93 Neb. 567 | Neb. | 1913
This is an application to the district court for Otoe county to find the facts necessary to the incorporation of a drainage district including lands in Otoe and Johnson counties. The proceeding was commenced January 29, 1910, under the drainage act of 1905 and the amendments thereof. Oomp. St. 1909, ch. 89, art. IY. Articles of incorporation were filed in the office of the clerk of the district court, and interested landowners who did not sign them were served with summons in the manner required by statute. ' Some of those thus notified of the proceeding filed objections to the incorporation of the district and to the including of their lands therein. The district court excluded portions of the lands described in the proposed articles of incorporation, and overruled the objections made by the owners of other lands. With a few tracts of land excluded in the manner indicated, the drainage district was found to be a public corporation under the drainage law cited, and those who were unsuccessful in urging their objections have appealed.
Appellants insist that a formal petition or application was necessary to the organization of the drainage district, that no such pleading or application was filed in the office of the clerk of the district court, and that therefore the
It is further asserted that there is no allegation in any pleading, nor in the articles of incorporation, that the lands sought to be included in the drainage district are swamp or overflowed lands, or that the purpose of the drainage district is to reclaim and protect such lands from the effects of water, and that therefore the decree is erroneous. It is true the drainage act is introduced by the following language: “A majority in interest of the owners in any contiguous body of swamp or overflowed lands in this state, situated in one or more counties in this state, may form a drainage district for the purpose of having such land reclaimed and protected from the effects of water, by drainage or otherwise.” Comp. St. 1909, ch. 89, art. IV, sec. 1. The act as a whole makes it clear that the existence of swamp or overflowed lands and a purpose to drain them by means of a feasible drainage system are necessary to the legal organization of a drainage district. Comp. St. 1909, ch. 89, art. IV. The argument, however, is untenable for the following reasons: The drainage act is by construction a part of the articles. They contain the statements enumerated in the statute. They fairly show that the necessary amount of land within the district is subject to overflow, and a feasible system, of drainage is proposed. The streams and lands in the course of drainage are described in articles declaring a purpose “to reclaim said lands from overflows and flood-waters from said streams;” but, if there is anything wanting in this respect, it is supplied by the objections. Issues involving the feasibility of the proposed drainage system, the overflowing of the lands of appellants, and the benefits - to such lands were submitted to the trial court by the articles and the objections. On the issues thus raised several volumes of testimony are found in the bill of exceptions. The parties understood a.nd tried those issues. The facts which the court must find necessary to the existence of a drainage district were raised in the manner
The sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the findings below is also urged as a ground of reversal, but, for the purpose of organization, the district court properly found that each appellant has an interest in overflowed land which may be benefited by the proposed drainage. In this and other respects the proofs meet the requirements of thé statute. There is no error in the proceedings.
Affirmed.