Keokuk Waterworks Co. v. Keokuk

This action involves the legality of the proceedings whereby the city of Keokuk, Iowa, undertook to exercise the power which the legislature has vested in “cities and towns * * * to purchase, establish, erect, maintain, and operate * * * waterworks,” etc., section 6127, Code 1935. The fact that power exists in the city to do what it undertook to do is not questioned. The bone of contention is the manner of doing it.

For approximately fifty years, the Keokuk Waterworks Company, one of the plaintiffs and appellants, has been furnishing the city of Keokuk and its inhabitants with water. Since…