City of Chicago v. Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad

Citations

• 105 Ill. 73
• 1882 Ill. LEXIS 240

Syllabus

<p>1. Contracts—condition subsequent. Where the act on which an estate or right depends does not necessarily precede the vesting of the estate oi right, but may accompany or follow it, the condition is a condition subsequent,—not a conditional.limitation.</p> <p>2. Same—when performance prevented—right becomes absolute. The rule at law is, that if a condition subsequent is possible at the time of making it, and becomes afterwards impossible, by the act of God, or the law, or the grantor, the estate having once vested is not thereby divested, but becomes absolute. It is said, however, that equity will not apply the principle to the extent of the last particular, to make the estate absolute.</p> <p>3. Same—application of the rule. So where a city granted a license to a railway company to construct its road across the streets, upon an express condition that the tracks authorized should be constructed within one year from the time of the grant, and the company was prevented from completing its track within the year from injunctions, and also by the police officers of the city, acting under the direction of the mayor, it was held, the right of the company under the grant was not lost, and the city might be enjoined from interfering with the laying of the track after the expiration of the year, when it is apparent that the same would have been completed within the time limited had it not been prevented by operation of law and the acts of the city authorities.</p> <p>4. Municipal corporation—when bound by acts of its officers. The unauthorized acts of municipal officers are regarded as the acts of the corporation, when they are performed by that branch of the municipal government which is invested with jurisdiction to act for the corporation upon the subject to which the particular act relates.</p> <p>5. Decree—construed. A decree enjoining a city from interfering with the construction and operation of a railway through certain streets, can not be construed to prevent the