Duane v. Philadelphia

Dissenting Opinion by

Mr. Justice Dbew :

The fundamental premise upon which the reasoning and conclusion of the majority rest is that the authorization of a municipal loan ipso facto creates a debt of the city, and thereby increases the city’s indebtedness to the extent of the amount authorized. In my opinion that proposition is unsound. In any ordinary and natural sense of the word a debt is an obligation on A’s part to pay a fixed sum to B. There is no debt where there is no creditor. That such is not only the lexicographer’s meaning but also the legal meaning 1 of the term is very clear from…