Sylvester v. Webb
| Decision Date | 03 June 1901 |
| Parties | SYLVESTER et al. v. WEBB et al. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
Robert O. Harris, for plaintiff Thos. F. Bailey.
Harvey H. Pratt, for defendants Webb and others.
It appears from the report that the building of a new school house was determined upon in the town of Scituate, and at a special town meeting held on June 2, 1900, a building committee was raised, consisting of the three selectmen, the three members of the school committee, and three other persons,--nine in all. A Mrs. Jenkins, of Boston, had proposed to make a gift to the town of the lot on which the school house was to be built, and she afterwards added a gift of the sum of $5,000 towards the cost of the building. The building committee advertised for proposals, which were opened on October 15, 1900. One of the selectmen, and so a member of the building committee, the defendant Thomas F Bailey, was also a carpenter and builder, pursuing that business under the firm name of Bailey & Son, in partnership with George Bailey, his son. There were five bids, the lowest of which was by the plaintiff Sylvester, and the next higher was by Bailey & Son; the price offered by Sylvester being the lower by the sum of $123. By votes of five to four, Thomas F Bailey being one of the five, the building committee voted not to accept the proposal of the lowest bidder, and to award the contract to Bailey & Son, and authorized their chairman to sign the agreement for the committee. A contract was so signed on the next day by the defendant Webb, chairman, in behalf of the committee, and by Thomas F. Bailey for Bailey & Son. The offer of Mrs. Jenkins to give the $5,000 seems to have been made in an interview between her and the chairman Webb, in which he submitted the bids to her. Webb testified that he voted to give the contract to Bailey & Son because he understood Mrs. Jenkins to wish them to have the contract. The committee awarded the contract on October 29, 1900. At the special town meeting of June 2d the town had passed a vote authorizing its treasurer to borrow a sum not to exceed $14,000 for the erection of the school house. Bailey & Son's bid was $16,466, and did not include the apparatus for heat and ventilation, the bids for which were separate, and were for over $1,600. The bill in this cause was sworn to on November 5, 1900. A special town meeting was held on December 4, 1900, at which the town voted to accept the deed of Mrs. Jenkins, which had been made on November 1st, and her agreement of the same date of make the gift of $5,000, and also voted to authorize the building committee to make a contract or contracts, not to exceed $20,000, for the erection and completion of the building, and for furnishing the same, and grading the grounds, and also to authorize the treasurer to borrow the sum of $15,000 for the purpose. Hearings of this bill were going on in court, and another special town meeting was held on December 27, 1900, at which the town again considered matters connected with the contract and the action of the building committee. At this meeting the town voted not to purchase from Bailey & Son the material for which they had contracted in order to carry out their contract with the committee. An article to see whether the town would compromise and settle Bailey & Son's claim was passed over. The committee were instructed to award the contract for completing the school house to the plaintiff Sylvester, provided he should make a satisfactory settlement with Bailey & Son of their claim. An article, to see if the town would authorize the committee to make a contract or contracts not to exceed $21,000 for the erection of the school house, was passed over. It was voted to award the contract for heating and ventilating to the lowest responsible bidder. An article, to see if the town would instruct the committee to complete the building with workmen employed by the day or give the committee other instructions, was passed over, and the treasurer was authorized to borrow a sum not exceeding $21,000, inclusive of any sum before authorized, for the purpose of erecting and completing the building and furnishing the same, and grading the grounds. Sylvester was unable to make a settlement with Bailey & Son, and the hearings of the case went on after this last special town meeting, with the result that the justice who heard the case found that the town had not exceeded the limit of indebtedness; that it had duly accepted the gift of Mrs. Jenkins, had ratified the action of the committee, and appropriated sufficient money to cover the contract made by the committee; and that the action of the committee and of Thomas F. Bailey in the making of the contract was not corrupt, and that there was no intention on the part of any of the parties to act otherwise than for the best interest of the town. The only question finally raised in the lower court by the plaintiffs was that the contract made by the...
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