Diamond Match Co. v. Powers
| Decision Date | 22 June 1883 |
| Citation | 16 N.W. 314,51 Mich. 145 |
| Court | Michigan Supreme Court |
| Parties | DIAMOND MATCH CO. v. POWERS. |
When a case presents a single occasion and calls for an act which is presently determined, it is entirely practicable to direct the act by mandamus; but where a case contemplates something continuous yet variable in its conditions and aptitudes, the remedy by that process seems an unfit one.
It is the office of a mandamus to direct the will, and obedience is to be enforced by process for contempt. It is, therefore necessary to point out the very thing to be done; and a command to act according to circumstances would be futile.
A writ of mandamus will not be granted at the instance of a private foreign corporation that does not show its charter or give any evidence of its power or artificial capacities, and that relies on state comity, in the exercise of its business activities in this state, to compel the county register of deeds to allow such corporation to have access to all the records of the office for the purpose of making complete abstracts of title to all of the land in said county, on the ground that it owns large tracts of land in said county, and desires to make a complete system of abstracts of title to prevent errors in the purchase and management of its property.
Mandamus.
E.J Mapes, for relator.
M.V. Montgomery and Ira Scott, for respondent.
This is an application for the writ of mandamus, to compel the respondent, who is holder of the county office of register of deeds, to permit the relator, by its agent, W. Wallace Warner, and solely for its own private purpose, to have access, so long and so far as it is found necessary, to the place of records of said office, and to the books, records files, and papers thereof, to ascertain the state and character of the titles of all the real property in the county, and to construct a complete abstract of such titles. As serving to show that what is insisted on by relator is not in point of law impertinent but reasonable, it is stated that relator has in a few years become purchaser of about 30,000 acres of pine land in said county of Ontonagon; has erected extensive saw-mills, and invested nearly, if not quite, $200,000, and is constantly purchasing more land in said county; that it is cutting large quantities of pine, and in so doing is incurring much risk of damage on account of defective titles; that in view of the circumstances the course considered expedient to protect its rights and interests is to provide a system of abstracts of its own, covering the whole county, and to which it can always have ready recourse.
It appears by the record that respondent has not excluded relator from opportunity to examine and make abstracts so far as...
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...The cases of State ex rel. v. Associated Press, 159 Mo. 410, 60 S. W. 91, 51 L. R. A. 151, 81 Am. St. Rep. 368,Diamond Match Co. v. Powers, 51 Mich. 145, 16 N. W. 314, State ex rel. v. Einstein, 46 N. J. Law, 479, and People ex rel. v. Dulaney, 96 Ill. 503, cited by the appellant, are for t......
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... ... failure thereof he will be in contempt of court ... Diamond ... Match Co. v. Powers, 51 Mich. 145; People v ... Busse, 238 Ill. 593, 28 L. R. A. 246; ... ...
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