United States v. City of Sault Ste. Marie

Citations

• 137 F. 258
• 1905 U.S. App. LEXIS 5220

Syllabus

<p>1. Municipal Corporations — Waterworks — Furnishing Water —Negligence.—Liability of City.</p> <p>Pub. Acts Mich. 1875, p. 57, No. 02, e. 11, § 1, as amended by Pub. Acts 1879, p. 247, No. 245, gave to cities and villages within the state the right to establish public waterworks to supply water to the inhabitants and for fire protection, but created no liability for injuries occasioned by negligence of the municipality or its officers in the maintenance and use of its system. Held, that the providing of a water supply by a municipality under such acts was a governmental function, and carried with it no liability for negligence in its exercise.</p> <p>2. Same—Contracts—Power.</p> <p>The city, acting under such acts, had no power to contract with the United States to maintain a specified pressure for fire protection on a military reservation within the municipality’s corporate limits, for the purpose of creating a liability to indemnify the United States for loss sustained by the city’s failure to maintain such pressure.</p>