Bristol v. Johnson
| Citation | 34 Mich. 123 |
| Court | Michigan Supreme Court |
| Decision Date | 06 June 1876 |
| Parties | William P. Bristol and others v. Joseph Johnson and another |
Heard April 7, 1876
Appeal in Chancery from Barry Circuit.
This bill was filed to restrain the collection of a tax in the sum of six hundred dollars, assessed as a township tax for the year 1873, in the township of Johnstown, for the use and benefit of one Henry Bera, a former treasurer of said township, to reimburse him for moneys he had paid over to the township to make good an amount of township moneys which he had lost by robbery while he was such treasurer. The tax was levied by virtue of an act of the legislature, being Act No 387 of the Session Laws of 1873. On the hearing below, the bill was dismissed, and complainants appealed.
Decree reversed and relief given to the complainants, with their costs in both courts.
James A. Sweezey, for complainants.
Charles G. Hoolbrook, for defendant Bera.
Upon full consideration the court fail to see any distinction in principle between this case and others decided formerly. After the reception by Mr. Bera as township treasurer, of money for the public, it may be assumed to have been taken from him by robbery, as he claims, and there would seem to be no doubt about its having been so taken from him. After the loss, he obtained an equal amount by pledging his private estate and applied it to make good the deficiency. The public was thus made whole, and he was not in debt to it, and neither was the public, by this spontaneous restoration of the amount taken, caused to be in debt to him. There was unquestionably room for a strong moral appeal to the tax-payers of the township to divide the loss among the whole, instead of leaving it to fall wholly upon him; and the legislature saw fit to enact that the amount should be raised from the tax-payers and refunded to him, and in obedience thereto the sum was spread upon the roll and it became a lien upon the taxable real estate in the township, unless the enactment was invalid. The defendant Johnson, as treasurer proceeded to make collection, and some of the tax-payers made payment without bringing into question the legality of the tax; but the complainants resisted and filed this bill, and after answer and proofs, the court below dismissed the complaint.
Whatever may be said in favor of the moral fitness of the purpose to relieve Mr. Bera, there can be no doubt of compla...
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McSurely v. McGrew
...the power being plenary and virtually unlimited in character. To the contrary are, Sanborn v. Com'rs, 9 Minn. 273 (Gil. 258), Bristol v. Johnson, 34 Mich. 123, People Supervisor, 16 Mich. 254; Spaulding v. Andover, 54 N.H. 38; Johnson v. Board, 140 Ind. 152 (39 N.E. 311), and McClelland v. ......
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Schaffner v. Young
... ... the enforcement and collection of the taxes. High on ... Injunctions, § 490; Bristol v. Johnson, 34 ... Mich. 123; Gage v. Graham, 57 Ill. 144; Knowlton ... v. Supervisors, 9 Wis. 410. If there is a total want of ... authority ... ...
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Burch v. Mackie
...v. Brown, 18 Mich. 196; Kinyon v. Duchene, 21 Mich. 498; Merrill v. Humphrey, 24 Mich. 170; Clement v. Everest, 29 Mich. 19; Bristol v. Johnson, 34 Mich. 123; Marquette, etc., R. R. Co. v. City of Marquette, 35 Mich. 504; Flint, etc., Ry. Co. v. Auditor General, 41 Mich. 635, 2 N.W. 835; Fo......
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McSurely v. McGrew
...the power being plenary and virtually unlimited in character. To the contrary are, Sanborn v. Com'rs, 9 Minn. 273 (Gil. 258), Bristol v. Johnson, 34 Mich. 123,People v. Supervisors, 16 Mich. 254,Spaulding v. Andover, 54 N. H. 38,Johnson v. Board, 140 Ind. 152, 39 N. E. 311, and McClelland v......