L. Waterbury & Co. v. City of Laredo

Citations

• 60 Tex. 519
• 1883 Tex. LEXIS 369

Syllabus

<p>1. Corporations.— If the powers of a corporation are not expressly, they are impliedly, restricted to such as are necessary for the attainment of the objects of its creation, and it can perform no act, make no contract, and incur no liability, but such as spring out of or are otherwise incidental to the purpose for which it was created.</p> <p>2. Same—Municipal corporation.—The city of Laredo had a charter power to establish ferries. Held:</p> <p>(1) That the city had power to employ counsel to represent it in a matter involving the establishment of a ferry.</p> <p>(3) That from this resulted its authority to secure the attorneys’ fees.</p> <p>(3) The receipts from its ferry being a part of the general revenue of the city, it had the right to stipulate that a portion of that fund should be received by the attorney, before it reached the city treasury, as compensation for his services.</p> <p>(4) A stipulation for increased compensation, after the first contract fixing his fee, will be enforced when not unreasonable, and when based on the performance of services not contemplated in the original contract.</p> <p>(5) Such a contract, by which the attorney was to receive a certain portion of the earnings of the ferry, gave him no authority to interfere with the municipal control thereof; nor would the courts interfere except to prevent fraud or a gross abuse of discretion. Even then a receiver would only be appointed until the municipal authorities could again exercise their discretion.</p> <p>(6) A court of equity has no power to direct the corporate authorities of a city how they shall exercise a discretion vested in them respecting the leasing of city property.</p>