Martin v. City of Raleigh
| Decision Date | 26 June 1935 |
| Docket Number | 464. |
| Citation | 180 S.E. 786,208 N.C. 369 |
| Parties | MARTIN v. CITY OF RALEIGH et al. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Appeal from Superior Court, Wake County; Williams, Judge.
Action by W. Reid Martin, a citizen and taxpayer of the city of Raleigh, in behalf of himself and all other citizens and taxpayers of the city of Raleigh, against the City of Raleigh and others. From an adverse judgment, plaintiff appeals.
Affirmed.
This is an action to enjoin the execution by the defendant board of commissioners of the city of Raleigh, in behalf of the defendant, the city of Raleigh, of a contract with the trustees of Rex Hospital, pursuant to resolutions duly adopted by the said board of commissioners and the said trustees, on the ground that the said board of commissioners has no lawful power to bind the defendant, the city of Raleigh, by the execution in its name of said contract, and that its execution by the said board of commissioners will result in irreparable damages to the plaintiff and all other citizens and taxpayers of the city of Raleigh.
The contract which the defendant board of commissioners proposes to execute on behalf of the defendant, the city of Raleigh is in writing and is in words and figures as follows:
"North Carolina, Wake County.
This contract made this ------ day 1935, by and between the City of Raleigh, a municipal corporation of North Carolina organized under the laws of said State, party of the first part, and the Trustees of Rex Hospital, a corporation duly chartered under the laws of the State of North Carolina party of the second part;
Witnesseth:-That whereas the Trustees of Rex Hospital, a corporation, party of the second part, has offered to provide adequate hospital care for the indigent sick and afflicted poor of the City of Raleigh for a period of thirty years, beginning on 1 July, 1935, and continuing for thirty years thereafter, for a consideration of Ten Thousand Dollars annually to be paid by the City of Raleigh, party of the first part, on the first day of July, 1935, and on the first day of July of each succeeding year thereafter for a period of thirty years from and after 1 July, 1935; and whereas, the care and maintenance of the indigent sick and afflicted poor of the City of Raleigh is a necessary expense of the said City; and whereas the City of Raleigh is obligated by the Constitution of North Carolina and the laws of said State to provide for the care and maintenance of its indigent sick and afflicted poor; and whereas the City of Raleigh is expressly authorized and empowered to enter into this contract by an Act of the General Assembly of North Carolina 1935, it being House Bill, No. 288, and,
Whereas, the Trustees of Rex Hospital, a corporation, proposes to build and construct a new, modern and up-to-date hospital with proper facilities for the adequate care and maintenance of the indigent sick and afflicted poor of the City of Raleigh, through a loan to be obtained from the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works of the United States;
Now, therefore, it is mutually agreed between the parties hereto, as follows:
1. That the Trustees of Rex Hospital, a corporation, will construct, equip and maintain a modern, up-to-date hospital with proper and necessary facilities for the care and maintenance of the indigent sick and afflicted poor of the City of Raleigh, and hereby agree to care for and provide proper hospital facilities in said hospital for the indigent sick and afflicted poor of the City of Raleigh for a period of thirty years, beginning on 1 July 1935, and continuing for a period of thirty years thereafter, in consideration of the payment by the City of Raleigh to the Trustees of Rex Hospital of the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars annually for said services, said sum to be paid on 1 July, 1935, and on the first day of July of each succeeding year thereafter for said thirty year period.
2. And the said City of Raleigh, party of the first part, in consideration of said services to be rendered by the Trustees of Rex Hospital, party of the second part, hereby agrees and binds itself to pay to the Trustees of Rex Hospital the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars annually, for a period of thirty years, the first payment of Ten Thousand Dollars to be made on 1 July 1935, and the remaining twenty-nine annual payments each in the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars to be paid on the first day of July of each succeeding year thereafter for said period of thirty years.
In Testimony whereof, the City of Raleigh, party of the first part, has caused these presents to be signed in its name by its Mayor, and to be attested by its City Clerk, and its corporate seal to be hereto affixed, all by authority of a resolution of its Board of Commissioners, this day duly passed and carried, a copy of which is attached to this contract, marked Exhibit 'A,' and made a part hereof;
And the Trustees of Rex Hospital, a corporation, party of the second part, has caused these presents to be signed in its corporate name by the Chairman of its Board of Trustees, and its corporate seal to be hereto affixed and attested by the Secretary of said Board of Trustees, all by order of a resolution of its Board of Trustees this day duly passed and carried, a copy of which is attached to this contract, marked Exhibit 'B,' the day and year first above written.
By ----------, Mayor.
By ----------, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Rex Hospital.
Attest:
---------- Clerk of the City of Raleigh.
Attest:
----------, Secretary to the Board of Trustees of Rex Hospital."
The resolution referred to in the foregoing contract as Exhibit A was passed and adopted by the board of commissioners of the city of Raleigh, the governing body of said city, pursuant to the provisions of an act of the General Assembly of North Carolina (Pub. Laws 1935, c. 64), and expressly provides: "That there shall be levied annually at the time other taxes are levied, a special tax upon all the taxable property within said City of sufficient rate and amount to provide for the payments called for under said contract, as the same mature." The said act was passed by the General Assembly of North Carolina at its regular session in 1935, in accordance with the requirements of section 14 of article 2 of the Constitution of North Carolina, and is as follows:
"H.B.288 An Act to Amend Section Two Thousand Seven Hundred and ninety-five of the Consolidated Statutes of North Carolina, relating to Ordinances for the Public Health of the State.
The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:
Section 1. That section two thousand seven hundred and ninety-five of the Consolidated Statutes of North Carolina be and the same is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following:
Sec. 2. This act shall not apply to the city of High Point in Guilford County; to the city of Elizabeth City in Pasquotank County; nor to the counties of Beaufort, Camden and Lee or any city or town therein; nor to any city or town in the counties of Ashe, Avery, Columbus, Davidson, Durham, Gates, Jackson, Martin and Rockingham; nor to the counties of Ashe, Alexander, Brunswick, Clay, Cumberland, Forsyth, Haywood, Henderson, Jones, Macon, Montgomery, Moore, Pasquotank, Robeson, Sampson, Transylvania, Wilkes, Catawba, Lincoln, Surry, Washington, Rowan, Warren, Vance, Johnston, Edgecombe, Halifax, Cumberland, Davie, Forsyth, Gaston, Harnett, Iredell, Pitt, Stanly, Union and Yadkin.
Sec. 3. That before this act shall apply to any city or town in Catawba County it must be submitted to a vote of the people of said Catawba County.
Sec. 4....
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