Springfield & Illinois Southeastern Ry. Co. v. Supervisor & Clerk of Cold Spring Township

Citations

• 72 Ill. 603

Syllabus

<p>1. Municipal corporations—in issuing bonds in aid of private enterprises, the law must be strictly complied with. Where a municipal corporation is empowered to enter into trade or enterprises of a private nature, there are no presumptions in favor of its acts in respect thereto, but, in their performance, it must appear that the law has been strictly complied with, before the performance of such acts will be enforced by law.</p> <p>2. Municipal subscriptions—bonds can not issue for, unless conditions upon which subscription was voted are complied with. The notice of an election upon the question of issuing bonds of a township in aid of a railroad contained a condition that neither the principal nor interest of the bonds should be payable unless they should first be registered in the Auditor’s office, according to the provisions of an act entitled “An act to fund and provide for the payment of the railroad debts of counties, townships, cities and towns,” in force April 16,1869, which act provided that none of its benefits, advantages or provisions should apply to any debt unless the subscription or donation creating the debt was first submitted to the legal voters of the township, etc., and a majority of the legal voters living in said township, etc., were in favor of such aid. There was not a majority of the legal voters living in the township in favor of the aid proposed: Held, that the meaning of the condition in the notice of election was, that the vote should so result that the bonds might be legally registered, or that they should not issue, and the vote not having so resulted, there was no power to compel their issue.</p>