194 P. 149 | Mont. | 1920
delivered the opinion of the court.
This action was commenced in Silver Bow county to recover damages sustained for injuries to property on two different occasions at the hands of mobs assembled in the city of Butte. It is not disputed that the ownership of the building known as Miners’ Union Hall, and the personal property contained therein at the time of the injuries; was in the plaintiff corporation; nor that the removal and destruction of it were accomplished by mobs within the city limits.
The complaint consists of two causes of action. The first alleges, in substance, the assembling of a mob on June 13, 1914, the attack upon plaintiff’s property with clubs, bricks and bottles; the beating up of persons upon the streets, and the carrying away and destruction of personal property of the value of $30,000. In the second cause of action it is alleged that on June 23, 1914, plaintiff’s building, known as Miners’ Union Hall, was attacked by a mob, torn down and destroyed, to its damage in the sum of $63,000. The answer denies all the allegations of both causes of action, and as against the first cause of action it is affirmatively alleged that the plaintiff was advised upon several occasions prior to, and particularly on,- June 13, 1914, that if it should attempt to conduct a parade upon'that day, such attempt would cause a riot and injury and destruction of its property would follow as a result thereof; that defendant did not know, nor by the
The cause was transferred to Powell county, where it was tried to a jury, and a verdict and judgment were rendered and entered in behalf of defendant. A motion for a new trial was made and overruled and appeal taken to this court from the judgment and order so made.
Appellant’s'position'is that its right to recover is not to be denied it merely because it did not notify defendant that it would hold a parade and that damage would result therefrom, but that plaintiff had a right to parade the public streets of the city, to meet in lawful assembly,, and to repel attack by such force as might be necessary to preserve the lives of its members and to prevent the destruction of its property.
Respondent’s answer to this is that by reason of the holding of the parade, the plaintiff’s failure to notify the city of its intention to parade, the storage of guns, ammunition and explosives in the building, and the shooting therefrom into the assemblage of persons on Main Street in front of the build
Thirty-six errors are pressed upon our attention by appellant, but we shall notice only those affecting the turning points in the ease, and those questions likely to arise upon another trial.
Primarily, government exists for the maintenance of peace
"We are not at liberty to read into a statute like section
At the close of all the testimony, and without objection on the part of plaintiff, the court instructed the jury, in effect, that the defendant city was liable for injuries to the property of the plaintiff, done or caused by mobs or riots,
Objection was made by the plaintiff to the giving of instruction No. 9, in which the jury were told that plaintiff
Upon the whole record before us, it is apparent that the district court adopted and applied principles of law opposed to those above announced, and submitted the case to the jury upon the erroneous theory that the plaintiff merely by the storage of arms in the building provoked the attack and brought upon itself the injury complained of. For these reasons the judgment and order are reversed and the cause is remanded to the district court for a new trial in conformity with the views herein expressed.
Reversed and remanded.
Rehearing denied December 13, 1921.