Case Name: State of Minnesota ex. rel. William M. Thomson vs. Harvey D. Cornwall
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Minnesota
Decision Date: 1886-05-10
Citations: 35 Minn. 176
Docket Number: 
Parties: State of Minnesota ex. rel. William M. Thomson vs. Harvey D. Cornwall.
Judges: 
Reporter: Minnesota Reports
Volume: 35
Pages: 176–178

Head Matter:
State of Minnesota ex. rel. William M. Thomson vs. Harvey D. Cornwall.
May 10, 1886.
Villages — Time of Annual Elections — Pine Island. — The proper time-for the annual meeting for the election of officers of the village of Pine-Island is the second Tuesday of March.
The relator was duly elected, on the first Tuesday of January,. 1885, to the office of president of the village of Pine Island, for the term of one year, or until his successor should be elected and qualified. He qualified and entered upon the duties of his office, which he continued to discharge until January 8, 1886, when the respondent took possession of the office and assumed to discharge its duties. The respondent received a majority of the votes cast at an election held on the first Tuesday in January, 1886, for the purpose of electing a successor to the relator. No successor of the relator has been elected, unless the respondent became his successor, by virtue of’ such election in January, 1886. The relator, claiming that the election held in January, 1886, was unauthorized, sues out a writ of quo warranto.
William J. Hahn and W. G. Williston, for relator.
J. C. McClure, for respondent.

Opinion:
Berry, J.
Laws 1875, c. 139, was the general law for the organization of villages when Sp. Laws 1878, c. 19, was enacted. Section 1 of this chapter (19) enacts that certain described territory "be, and the same is hereby, incorporated as the village of Pine Island, pursuant to chapter 139 of the General Laws of 1875, except as hereinafter provided." The exceptions thus made are of certain provisions as to the sale of intoxicating liquors, and the publication and record of ordinances. Save as to these matters the entire subject of the frame of government, of the mode of organization, of officers, and of their powers and duties, and of the powers, duties, and liabilities of the village corporation, is left to the general law of 1876; and section 7 appoints certain persons "to carry out the provisions of section 9 (relating to the mode of organization) of the aforesaid chapter 139." These references make it apparent that the village of Pine Island was to be organized (as it in fact was) under the general law of 1875. The act of 1878 provided for no organization except under and pursuant to that law.
The word "incorporated" in section 1 of the act of 1878 is evidently used as the equivalent of the phrase "set apart by act of the legislature for incorporation," found in section 1 of the act of 1875, and not with the design of creating a special corporation independent of that general law.
It follows that the village of Pine Island falls within the terms of section 2 of chapter 145, Laws 1885, which provide that "every village which has been or shall be organized or incorporated under the general statutes shall be hereafter governed according to the provisions of this chapter, (145,) to the end that uniformity of village government, and equal privileges to all may be secured;" and hence, under section 16 of that chapter, the time for the annual meeting for the election of officers is the second Tuesday of March, in lieu of the first Tuesday of January, as provided in the act of 1875.
Let judgment be entered ousting the respondent from the office of president of said village, and establishing the right of the relator to the same.