Allen v. Louisiana
| Decision Date | 01 October 1880 |
| Citation | 26 L.Ed. 318,103 U.S. 80 |
| Parties | ALLEN v. LOUISIANA |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
ERROR to the Circuit Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Missouri.
The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.
Mr. S. T. Glover and Mr. John R. Shepley for the plaintiff in error.
Mr. James O. Broadhead, contra.
Art. 10, sect. 14, of the Constitution of Missouri, adopted in 1865, is as follows:——
'The General Assembly shall not authorize any county, city, or town to become a stockholder in, or to loan its credit to, any company, association, or corporation, unless two-third of the qualified voters of such county, city, or town, at a regular or special election to be held therein, shall assent thereto.'
The charter of the city of Louisiana, approved March 12, 1870, contained the following sections as sects. 8 and 9 of art. 3, and sect. 14 of art. 7:——
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' .
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Under the authority of these provisions of the charter the city council, on the 10th of August, 1871, passed an ordinance, sect. 1 of which is as follows:——
'There shall be an election held at the several places in each ward for the holding general election in the city of Louisiana on the fifth day of September, 1871, on the proposition to take stock in the Clarksville and Western Railroad Company, or in the Quincy, Alton, and St. Louis Railroad Company: Provided, the said Quincy, Alton, and St. Louis Railroad Company shall cross the Mississippi River and make its southern terminus within the corporate limits of the said city of Louisiana, at such place as may be agreed upon by the officers of said Quincy, Alton, and St. Louis company and the city council of Louisiana, to an amount not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000); said election to be conducted by the same judges and at the same places as the general election held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in March, 1871, and the returns to be made and certified to the city council in the same manner as that of any general election.'
Other sections provided for the payment of the subscription in bonds, and for the form of the ballots. Sect. 4 peovided that if on counting the votes if appeared that two-thirds of the legal votes cast at the election were in favor of the proposition a subscription might be made, and sect. 5 made provision for a registration of the voters prior to the day of the election.
The Quincy, Alton, and St. Louis Railroad Company was an Illinois corporation, one terminus of whose road was on the bank of the Mississippi River, in the State of Illinois, opposite the city of Louisiana. Before the day of election a full registration of the voters of the city was made, from which it appeared peared that there were three hundred and fifty-six qualified voters then in the city. On the day appointed an election was held, at which there were three hundred and thirty-six votes cast in favor of the subscription and ten against it. Afterwards the stock was subscribed to the Quincy, Alton, and St. Louis company, and the company having complied with the terms and conditions of the subscription, the bonds were delivered by the city, amounting in the aggregate to $50,000, in the following form:——
'Know all men by these presents, That the city of Louisiana, in the State of Missouri, is indebted to _____, or bearer, in the sum of one thousand dollars, lawful money of the United States of America, which the said city of Louisiana promises to pay on the second day of October, 1891, at the treasurer's office in the city of Louisiana, Mo., with interest thereon at the rate of eight per cent per annum, payable annually on the first day of January in each year, upon presentation and surrender of the annexed coupons, as they severally become due and payable. This bond is issued by the city of Louisiana, under authority of the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, entitled 'An Act to amend and reduce into one the several acts incorporating the city of Louisiana,' approved March 25, 1870; also an ordinance of the city council of the city of Louisiana, No. 628, passed Sept. 26, 1870.
'In witness whereof, the city of Louisiana has caused its seal to be hereto affixed, and the same to be signed by the mayor, and countersigned by the clerk of the city council, at the city of Louisiana, Mo., the fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and...
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