
not see how the city of Hastings or the
board would have any standing in court to
claim that a vote this motion was a vote
or the acceptance of any one of the PROPOSE
tions offered If it is insisted that the board
may have intended it as such and supposed It
to have had that effect, as shown by the fact
that it took no further action at the time, the
answer is that the courts must determine the
Intent from what was done, and we fail to see
that what was here in fact done can be tor
tured into an acceptance of any of the PROPOSE
tions offered. The members expressed their
preferences on such vote by naming the COM
peting towns, and on the ninth ballot there
were four votes for Hastings and three votes
for Apoka By the most liberal rules of con-
struction, having in mind the motion voted
on, this operated simply as four votes for the
site offered by the city of Hastings and three
votes for choice of three sites offered by the
city of Anoka. This view is strengthened by
the fact that chapter 157 of the General Laws
of 1895, under which they were acting confers
upon the commissioners power to locate and
purchase, and to this end vests in them power
to condemn and take lands. The location of
the site may be coEsummated by purchase or
by condemnation of the lands selected, in
case they cannot be otherwise acquired So
that notwithstanding ! the vote here taken
whereby the lands offered by the city of Hast
ings were selected for the site, acquisition. re-
mained a matter for further action. Such
further action might have consisted in accept
ing the proposal Of the city of Hastings and
agreeing to pay the stipulated price therefor,
or If 1t would have been for the best interests
OF the state to take other measures for it's
acquisition, by condemnation or otherwise. it
was not by the selection foreciosed as to such
further action to this end. The action taken
was not an acceptance of the Hastings propo-
sition, nor was it vote of acceptance and
in any view of the case did not operate to
consummate contract of purchase.
Second-But aside from our view of the eff
1ect OF the action taken, we are of the opinion
that giving to it all the effect claimed there
10: by the state, it still Intellectual to
operate as legal and binding contract be-
tween the commissioners and the city of Hast
ings. Assuming, as the state claims, that this
vote was in fact a vote of acceptance of the
Hastings proposition, it is not seriously claim
ed by counsel that this would amount to any,
thing more than oral acceptance of written
proposition. Counsel insists that this is all
that is necessary to consummate legal con-
tract under our statute of frauds While it
may be that the better reasoning favors their
contention. it seems to us it has been so clear
ly and explicitly ruled otherwise by our own
supreme court as to be no longer in this court
an open question. So long as the doctrine laid
down in LAM VS.. Mclaughlin, IA Minn., 72
and Yeager VS.. Kelsy, 46 Minn., 4O2, remn'-
unchallenged-and until those css-~ Ills
ruled they must control - IS are over
pelled to hold that - ..ere-we are COM
the sale Of - % constitute a contract for
ccI+-l lands the offer of sale and the ac-
alice thereof as well must be in writing.
Signed by the respective parties.
Third-Having reached the conclusion that
the board did not, by it's action on Dec. 1S
make any contract for the purchase of the
site offered by the city of Hastings It re-
mains to be considered whether the selection
we find to have been made of the Hastings
site was final and conclusive. The essential