51 Ark. 344 | Ark. | 1888
This is a proceeding instituted under the act of April 17th, 1873, creating Howard county, for the purpose of determining what portion of the indebtedness of Hempstead, one of the counties which furnished territory for the formation of,, Howard, should be paid by the new county. The judgment of the county court where the proceeding originated awarded nothing to Hempstead county, and the latter prosecuted an appeal to the circuit court by filing the statutory affidavit with the clerk oí that court who caused the original papers and a transcript of the court’s proceedings to be filed in his office within the time prescribed for prosecuting such appeals. Howard county moved to dismiss the appeal from the judgment of the county court, (1) because there was no formal prayer addressed to the circuit clerk for an appeal, and (2) because the county clerk, who is ex-officio circuit clerk, had affixed the seal of the latter court to his certificate of the proceedings in the county court. But the circuit court permitted Hempstead county to show by parol that an application in writing for an appeal had been made to the circuit clerk; caused the clerk to amend his certificate by affixing thereto the seal of the county court, and overruled the motion. It is seriously argued that the court erred in both particulars.
The repeated decisions of this court discountenancing irregularities of proceedure which do not affect the rights of parties upon the merits, and recognizing in the circuit court the power of amending its process and records as well as pleadings, to any extent short of impairing the substantial rights of the parties, leave no room for argument against the action of the court in this instance. See Hall v. Lackmond, 50 Ark., 113, and Sannoner v. Jacobson, 47 Ark., 31 and cases cited.
The contention upon the merits of the cause was as to the amount of the indebtedness of Hempstead county at the time Howard was created; and that controversy is narrowed here to the question, what amount of court house and jail bonds were an outstanding indebtedness against Hempstead county on the 17th day of April, 1873, when the act creating Howard county became a law?
A judgment for interest was added to the principal of the debt found due from Howard to Hempstead, and complaint is made of that. The record shows that the $20,000 in bonds negotiated by Plempstead county bore interest from date. It was the duty of Howard county to relieve Hempstead of her proportion of the interest that had accrued upon these bonds to the date of the judgment adjusting the indebtedness; and as the amount of recovery is not more than Ploward’s proportion of the principal and interest of Hempstead’s debt, no injury is sustained by Howard county. Hempstead county has pointed out no error prejudicial to her interest, and the judgment will'be affirmed.