Union Lumbering Co. v. Board of Supervisors of Chippewa County

• Decision Date: 23 September 1879
• Citation: 2 N.W. 281,47 Wis. 245
• Parties: THE UNION LUMBERING COMPANY v. THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CHIPPEWA COUNTY and others
• Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court

2 N.W. 281

47 Wis. 245

THE UNION LUMBERING COMPANY v. THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CHIPPEWA COUNTY and others

Supreme Court of Wisconsin

September 23, 1879

APPEAL from the Circuit Court for Chippewa County.

Order affirmed.

For the appellants, there was a brief by Wm. R. Hoyt, their attorney and Arthur Gough, of counsel, and oral argument by Mr. Gough.

For the respondent, there were briefs by Wheeler & Marshall, and oral argument by Mr. Wheeler.

OPINION

ORSAMUS COLE, J.

This is an appeal from an order refusing to vacate a judgment which was entered herein on default. The action was brought for the purpose of having certain taxes, which had been assessed upon the lands described in the complaint, and certain tax certificates, declared illegal and void; and to restrain the county officers from taking any steps to collect such taxes, and from issuing tax deeds upon the certificates. On the hearing in this court, the learned counsel for the defendants entered into an extended argument for the purpose of showing that there was no substantial equity in the bill, and that the judgment should be reversed because of errors and irregularities in the proceedings in the circuit court. No irregularities, however, are specified or assigned in the motion to vacate the judgment, and, as we understand the case, the application was founded simply on the affidavits produced in support of the motion, which, it was claimed, excused the default, and upon a proposed answer. It is very obvious that we cannot on this appeal go into the merits of the case, nor consider the questions whether the court below had power to order a reference to take testimony as to the value of the lands, or whether the court committed an error in holding that the taxes assessed upon the lands described for the years 1875 and 1876 were illegal, and the certificates of sale issued for the taxes of those years void. This record presents none of these questions for consideration, and we shall therefore not pass upon them. We have only to consider whether the affidavits excuse the default of the defendants, and whether the proposed verified answer shows any defense.

Passing for the present the inquiry whether the default was sufficiently excused, we come to the question: Does the proposed answer disclose any defense? We think it does not. The complaint states certain facts, which, under the decisions of this court, undoubtedly invalidate the taxes assessed upon the lands in the towns of La Fayette, Siegel Edson and Anson, for the...