People ex rel. Illinois Midland Railway Co. v. Supervisor of Waynesville

Citations

• 88 Ill. 469

Syllabus

<p>1. Municipal subscription—compliance with conditions necessary. Where a township voted a subscription of $50,000 of the capital stock of a railway company, to be paid in bonds, under a law providing that no bonds should be delivered nor any payment made under such subscription until an amount of work was done on such road in the town, or on such part of the line of the road as the authorities issuing the bonds should designate, equal in value to the amount of bonds to be issued, and the condition of the vote was, that the bonds were to be delivered when work was done in the township to the amount of such bonds, it was held, that the building of the road through the town at a cost of only $30,000, or even $41,000, was not a substantial compliance with the conditions, and that the court would not compel the issue of the bonds voted.</p> <p>2. Same—change of conditions by subsequent vote not authorized. In the absence of an express authority in the law to that effect, the conditions upon which a municipal subscription is voted can not be changed by a subsequent vote, either directly upon the proposition or indirectly upon a proposition to make a donation of a small sum, with new conditions as to the donation, and the issuing of bonds under the prior vote. Such subsequent election is ultra vires, and the act void, being unsanctioned by law.</p> <p>3. Same—charter construed as to deviation from conditions. Where the charter of a railway company, authorizing the voting of municipal subscriptions for stock, contained a proviso, that the bonds should not be issued nor any payment made on the subscription until an amount of work should be done on the railroad in the town, or on such part of the line of the road as the authorities of the town should designate, equal in value to the amount of the bonds to be issued, it was held, that the charter, by fair intendment, required any deviation from the conditions therein prescribed to be submitted to the voters, and at the same