State ex rel. Wilcox v. Draper

• Citation: 50 Mo. 24
• Parties: THE STATE OF MISSOURI ex rel. HORACE WILCOX, Relator, v. DANIEL M. DRAPER, STATE AUDITOR, Respondent.
• Decision Date: 31 March 1872
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Missouri

50 Mo. 24

THE STATE OF MISSOURI ex rel. HORACE WILCOX, Relator,

v.DANIEL M. DRAPER, STATE AUDITOR, Respondent.

Supreme Court of Missouri.

March Term, 1872.

Petition for Mandamus.

W. H. Blodgett, for relator.

WAGNER, Judge, delivered the opinion of the court.

The relator states that he was duly elected and qualified as public printer for the State, and that while exercising and performing the functions of that office, the house of representatives ordered him to print and bind in book form 7,000 copies of the fifth annual report of the superintendent of public schools, and that in pursuance of that order he printed, bound and delivered the same in all respects as was by law and the said order required; that his accounts for the printing and binding thereof were, in pursuance of law, carefully and strictly examined by the committee on printing, and also by the committee on accounts of the house of representatives, and found to be correct and just; and that the presiding officer of the house thereupon certified to the respondent, as State auditor, that the sum of $7,942.90 was justly due to the relator from the State on account of the work aforesaid. It is then alleged that it was the duty of the respondent to draw his warrant upon the treasurer for that amount in favor of the relator, or, in the event that there was no appropriation on which to draw the same, then it was his duty to audit the account and give to the relator a certificate of indebtedness; and as the respondent refuses to act in the premises, an alternative writ of mandamus is asked. Accompanying the writ is an exhibit showing that the whole amount of the work comes to $17,942.90, and that the sum of $10,000 has been paid thereon, leaving the balance claimed as above stated. Upon this exhibit or account is a certificate in due form, signed by the chairman of the committee on printing and the chairman of the committee on accounts, stating that the bill is correct and the amount claimed is due. Appended thereto is the proper certificate made by the presiding officer of the house.

The respondent in his return states that the house of representatives, after having ordered the work, on the 18th day of March, 1871, passed the following resolution:

“ Resolved, That the committee on printing is hereby instructed not to audit the account of Horace Wilcox, State printer, for the publication of the fifth annual report of the superintendent of public schools of the State of Missouri to the twenty-sixth general assembly, until the first Monday in December, 1871, at which time, or as soon thereafter as said committee can conveniently meet, the said committee is hereby authorized and instructed to meet in Jefferson City, with the power to send for persons and papers, and to investigate everything pertaining to said work, and report thereon at the adjourned session, and that until such report has been made, the said committee shall not allow a certificate of more than $10,000 on said account in favor of the public printer.”

The return further sets forth that the committee provided for in the foregoing resolution did meet and...