Minot v. City of Boston
| Decision Date | 03 July 1886 |
| Citation | 142 Mass. 274,7 N.E. 920 |
| Parties | MINOT and others v. CITY OF BOSTON. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
J.L. Stackpole, for petitioners.
A.J Bailey, for respondent.
By St.1846, c. 167, § 9, the city council of the city of Boston was authorized to issue, "from time to time, notes scrip, or certificates of debt, to be denominated on the face thereof 'Boston Water Scrip,' to an amount not exceeding in the whole the sum of three millions of dollars bearing interest;" and, by section 10, to issue, in addition to this sum of three millions of dollars, whenever and so far as may be necessary, notes, scrip, or certificates of debt, in the manner prescribed in the preceding section, "to meet all payments of interest which may accrue upon any scrip by them issued: provided, however, that no scrip shall be issued for the payment of interest as aforesaid after the expiration of two years from the completion of said aqueducts and other works, but payment of all interest that shall accrue after that time shall be made from the net income, rents, and receipts for the use of the water, if they shall be sufficient for that purpose; and, if not, the payment of the deficiency shall be otherwise provided for by the city council." By section 11, Id.: "The city council shall from time to time regulate the price or rent for the use of the water, with the view to the payment, from the net income, rents, and receipts therefor, not only of the semi-annual interest, but ultimately of the principal, also, of the Boston water scrip, so far as the same may be practicable and reasonable; and the said net surplus income, rents, and receipts, after deducting all expenses and charges of distribution, shall be set apart as a sinking fund, and shall be appropriated for and towards the payment of the principal and interest of said scrip," etc. By section 12, Id., if, at any time after two years from the completion of the works, "the surplus income and receipts for the use of the water distributed under the provisions of this act at the price established by the city council, after deducting all expenses and charges of distribution, shall, for any two successive years, be insufficient to pay the accruing interest on the said script, then the supreme judicial court, on the petition of one hundred or more of the legal voters of said city praying that the price may be raised and increased so far as may be necessary for the purpose of paying from the said surplus income and receipts the said accruing interest," "may appoint three commissioners, who" "may raise and increase the said price, if they shall judge proper, so far as may be necessary, in their judgment, for the purpose aforesaid, and no further," etc. By section 13, Id.: "If the surplus income and receipts for the use of the water distributed under the provisions of this act, after deducting all expenses and charges of distribution, shall, for any two successive years, be more than sufficient to pay the accruing interest on the Boston water scrip, hereinbefore mentioned, then the supreme judicial court," on a similar petition, "may appoint three commissioners," who "may, if they shall judge proper, reduce the price established by the city council: provided, that such reduction shall not be so great that the surplus income and receipts aforesaid will, in the judgment of the said commissioners, be thereafter insufficient for the payment of the said accruing interest." It is under this last section that this petition was brought. By subsequent statutes the city was authorized to issue additional amounts of scrip.
By St.1861, c. 105, the city of Charlestown was authorized to take the waters of Mystic pond, etc., to regulate the use of the whole, and "establish the prices or rents to be paid for the use thereof;" and by section 11 the city council was authorized to issue scrip, etc.; and by section 12 it was provided that "the city council shall from time to time regulate the price or rent for the use of the water, with a view to the payment from the net income and receipts not only of the semi-annual, but ultimately of the principal, of the debt, so contracted, so far as the same may be practicable and reasonable." The subsequent acts, giving additional power to the city of Charlestown, need not be noticed, except that St.1871, c. 159, § 2, is: "The income derived from water rates under the several acts authorizing the construction and extension of water-works in said city, after deducting cost of maintenance and interest on the water bonds, shall be applied to the reduction of the water debt, and shall not be used for any other purpose whatever;" and a similar provision is contained in St.1872, c. 85, § 2.
The cities of Boston and Charlestown were united by St.1873, c. 286, and by section 12 the Mystic water board, established in Charlestown, continued to be a separate organization from the Cochituate water board, established in Boston, "until the said city council shall determine to unite it with the Cochituate water board of Boston."
By St.1875, c. 80, the city council was authorized to establish the Boston water board, and to confer upon that board the powers granted to the city by the statutes "with reference to supplying said city with water, and the powers of the Cochituate and Mystic water boards;" and by section 1 "said board may also establish and regulate the price or rents for the use of said water, subject to the provisions of sections twelve and thirteen of chapter one hundred and sixty-seven of the Acts of the year 1846, and the words 'Boston water scrip,' in said sections, shall be construed to include the whole amount of outstanding loans representing the cost of the water-works;" and by section 2 the Cochituate water board and the Mystic water board were, upon the appointment of the Boston...
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