Ross v. Campbell

• Decision Date: 13 April 1896
• Citation: 98 Iowa 1,66 N.W. 1064
• Parties: ROSS v. CAMPBELL.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

98 Iowa 1

66 N.W. 1064

ROSS

v.CAMPBELL.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

April 13, 1896.

Appeal from district court, Hardin county; S. M. Weaver, Judge.

The plaintiff is the publisher of the Eldora Herald, and the defendant is the publisher of the Eldora Ledger, both of which are weekly newspapers, published in Hardin county. In January, 1895, the parties named and the publisher of the Eldora Enterprise, another weekly newspaper of the county, applied to the board of supervisors to have their respective papers selected as official newspapers, under the provisions of section 307 of the Code. The board selected the Ledger and Enterprise. The plaintiff, failing to secure a rehearing, appealed to the district court, which tried the cause, and found that the Herald was entitled to be selected in lieu of the Ledger, and adjudged that substitution be made. The proprietor of the Ledger appeals. Reversed.H. L. Huff and J. H. Scales, for appellant.

Albrook & Lundy, for appellee.

ROBINSON, J.

The material facts shown by the record submitted to us are substantially as follows: On the 10th day of January, 1895, the board of supervisors examined the applications for the selection of official newspapers then on file, five or more in all, and, finding that sworn statements showing the number of subscribers within the county had not been filed by any applicant, continued the hearing of the applications to the 28th day of the month. At that time, sealed applications from five newspapers were opened. The sworn statement of the appellant showed that the Ledger had 1,024 subscribers, living and receiving the paper in the county. The sworn statement of T. O. Walker, the publisher of the Enterprise, showed that it had 997 such subscribers, and the sworn statement of Ross showed that the Herald had 980. The applications were opened between 1 and 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and further action in regard to them was deferred until 7 o'clock in the evening, to permit examinations and objections to be made. At the appointed time, they were taken up by the board. It does not appear that any objection had been made to any application, nor that time was asked by any one for further investigation, nor that evidence was offered to contradict any showing made. The board counted the names on each list, and made the selection stated. In the afternoon of the next day, the plaintiff appeared before the board, with an attorney, and filed a petition, in which he asked that the matter of selecting the official papers be opened; that a time for the further consideration of the applications be fixed; and that the petitioner be permitted to show, what he alleged to be true, that the selection made was erroneous, because the lists furnished by the proprietors of the Ledger and Enterprise contained names of persons who were not bona fide annual subscribers, as required by law; and that the list of the Heraldcontained more names of such subscribers than any paper published in the county. The petition stated that the petitioner was aggrieved by the fact that he had no notice of the time when the board would open the lists filed, and that, had he been informed of the examination which was made, he would have appeared, and made the charges of fraud indicated in his petition. After considering the petition, the board declined to grant it, and the plaintiff then appealed to the district court. On the 25th day of February, he filed in that court a statement to the effect that a large number of persons named on the list of the defendant did not reside in Hardin county; that a large number of others whose names appeared in the defendant's list refused to receive the Ledger, and were...