Commonwealth v. Mayor of Lancaster
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
THE Commonwealth ex relatione William Whiteside against John Mathiot, mayor of the city of Lancaster. This was an application to this court for a rule upon the respondent, to show cause why a mandamus should not issue to them to comply with the direction of the following resolution, passed by the select and common council of the city.
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THE Commonwealth ex relatione William Whiteside against John Mathiot, mayor of the city of Lancaster. This was an application to this court for a rule upon the respondent, to show cause why a mandamus should not issue to them to comply with the direction of the following resolution, passed by the select and common council of the city. Resolved, That the mayor be, and he is hereby authorised to issue upon the' credit of the city, certificates of loan to Thomas Jefferies, chairman, and William Whiteside, secretary of the railroad committee, for the sums of 200 dollars each, and like…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
Gibson, C. J.
An action to establish the right could not be maintained against the corporation, because performance of a corporate function is not a duty to be demanded by action; and unless recourse might be had to the functionary in the first instance, the relator might have a case for redress without a remedy. This leads us directly to the resolution.
The eleventh joint rule to regulate the business of the councils, by which the validity of the particular act is drawn into question, might possibly have been framed with more precision. It bears that “…
2Cited by26 opinions
- Supreme Lodge, Knights of Pythias v. KnightIndiana Supreme Court · 1889
- Mayor of Savannah v. State ex rel. GreenSupreme Court of Georgia · 1848
- State ex rel. Waring v. Georgia Medical SocietySupreme Court of Georgia · 1869
- Supreme Lodge Knights of Pythias v. KutscherIllinois Supreme Court · 1899
- Allegheny County Port Authority v. FlahertyCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania · 1972
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