City of Walla Walla v. Walla Walla Water Co
Decision Date | 14 November 1898 |
Docket Number | No. 28,28 |
Citation | 172 U.S. 1,43 L.Ed. 341,19 S.Ct. 77 |
Parties | CITY OF WALLA WALLA et al. v. WALLA WALLA WATER CO |
Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
This was a bill in equity filed by the water company to enjoin the city of Walla Walla and its officers from erecting water works in pursuance of an ordinance of the city to that effect, or from acquiring any property for the purpose of carrying out such enterprise, or from expending the moneys of the city, or selling its bonds or other securities, for the purpose of enabling the city to erect such water works.
The facts are substantially as follows: By an act of the territory of Washington (November 28, 1883) incorporating the city of Walla Walla, it was enacted (section 11) that the city should have 'power * * * to provide * * * a sufficient supply of water'; and by section 10, 'to grant the right to use the streets of said city for the purpose of laying gas and other pipes intended to furnish the inhabitants of said city with light or water, to any persons or association of persons for a term not exceeding twenty-five years, * * * provided always, that none of the rights or privileges herein granted shall be exclusive, nor prevent the council from granting the same rights to others.' Other sections are as follows:
worth of property, shall at a general or special election vote for the same.
'Sec. 12. Said city is hereby authorized and empowered to condemn and appropriate so much private property as shall be necessary for the construction and operation of such water works, and shall have power to purchase or condemn water works already erected, or, which may be erected, and may mortgage or hypothecate the same to secure to the persons from whom the same may be purchased the payment of the purchase price thereof.
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Pursuant to these sections of the charter, the city council on March 15, 1887, passed 'An ordinance to secure a supply of water for the city of Walla Walla,' by which it granted, under certain restrictions, to the water company, for the period of 25 years from the date of the ordinance, 'the right to lay, place and maintain all necessary water mains, pipes, connections and fitting in all the highways, streets and alleys of said city, for the purpose of furnishing the inhabitants thereof with water.'
By section 4 the city reserved the right to erect and maintain as many fire hydrants as it should see fit, and, in case of fire, that the city should have all reasonable and necessary control of the water for the extinguishment thereof.
The ordinance also contained the following further provisions:
The water company accepted this ordinance, entered into a formal contract with the city, and substantially complied with the terms and conditions of such contract, which has never been avoided by the city or by the courts, and was still in force at the time the bill was filed.
After this contract had been in force and the stipulated rentals paid for about six years, on June 20, 1893, an ordinance was passed 'to provide for the construction of a system of water works' for the purpose of supplying the city and its inhabitants with water; to authorize the purchase and condemnation of land for that purpose, and the issue of bonds to the amount of $160,000 to provide the necessary funds. Pursuant to the provisions of such ordinance an election was held, whereby the proposition submitted by the ordinance was carried by a sufficient majority of the legal voters.
The answer of the defendants insisted that the contract of the city with the plaintiff was not a valid and binding contract, so far as concerned the stipulation binding the city not to erect or maintain, or become interested in, any system of water works other than that of the plaintiff.
A demurrer to the bill having been overruled, and a preliminary injunction having been granted pursuant to the prayer of the bill, the case subsequently went to a hearing upon the pleadings and proofs, and resulted in a decree perpetuating the injunction. 60 Fed. 957. From this decree defendants appealed directly to this court, pursuant to section 5 of the circuit court of appeals act (21 C. C. A. v.), allowing such appeal in any case that involves the construction or application of the constitution of the United States.
A. H. Garland, R. C. Garland, and James Hamilton Lewis, for appellants.
John H. Mitchell, for appellee.
Mr. Justice BROWN, after stating the facts in the foregoing language, delivered the opinion of the court.
The demurrer to the plaintiff's bill rested principally upon a want of jurisdiction of the court in certain particulars hereinafter specified. There was confessedly no diversity of citizenship, and the case was treated by the court below as one arising under the constitution and laws of the United States.
1. The jurisdiction depends specifically upon the allegation in the bill that defendants insist that the contract of the city with the plaintiff was not a valid and binding contract, either in respect to the stipulation binding the city not to erect, maintain, or become interested in any system of water works other than those of the plaintiff, or in respect to the stipulation for furnishing water to the city by the plaintiff, and that, regardless of plaintiff's rights, the city refuses to be bound by the contract, and is proposing to borrow money to erect and maintain water works of its own, and become a competitor with the plaintiff for the trade and custom of the consumers of water; that the plaintiff is the owner of property in the city of the value of $125,000, and pays taxes to the city on the same; that, if the city is permitted to borrow money and apply the same to the erection of water works, the indebtedness will become a cloud and burden upon all taxable property in the city, and that such loan is inequitable, and imposes upon the taxpayers a large and unnecessary burden; that the value of plaintiff's property is largely dependent upon the fact of its having no competition, and that...
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