116 Ga. 288 | Ga. | 1902
S. R. Blanton and five other citizens of the town of Pelham sought to enjoin H. H. Merry, the mayor, and the four aldermen of the town from operating a dispensary therein. The petition alleged that the defendants were operating such a dispensary,, in pursuance of an ordinance adopted by them, as mayor and council of the town, in February, 1902; that they had no power or authority, under the charter of the town, or under any law, to pass such ordinance or “ to embark said municipality in the business of buying and selling such liquors or contracting debts” for the same which would be binding on the town ; and that all their acts in relation thereto were, therefore, void, and “ that said acts are against public policy and morals and involve the useless and unlawful use- [and] jeopardy of the funds and credit of the said town.” The interlocutory hearing was had on an agreed statement of facts, from which we extract-as material the following: The ordinance in question provides for the election by the mayor and council of three-dispensary commissioners to superintend-the operation of the dispensary ; that the commissioners shall elect one of their number as-treasurer, who shall give bond payable to the board of education of the town; that the commissioners shall elect a dispensary manager,, who shall be subject to their orders, rules, and regulations for the-
All the officers provided for in the ordinance were elected and qualified as therein required. A supply of spirituous and intoxicating liquors was purchased, a storeroom rented, and a dispensary opened, which was being operated in the town, in accordance with
1. There was no error in refusing the injunction; for, granting, as the plaintiffs claimed, that the defendants, as the mayor and councilmen of the town of Pelham, had no power, under the charter of the town or under any law, to adopt the ordinance in question, or to legally operate the dispensary in the town, the plaintiffs, in their capacity as citizens and taxpayers, were not entitled to the injunction sought, for the reason that it was not shown that they would sustain any damage in consequence of the operation of the1 dispensary. Reid v. Eatonton, 80 Ga. 755; Peeples v. Byrd, 98 Ga. 695, and authorities there cited. Plaintiffs admitted on the hearing, as we have seen, that the dispensary was being operated without any cost whatever to the town and without any possibility of the town ever becoming indebted in any way for its operation. There is nothing in the case of Barnesville v. Murphey, 113 Ga. 779, relied on by plaintiffs in error, in conflict with the ruling we now make, for there certain citizens and taxpayers,of the City of Barnesville sought to enjoin the municipal authorities thereof, not only from operating a dispensary, but also from paying bills amounting to several thousand dollars, which divers persons claimed were due to them by the municipality for liquors sold and delivered to the city and used in conducting the dispensary. • The persons holding such claims against the city were parties defendant, and it was sought to enjoin them from collecting their claims. Plaintiffs in that ease were liable, as taxpayers, to be forced to pay their proportion of these claims, if they should be held to be valid and binding claims against the city. This is the essential feature Wherein that case differs from (ho r»>(.
Judgment affirmed.