119 Ind. 213 | Ind. | 1889
This action is brought by the appellees against the appellant. The complaint is in one paragraph, and alleges that, on the 1st day of February, 1884, one Benjamin King, at that time the legal and acting school trustee of said school township, bought of the plaintiffs books for the use of the schools of said township, that said books were received and used by the schools of said township, and that the same were necessary for such township in its schools, at and for the price of $56.25; that, upon said date,- said trustee, as such, executed to the plaintiffs, in the firm name and style of A. S. Barnes & Co., his written obligation to pay the same out of the special school fund of said township on or before the 20th day of January, 1885, with eight percent. interest from the maturity thereof, a copy of which is filed with the complaint, marked exhibit “A,” and made a part of the same. It is further averred that George W. Kemp was elected trustee, as the successor of King, and refused to pay the amount. The order executed by the trustee, King, and made a part of the complaint, is as follows:
“ Feb. 1st, 1884. This is to certify that there is due from this township to A. S. Barnes & Co., or order, fifty-six and ■j^j- dollars for books bought for schools of this township, payable out of the special school funds of the township, on or before the 20th day of January, 1885, with interest at. eight per cent, per annum from maturity.
“ Honey Ckeek School Township, Howakd County, Indiana.
“ Per Benjamin King, Township School Trustee.”
The question presented is as to whether a township school trustee has authority to purchase school books and bind the school township for the payment of the same.
It is contended by counsel for appellee that section 4444, R. S. 1881, authorizes a township trustee to purchase necessary school books for the schools of his township. So much of said section as is material in the consideration of this case is as follows:
“ The trustees shall take charge of the educational affairs of their respective townships, towns, and cities. They shall employ teachers; establish and locate, conveniently, a sufficient number of schools for the education of the white children therein; and build, or otherwise provide, suitable houses, furniture, apparatus, and other articles and educational appliances necessary for the thorough organization and efficient management of said schools.”
It is further contended by counsel that such authority is fully established by an unbroken line of decisions of this court. We have examined the decisions cited by counsel, and others bearing upon the authority vested in trustees, and there is but one decision that tends to uphold the right of the trustee to purchase books, and we think there is a clear distinction between the decision in that case and the question presented in this. In the case of Jackson School Township v. Hadley, 59 Ind. 534, the indebtedness was for ten Webster’s dictionaries. The decision in that ease was based upon the the cases of Jackson Township v. Barnes, 55 Ind. 136, and Sheffield School Township v. Andress, 56 Ind. 157. The indebtedness in the case of Jackson Township v. Barnes, supra, was for “Monteith’s Maps,” and in the case of Sheffield School Township v. Andress, supra, the order was given for work done on a school building. So far as authority for purchasing books of any character, the case of Jackson School Township v. Hadley, supra, stands alone. In
The complaint, in this case, alleges the purchase of books for the use of the schools, and the order is for books for schools of the township. It having been held by this court, in the case of Jackson School Township v. Hadley, supra, that the trustee has the right to purchase dictionaries for the use of the schools, the sufficiency of the complaint depends upon whether it is necessary to allege, specifically, that the purchase was of such books as the trustee had the right to purchase, or whether it will be presumed from the allegations of the complaint that they were such books as the trustee had the right to purchase. The authority of trustees being limited, and they having a right to make only such contracts and purchases as they are empowered by law to make, the complaint should affirmatively show the purchase and contract to have been one which the trustee was, by law, authorized to make. The complaint is not good, and the demurrer should have been sustained.
The uncontroverted evidence in the case shows the books purchased to be seventy-five copies of Monteith’s Popular
School townships are corporations with limited statutory powers, and all who deal with a trustee of a school township are charged with notice of the scope of his authority, and that he can bind his township only by such contracts as are authorized by law. Reeve School Tp. v. Dodson, 98 Ind. 497; Union School Tp. v. First Nat’l Bank, 102 Ind. 464; Axt v. Jackson School Tp., 90 Ind. 101; Bloomington School Tp. v.
Judgment reversed, at the costs of appellees, with directions to the court below to sustain appellant’s motion for a new trial, and for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.