Smith v. Bourbon County
| Citation | 32 L.Ed. 73,8 S.Ct. 1043,127 U.S. 105 |
| Parties | SMITH v. BOURBON COUNTY |
| Decision Date | 23 April 1888 |
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
[Statement of Case from pages 105-109 intentionally omitted] A. L. Williams and H. E. Long, for appellant.
E. M. Hulett, for appellee.
Mr. Justice MATTHEWS, after stating the facts as above, delivered the opinion of the court.
The prayer of the bill is for a decree, in the first place, against the Fort Scott, Humboldt & Western Railroad Company, which is a defendant, ordering it to assign to the complainant its claim against the county of Bourbon; and, in the second place, for a decree against Bourbon county and its board of county commissioners, ordering the latter to sign and issue in due form the bonds of said county in the sum of $150,000, payable in 30 years from the date thereof, with semi-annual interest coupons attached, in accordance with the terms of the subscription to the capital stock of the railroad company, and deliver the same to the complainant to be cred- ited at their face value upon his judgment against the railroad company, and for general relief. The relief prayed for does not include a decree against the county of Bourbon for the payment of money, and there is no foundation for such a prayer in the allegations of the bill. It does not charge that the county is indebted in any sum of money presently payable by virtue of its subscription to the capital stock of the railroad company. The legal obligation arising on that subscription is purely statutory, if the subscription itself be valid and binding; and the statutory obligation is satisfied by the issue and delivery to the railroad company of the bonds of the county in payment of the subscription. On the supposition that the subscription creates a legal obligation for its payment in bonds, the refusal of the commissioners of the county to issue and deliver the bonds, however wrongful, is not a breach of the obligation of the county which would give rise to an action against it for the recovery of damages. The breach of obligation in such a case would consist simply in the refusal on the part of the commissioners of the county to perform a ministerial duty, the only remedy for which would be a proceeding at law in the name of the railroad company by a writ of mandamus. That writ, if granted in a direct proceeding therefor by a proper judgment, would be directed against the officers of the county, and would command the performance of the specific duty which the had refused to perform, and would give to the company the precise and specific relief to which to would be entitled. The complainant in the present case has and can have no other or greater rights against the county of Bourbon, or its officers, than are vested in the railroad company. The object of the bill is to subject to the satisfaction of the complainant's judgment against the railroad company the rights of the latter against the county of Bourbon and its officers. The proceeding for that purpose cannot change these rights, nor convert a right to require the delivery of the bonds into a claim for damages for their non-delivery. It is clear that such relief as is alone suitable and adequate to the case cannot be granted in equity. If the proceeding were in the name and on behalf of the railroad company itself, it would, as we have already stated, be at law in mandamus. That the complainant claims to be equitably entitled to be substituted for the railroad company in its rights against Bourbon county may entitle him to a decree against the railroad company for an assignment of its claim, so as to confer upon the complainant the right to use the name of the railroad company in a proceeding against the county and its commissioners; but it does not...
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...view once was that a mandatory injunction could not be used to achieve the same results as mandamus, e. g., Smith v. Bourbon County, 127 U.S. 105, 8 S.Ct. 1043, 32 L.Ed. 73 (1888), but later decisions tend to suggest otherwise, Virginian Ry. v. System Federation, 300 U.S. 515, 551, 57 S.Ct.......
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