School Directors of District No. 5 v. School Directors of District No. 10

Citations

• 73 Ill. 249

Syllabus

<p>1. Statutes—not rendered inoperative by mistaken reference to existing laws. Where a law possessing all the requisites of a valid statute is passed by the General Assembly, containing clear requirements capable of being carried into effect, in connection with an existing general law on the same subject, a mistaken reference in such law to a previous statute can not defeat the will of the General Assembly, and render the law void.</p> <p>2. Where an act purporting to be an amendment of another act describes the act to be amended truly, but states the date of the enactment of such law incorrectly, the mistaken date will be treated as surplusage, and will not affect the validity of the amendment.</p> <p>3. Chancery—recital of default in a final decree sufficient. Where the final decree recites that the defendants not answering were defaulted, it will be presumed that such was the case, although it does not appear in the record in any other place.</p> <p>4. School districts—boundaries. Where a new school district was formed by two townships, and the records of each township showed the same boundary lines of the new district to a given point, and from that point one record gave a proper and possible line as forming the east boundary line, and the other record gave an impossible line, so much of the latter call as is impossible will be rejected, especially if by doing so the two records will exactly coincide.</p> <p>o. Same—distribution of funds when new district formed. Where the record of the board of trustees of schools shows that the board met for the purpose of appraising and distributing school property and funds consequent upon the formation of a new district from the several districts, which are specified, and then states the amounts distributed, but does not state who made the appraisement, it will be presumed that it was made by the board of trustees, who, by a reasonable and fair construction of the 33d section of the school law of 1857, as amended in 1865,