Douglass v. Mayor of Placerville

Citations

• 18 Cal. 643
• 1861 Cal. LEXIS 261

Syllabus

<p>Charters of municipal corporations are special grants of power from the sovereign authority, and must be strictly construed. Whatever is not given expressly, or as necessary means to the execution of expressly given powers, is withheld.</p> <p>The charter of the city of Placerville (Stat. 1859, 77) does not authorize' the authorities of the city to levy and collect a tax for making a survey of a railway route from that city to Polsom. The argument that a railroad extending from or to the city is as much a means of municipal benefit as a street in the city, gas or water works, and that the length or extent of the road is not important in this respect—the municipal character of the work depending on its adaptation to the benefit of the municipality—is conclusively met by the fact that, whether this be a municipal work or not, it is not a work authorized by the charter, neither expressly, nor by necessary implication.</p> <p>As to the point that the payment here was voluntary and therefore cannot be recovered back, see facts and opinion.</p>