The San Francisco call., 1899-05-20

which, in the language OF tiie sectlon,
mo charge shall be made Tor water
for said premises until the use of wa
ter is resumed.
cipal corporation of the city ana coun--
tv of san Francisco. as well as to all
private corporations and natural per
sons, then, before a & charge Tor the
water in December, 1894, could be de-
feated, it would have been necessary
for the city and county to have. given
the company the notice therein re-
In this ordinance is found frequent
mention of the City and County or san
For instance. the first sentence pro
yides. among other things, TOR monthly
rates or compensation TO pe corrected
by any person, companay OF COZ pold-
tion engaged in the business Oh sup
cipai uses, and for all PUBLIC purposes
of the city and county or san + ran
CISCO and section II provldeS1 tne Tafes fes.
of compensation to be ccoilecteu Iof
water supplied by and through ny ny
drants to the city and county OF San
Francisco; and section l3 proVldes 6itde a.
all water rates, except meter ae5
and city and county rates, are que 4lt dll1
payable monthly in advance, anu tnaI
meter and city and county rates are
due and payable at the END Oh eacll
month. ,.1,
that the Board of Supervisors in pass
ing resolution No. 10,049, recognized
that the municipal corporation OIL IS tI5
city and county of san FrailCic4e 49, F,o ~.
be a purchaser and consumer VI ""t0A
under that ordinance. ...,
Section ID. as | have shown, requires
notice of discontinuanCe 10 pe 6LNeh
by consumers. 1t applies 10 ali COLI COLI
sumers alike; it does not say; and
there can be no reason why IL Snoulu
have said that natural persons VINO
were consumers OF water sHoulu Dc
burdened with this requirement MniiId MnLdg
public and private corporations shoulu
not be.
The only foundation for an argu-
ment that this section does not Apply
to public and private corporations as
well as natural persons is the use
therein of the personal pronoun ms;
The use of this word does not unit
the application of this section 10
natural persons. Even had the WoEa oI
person been used instead of the
word consumer, the section would
have applied to public and private cor
porations as well as to natural per-
sons. 49,
It has been repeatedly held by the
courts of last resort in the Ohlleu
States that when persons are men
toned in a statute corporations are IN
cluded if they fall within the genera
reason and design of the statute
(Angell and Ames on corporations
secs. 6, 1873, 265, I'll 407a. AL. 45S9
The application Of the word person
TO corporations is recognized by the
Codes of California, sec. IA, C1Vll Coue::
l am therefore of the oplnllon, Ihar AZ II
the Spring Valley Water Works sup
piled water to the city and county so
that the same could be used for the.
irrigation of the PUBLIC squares anu anu
parks at the pleasure of the emplo2Fs
of the city and county entrusted WIN
that duty. and that the city and
county gave no notice to discontinue
the use of the water for the month
of December, 1895, the city and county
is legally liable for water Tor Ihat
month at the rate established by hes-
Olution No 10.049 (third seriesl.
HARRY T. CRESWELL,
Attorney and Counselor.
.DTbis doctrine" Mr.. Kellogg con-
inued has been maintained by every
,ourt where the question has arisen
Ind it has been universally recognized
w the municipal authorities mere since
t was enunciated by Mr.. Creswel- II
llso is apparent from the testimony OF
he gardener as we'll as Mr.. Booker
hat the city has used the water as
,ccasion required 1t is therefore not
eeal nor equitable in view of the doe
rines stated in the opinion and in view
IF the facts, that the present boarC
should attempt to review acts OF tnell
predecessors which had been not only
adiudicated but completed in accord
ince with the doctrines of the board.
Payments have been made ana &C
,epted and receipts passed IN ful
of the existing circumstan-
,es. There was, therefore, no error
whatever from any point of view in tht
bills which had been presented ano
,aid and no right vested in this present
BOARD to review such acts of their pre-
lecessors as had become functus officio
When it was admitted, as it must be
hat the claims of the company had
been properly presented and paid and
hat they were just and proper, l stano
'eady. not as q matter of right upon
he part of the municipality, but for the
,ake of avoiding further disputes and
lelays and for the purpose of closing
I'D the business of the fiscal year in
lue time, to deduct from the June bill
he amount in dispute. / do this be-
,ause there would be a deficiency in
he general fund and because l desire
10 further disputes or delays in the
payment of the already accrued bills
md the bills to accrue between now
md the fiscal year. 1t must be dis.
inctly understood, however, that this
vas not done as an admission of any
light on the part of the city, but with
constant denial of that right and the
assertion fully sustained by the facts
md the law, that all the bills of the
have been correct and legal. y
The committee deemed this offer tc
De a fair one and so accepted it,
will be made to the
BOARD on Monday that the full amount