White v. Comm'rs of Chowan
| Decision Date | 28 February 1884 |
| Citation | 90 N.C. 437,47 Am.Rep. 534 |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
| Parties | T. C. WHITE v. COMMISSIONERS OF CHOWAN. |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
CIVIL ACTION tried at Fall Term, 1883, of CHOWAN Superior Court, before Avery, J.
The plaintiff brings this action against the defendants to recover damages for injuries to himself, his horse and buggy, occasioned by the falling in of a decayed bridge, forming part of a highway across a swamp in the county of Chowan, which the defendants, as the plaintiff alleges, were bound by law to keep in good and reasonable repair, but which they permitted to become ruinous and dangerous.
The defendants insisted by their answer and on the trial in the court below, that they were not civilly liable for the injury thus sustained by the plaintiff. The court held that they were so liable, gave judgment for the plaintiff, and the defendants appealed.
Messrs. John G. Bunch and Pace & Holding, for plaintiff .
Mr. W. D. Pruden, for defendants .
The question presented for our decision in this case is, are county commissioners, in their corporate capacity, liable for damages sustained by a person passing on a highway in their county, occasioned by a failure of the proper county authorities to keep such highway, and the public bridges along and over the same, in good and safe repair?
The counties of this state, like those of most of the states in the Union, are subdivisions of its territory embracing the people who inhabit the same, created by the sovereign authority, and organized for political and civil purposes. They are created at the will of the sovereign without any special regard to the solicitation, consent or desire of the people who reside in them. The leading and principal purpose in establishing them is, to effectuate the political organization and civil administration of the state, in respect to its general purposes and policy which require local direction, supervision and control, such as matters of local finance, education, provisions for the poor, the establishment and maintenance of highways and bridges, and in large measure, the administration of public justice. It is through them, mainly, that the powers of government reach and operate directly upon the people, and the people direct and control the government. They are indeed a necessary part and parcel of the subordinate instrumentalities employed in carrying out the general policy of the state in the administration of government. They constitute a distinguishing feature in our free system of government. It is through them, in large degree, that the people enjoy the benefits arising from local self-government, and foster and perpetuate that spirit of independence and love of liberty that withers and dies under the baneful influence of centralized systems of government. They contribute largely to the life-principle of American liberty, and are, in a very large sense, govermental in their nature and their purposes, and to this end are invested with appropriate corporate functions. These functions are not always the same; they may be enlarged, abridged or modified at the will of the legislature, but, generally, they are intended only to be essential aids and political agencies in the administration of the government of the state, and exercise their powers for that purpose. They are not in the strict legal sense municipal corporations: they are sometimes called quasi corporations, and this designation distinguishes them on the one hand from private corporations aggregate, and on the other from municipal corporations proper, such as cities and towns, organized under charters and special statutes, and invested with more and special powers, and endowed with more of the functions of corporate life. Mills v. Williams, 11 Ired., 558; Caldwell v. Justices of Burke, 4 Jones' Eq., 323; Dill. on Corp., §§9, 10; Cooley on Const. Lim., 240.
Such being the general purpose of counties and county government, they are not ordinarily liable to be sued civilly for the manner in which they exercise, or fail to exercise, their corporate powers. They may be...
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Town of Boone v. State
..."may be enlarged, abridged or modified at the will of the legislature," id. at ––––, 789 S.E.2d at 457 (quoting White v. Comm'rs of Chowan Cty. , 90 N.C. 437, 438 (1884) ). Our Constitution of 1868 affirmed "the duty of the Legislature to provide for the organization of cities, towns, and i......
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Dickson v. Rucho
...is through [counties], mainly, that the powers of government reach and operate directly upon the people" (quoting White v. Comm'rs of Chowan Cty., 90 N.C. 437, 438 (1884) )). In light of the Whole County Provision, equalizing population is not simply a matter of deciding how many voters are......
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Stephenson v. Bartlett
...and love of liberty that withers and dies under the baneful influence of centralized systems of government. White v. Commissioners of Chowan Cty., 90 N.C. 437, 438 (1884); see also Southern Ry. Co. v. Mecklenburg Cty., 231 N.C. 148, 150-51, 56 S.E.2d 438, 439-40 Counties play a vital role i......
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City of Asheville v. State
...historic duty and plenary power to create and abolish political subdivisions of local government. See, e.g. , White v. Comm'rs of Chowan Cty. , 90 N.C. 437, 438 (1884) (County subdivisions "are indeed a necessary part and parcel of the subordinate instrumentalities employed in carrying out ......