108 Ga. 510 | Ga. | 1899
The ordinary of Forsyth County, after ineffectual efforts to secure co-operation from the board of commissioners of Gwinnett County, caused a bridge to be erected over the Chattahoochee river at a point where it divides the two counties. In letting out the work, a bond was taken from the contractor, the Virginia Bridge and Iron Company, which, among other things, stipulated that the company was to “ keep said bridge in repair for seven years, actions of the elements only excepted.” After the erection of the bridge, Forsyth County brought an action against Gwinnett County to compel contribution of its alleged fair proportion of the cost. At the trial there was much evidence tending to show that the bridge was a work of public necessity. There was, however, a verdict for the defendant. In the order overruling the plaintiff’s motion for a new trial, the judge strongly intimated that he was of the opinion that, upon the question of necessity, the finding should have been in favor of Forsyth County, and based his refusal to set the verdict aside mainly on other grounds. In the view we take of the case, it turns upon purely legal questions.
The foregoing disposes of the present case. It may not, however, be improper before closing to note that, so far as relates to the taking of a contractor’s bond, there is a marked difference between the requirements of the law relating to the construction of “county-line” bridges, and the provisions of law under which bridges wholly within the limits of a county may be built. As to the latter, section 670 of the Code of 1882 (Political Code, § 602) conferred upon ordinaries authority “ To require sufficient bond and good security for the faithful performance of all such works and contracts, and to indemnify for all damages occasioned by a failure so to do.” Section 671 of the Code of 1882 declared that “When,a public bridge, ferry, turnpike, or causeway is let out, the contractor must, in his bond, make a condition also to keep it in good repair for at least seven years, and as many more years as the contract may be for.” This last section was amended by the act of December 29, 1888 (Acts of 1888, p. 39), so as to allow county authorities to dispense with the last-named condition in contractors’ bonds, if, in their opinion, so doing “would be to the public interest.” The provisions of this section; as thus amended, now appear in section 603 of the Political Code.
It is further to be observed that the above-mentioned act of vAugust8, 1881, had not been codified when the act of 1888 was passed, and consequently the latter act could not possibly have had, or been intended to have, any application to the class of bridges dealt with in the act of 1881. Indeed, it is expressly declared both in the title and in the body of the act of 1888 that its sole purpose was to amend “ section 671 of the Code of 1882.” It will therefore be seen that section 603 of the Political Code must necessarily relate exclusively to bridges other
Judgment on main bill of exceptions affirmed; cross-bill dismissed.