United States v. County of Clark
Supreme Court of the United States
Error, to the Circuit Court of the' United States for the Eastern District of Missouri. On the 24th of ’September, 1874, the United States, on the relation of William A. Johnston, filed a petition for a mandamus against the county court of Clark County, Missouri, and the justices thereof.
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Error, to the Circuit Court of the' United States for the Eastern District of Missouri. On the 24th of ’September, 1874, the United States, on the relation of William A. Johnston, filed a petition for a mandamus against the county court of Clark County, Missouri, and the justices thereof. An amended alternative writ was filed on the 5th of April, 1875, in which it is alleged, that William A. Johnston obtained in said Circuit Court a judgment, June 6, 1874, against said county, for $8,606.64, on four instalments of interest on one hundred bonds of said county, for $500 each, which it executed…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Strong
The judgment of .the Circuit Court was correct. The return of the defendants to the alternative writ set up' a complete defence, and its averments of fact are admitted by the demurrer of the United States. It is then, for the purposes of this case, an established fact that the county bonds held by the relator, and the coupons upon which his judgment was obtained, were not issued, and, therefore, did not become a debt of the county until Jan. 1,1874. Until they were issued, they imposed no liability upon the obligor; and, until the liability arose, there was no obligation resting on the county…
2Cited by1 opinion
- United States v. County of ClarkSupreme Court of the United States · 1878