151 Mass. 437 | Mass. | 1890
It was determined in Minot v. West Roxbury, 112 Mass. 1, and Coolidge v. Brookline, 114 Mass. 592, that, as the statutes then stood, a town could not lawfully expend money in advocating or opposing before a.legislative committee the annexation of the whole or a part of its territory to another town. By the St. of 1889, c. 380,
It is obvious that it was the design of the statute to change
We are of the opinion that the town of Beverly is to be regarded as interested in the question of its division, in the sense in which that word is used in the statute.
jPetition dismissed.
This statute, approved May 28, 1889, is as follows:
“Any town interested in a petition to the Legislature may at a legal meeting, by a two-thirds vote of the legal voters present thereat, authorize the employment of counsel to represent such town "at any hearing before any committee of the Legislature upon such petition: provided, however, that no expenses shall be hereby authorized excepting such as would be incurred in presenting a case before the judicial courts. Such town employing counsel shall require a detailed account of any expenses incurred, and a copy of said account shall be filed with the town clerk and open to the inspection of all tax-payers of the town.”