Smith v. Hubbell

The defendant has appealed from a judgment against him, in an action of libel. He was the owner and publisher of a newspaper in the village of Imlay City, and published some editorials reflecting upon the plaintiff, who was village attorney. The first of these was under the caption, “An Imlay City Graft,” and grew out of the following facts: The village council let .a contract for the building of a village hall, without requiring the statutory bond to protect materialmen and laborers. The contractors were paid a large proportion, perhaps all, of the contract price, while the work was…