Inhabitants of Westbrook v. Inhabitants of Deering
Supreme Judicial Court of Maine
On report. Assumpsit, upon an account annexed and the general money counts, to recover two-thirds of certain expenses of employing counsel, procuring witnesses, &c., &c., in the winters of 1870 and 1871, to oppose, before the legislative committee to whom the subject was referred, a petition for the division of the town of West-brook.
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On report. Assumpsit, upon an account annexed and the general money counts, to recover two-thirds of certain expenses of employing counsel, procuring witnesses, &c., &c., in the winters of 1870 and 1871, to oppose, before the legislative committee to whom the subject was referred, a petition for the division of the town of West-brook. In 1870 the prayer of the petitioners was refused, but it was granted the succeeding year, the part set off from the old town being erected into the town of Deering by act approved February 16, 1871, the tenth and last section of which provided that this act…
1Opinion of the CourtVirgin, J.
The principal question is, can a town incur expenses in opposing before a legislative committee, a division of its territorial limits. We are clearly of the opinion both upon principle and authority that it cannot.
Towns are created by the statute. The usual act of incorporation simply provides that certain defined territory, with the inhabitants resident thereon, be incorporated into a town by the name designated. In the absence of conditional provisions therein, an act of incorporation becomes imperative and binding whenever it *236takes effect, without any formal acceptance on the part of its…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Stetson v. KemptonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1816
3Cited by11 opinions
- Hays v. City of KalamazooMichigan Supreme Court · 1947
- Squires v. Inhabitants of City of AugustaSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1959
- State ex rel. Port of Seattle v. Superior CourtWashington Supreme Court · 1916
- Valentine v. RobertsonCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1924
- Davis v. LaughlinSupreme Court of Iowa · 1910
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