Cole v. Inhabitants of Bedford

The money contributed by the plaintiff to assist in. filling the quota of the town of Bedford, was not paid to the defendant town, or for its *327use or benefit. Such an expenditure has been held to be so far of a public nature and for an object within the appropriate sphere of municipal action, that the legislature could constitutionally authorize towns and cities to reimburse their citizens for voluntary contributions to a fund raised to defray the expense of obtaining recruits. Freeland v. Hastings, 10 Allen, 570. But the vote to refund the money did not create a debt in favor of the plaintiff…