State ex rel. Higgins v. Mayor
| Decision Date | 25 April 1889 |
| Citation | 74 Wis. 267,42 N.W. 110 |
| Parties | STATE EX REL. HIGGINS v. MAYOR, ETC., OF THE CITY OF BELOIT. |
| Court | Wisconsin Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from circuit court, Rock county; JOHN R. BENNETT, Judge.B. M. Malone, for appellants.
Cornelius Buckley, for respondent.
The material facts in this case are undisputed. It appears that the respondent had a license to sell spirituous and malt liquors in the city of Beloit, subject to the conditions and restrictions contained in the license. Complaint in writing was made to the mayor and common council, charging that he had violated his license by unlawfully selling spirituous, malt, and intoxicating liquors to certain named minors, without the written order of his or their parents. A summons was issued, requiring the respondent to appear before the common council at a place and time specified, and show cause why his license should not be revoked. The respondent appeared in person and by attorney, and denied the charge in the complaint. Thereupon witnesses were produced both in support of the complaint and on the part of the defense. After the close of the evidence and argument of counsel for the respective parties, the matter was submitted to the common council. The mayor then called for the action of the common council on the case, when Alderman Wheeler moved that, in view of the evidence presented, the license of the respondent “be, and the same is hereby, revoked.” This motion was seconded, and was adopted by the unanimous vote of the common council, the ayes and noes being called. The respondent was notified of this action of the council revoking his license, and sued out from the circuit court a writ of certiorari to review the proceedings of the common council. On the hearing the circuit court adjudged that the proceedings of the mayor and common council in the matter of revoking the license of the respondent were irregular, and set them aside. The counsel for the city stated on the argument that the learned circuit court held that there should have been a formal finding by the common council that the complaint was true, in order to authorize the revocation of the license. We cannot concur in this view of the law. We have already stated the action of the common council or the conclusion which that body reached upon the case. They adopted a resolution that, in view of the evidence, the license had been violated, and revoked it. This, we think, was all the finding that was necessary, under the statute. The statute does not require that there should be any technical or formal finding made by the body granting and revoking the license. It declares, in substance, that if, upon the hearing of the matter, the board shall find the complaint to be true, the license shall be revoked. Rev. St. § 1559. The phrase, “find the complaint to be true,” means, in this connection, that the board is satisfied, and determines from the evidence adduced that the allegations of the complaint have been proven or established. The mayor and common council did, in effect, “find” or determine by the resolution which was adopted that the respondent had violated his license by selling spirituous or malt liqors to minors without the written order of their parents. They determined that issue of fact against the respondent,...
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...circumstances, that such use of the verb "find" does not require a formal finding in the record. See, e.g., State v. City of Beloit, 74 Wis. 267, 42 N.W. 110 (1889); Clairol, Inc. v. Andrea Dumon, Inc., 14 Ill.App.3d 641, 303 N.E.2d 177, 182 46 In an apparent attempt to create a Constitutio......
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People v. Murphy
...(Fla.1963); School Dist. No. 7 of Wallowa County v. Weissenfluh, 236 Or. 165, 387 P.2d 567 (1963); State ex rel. Higgins v. Mayor, Etc. of City of Beloit, 74 Wist. 267, 42 N.W. 110 (1889); cf. also State v. Hightower, 226 N.C. 62, 36 S.E.2d 649 As for authority from this state, there are tw......
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State ex rel. Buchanan v. Mayor
...the common council were bound to find the complaint to be true or untrue, according to the evidence introduced. State v. Mayor, etc., of City of Beloit, 74 Wis. 267, 42 N. W. 110. They could not rightfully, and against the undisputed evidence and the admitted facts, find the complaint to be......
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State ex rel. Conlin v. Mayor
...seems to bind the party to know the facts and obey the law at his peril.” To the same effect is State ex rel. v. Mayor and Common Council of the City of Beloit, 74 Wis. 267, 42 N. W. 110. The statutes regulating the sale of intoxicating liquors show an intent by the Legislature to prevent t......