People Ex Rel. Merriam v. Schoonmaker
New York Court of Appeals
In May, 1854, an alternative writ of mandamus was issued by the supreme court in the 4th district, directed to Marius Schoonmaker, auditor of the canal department of the State of New-York.
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In May, 1854, an alternative writ of mandamus was issued by the supreme court in the 4th district, directed to Marius Schoonmaker, auditor of the canal department of the State of New-York. It recited that during the vears 1849 and 1850, John Post was the owner of a saw mill, situate on the Black river, below the state dam where the water is taken from the river for the Black river and Erie cnnals; that for the purpose of supplying the Erie canal with water, the canal commissioner in charge caused the waters of the river to be totally diverted from it and the mill of Post, through the feeder…
1Opinion of the Court · GardinerGardiner, C. J.
The demurrer was sustained and a peremptory mandamus awarded upon the grounds insisted *upon by the relator, first: That the powers of the [-*242 auditor are strictly ministerial; that the draft being L in the proper form, he had no discretion in the premises, but was bound to issue his warrant for its payment without the right to inquire as to the authority of the commissioner, or to act upon his own knowledge that that officer, in making the draft, had transcended his powers. And secondly, upon the ground that the facts alleged in the return were insufficient to establish a want of jurisdiction…
Also in this document: Opinion of the Court · Hand.
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