(Official.)
Report from supreme judicial court, Washington county.
Bill by Peter Doyle and others against Patrick Whalen and others. Heard on report. Decree for plaintiffs.
Bill in equity, heard on bill, answers, and proof, praying "that the defendants, a finance committee, and the inhabitants of Eastport, be required to render an account of all sums received by them and contributed to the sufferers by the Eastport fire in 1886, and of all sums paid out by them to said sufferers, and a statement of What they have done with the balance remaining in their control, and that the 'Relief Building,' so called, built with funds contributed for the sufferers by the fire, be sold, and the proceeds of said sale be added to the funds in the hands of the committee, and not distributed among the sufferers by said fire, and that all the funds now in hand, with such sums as have been paid to the
town of Eastport to support paupers, and with such further sum as may result from the sale of the building aforesaid, be placed in the hands of a receiver, to be by him distributed among the sufferers by said Eastport fire, your orators, as well as all others who shall show themselves entitled thereto and become parties to this suit, as the court, by its master in chancery, may direct."
The joint and several answers of Patrick Whalen, Noel B. Nutt, Alden Bradford, and the inhabitants of the town of Eastport: "The said defendants, answering, say: "First. They admit that on the 14th day of October, A. D. 1886, a large amount of property in said town of Eastport was destroyed by fire; but they deny that the plaintiffs, or any of them, suffered large loss by reason of said fire; and, if any of the plaintiffs suffered any loss whatever by reason thereof, these defendants do not admit the same, but leave such plaintiffs to make proof of the same as they shall be advised, the facts relating thereto being much more fully within the knowledge of such plaintiffs than of these defendants. And these defendants, further answering, especially deny that said plaintiffs, or either of them, were, at the date of the filing of said bill, or at any time prior thereto, in any condition of suffering or distress caused by said fire.
"Second. These defendants, further answering, say they admit on the 15th day of October, 1886, and on divers dates thereafter, contributions in clothing, money, and other supplies, aggregating a large sum, were sent to said Eastport; but they say that said contributions were sent for the purpose of relieving actual suffering and distress then existing in said Eastport, as the result of said conflagration; and they deny that such contributions were ever intended by their donors to be used for the purpose of making good, to persons who were not in suffering or distress, losses of property sustained by them by reason of that fire.
"Third. And these defendants, further answering, say that a relief committee was chosen, as stated in said bill, consisting of many of the prominent and active citizens of said town of Eastport, and containing many more members than are stated in said bill, and that an executive committee and a finance committee were also chosen, and that said finance committee consisted of Noel B. Nutt, Patrick Whalen, and Alden Bradford, as stated in the bill; that all said contributions were received by said relief committee, and that during the fall of 1886, succeeding said conflagration, and the following winter and spring, a large part of said contributions were distributed by said committees among those who were entitled to receive the same.
"Fourth. And these defendants, further answering, say that during said period from the date of said conflagration until the close of the month of March, 1887, the members of said committee gave their time and effort regularly, without compensation, to the work of distributing the funds and supplies which had been so received among those who were, in any degree, in distress or suffering caused by said fire; that said committees held regular meetings, considered every case as it was presented, obtained all information in regard to the same that could be reasonably procured, and at the close of said month of March, by the distribution of said funds and supplies, had relieved every instance of distress then existing in Eastport, according to their best knowledge and belief, which had resulted from said conflagration. There then remained of said relief fund, undistributed, the sum of twenty thousand dollars, which said executive committee invested in the town of Eastport four per cent. bonds, where it still remains; said bonds being now in the possession of Edward E. Shead, treasurer of said relief committee. Since the said 31st day of March, 1887, the income of said fund of twenty thousand dollars so invested in the bonds of the town of Eastport has been used, under the authority of said relief committee and said town of Eastport, in the relief of actual destitution and distress existing in said town of Eastport, and the principal thereof has remained untouched. In many instances of the destitution and distress so relieved, losses by said fire had been one of the causes of the necessity for such relief.
"Fifth. And these defendants, further answering, say that as many people in Eastport were left without homes, by reason of the fire, it was determined by said committee, at an early date after the fire, to erect a relief building for their accommodation; that by reason of unexpected delays in procuring the lumber, owing to the early freezing of the river, the actual erection of the building was delayed until late in the season, but that said building was finally erected, at an expense of about five thousand dollars, upon land belonging to the United States government, in said Eastport; that said building was used for the benefit of sufferers by the fire so long as any actual destitution or distress resulting therefrom existed, but since that time has been used to furnish apartments and tenements, free from rent, to respectable and worthy poor persons in said town of Eastport, many of whom had met with losses by reason of said fire, and a portion of said building, during a part of the time, has been used as a place for keeping a primary school. And these defendants say that said building has been permitted by the United States government to remain upon its lands without any payment of land rent whatever, and, in its present position, serves the useful and benevolent purposes hereinbefore stated, without any corresponding expenditure, and, at the same time, that such building, for purposes of sale or removal from the lot on which it stands, would be without any value whatever.
"Sixth. And so these defendants say that the gratuities aforesaid, given by benevolent
persons, under the circumstances already stated, to the town of Eastport as aforesaid, for the relief of destitution, distress, and suffering caused by the fire of October 14, 1886, in that town, have been used and are being used under the authority of inhabitants of said Eastport, so far as practicable, directly for the purposes for which they were given, and, in so far as they were not required and could not be used specifically for the primary purpose for which they were intended, they have been used and are being used by said inhabitants, and under their authority, for purposes which approximate as closely and are as nearly akin to the purposes for which they were directly given as it is reasonable or practicable to do,—not in any way to relieve the town of Eastport from its legal obligation to support its poor, but as an additional fund to meet and provide for deserving instances of actual suffering, distress, and destitution, as nearly related as possible to said fire, as the cause thereof, existing in that town; and these defendants deny that the plaintiffs, or either of them, are losers or sufferers by the conflagration aforesaid, in any such sense as to entitle them, or either of them, to make any claim whatever upon said fund.
"Seventh. And these respondents, further answering, deny that any portion of the funds and supplies contributed as aforesaid have ever been or are being used for any purposes whatever foreign to those for which they were given, and further deny all, and all manner of, illegal or improper acts wherewith they are in any way by the said bill charged, and invite the strictest investigation of all their acts and doings relating thereto, and are ready to maintain and prove their allegations herein as the court shall direct, and pray to be hence dismissed with their reasonable costs and charges in this behalf sustained."
Before filing a replication, the defendants amended their answer by adding a demurrer to the sixth paragraph.
A. MacNichol and G. A. Curran, for plaintiffs.
J. W. Symonds, D. W. Snow, and C. S. Cook, for defendants.
