Richeson v. People ex rel. Jones

Citations

• 115 Ill. 450
• 5 N.E. 121

Syllabus

<p>1. ' Municipal subscription—in aid of railroads—prior to the constitution of 1870—of a subscription with conditions—and of the power to agree to a change in such conditions after the adoption of the constitution. Prior to the adoption of the constitution of 1870, the legislature had the power to authorize counties and other municipalities, by a vote of the people, to take stock in railroad companies, and to issue bonds for such stock, and levy and collect taxes to pay the same.</p> <p>2. Under the laws as they existed prior to the adoption of the present constitution, the people, in voting for a proposition to take stock in a railroad corporation, had a right to impose conditions upon which the subscription should be made, and the municipal authorities could exercise the power conferred by the vote according to such conditions, but in no other manner.</p> <p>3. The constitution of 1870 prohibits municipal corporations from making subscriptions or donations to any railroad or private corporation except when authorized under prior laws by a vote of the people, and when so authorized the subscription must be in accordance with the conditions upon which it was voted. After the adoption of-the constitution the conditions upon which such a subscription was voted can not be changed, and a subscription made upon other and different conditions.</p> <p>4. Prior to the adoption of the constitution of 1870, a proposition to subscribe $100,000 to the stock of a railway company, upon condition that the company’s road should be located through the county, and its construction commenced within nine months and completed by the first day of June, 1872, was submitted to a vote of the people of the county, and carried. In February, 1871, the county board, by an order, extended the time for commencing the work on the road to January 1, 1872, and its completion to January 1, 1874. On November 12, 1877, the county board made another order, under which the bonds were issued, but the wor