110 P. 392 | Or. | 1910
Lead Opinion
Decided August 3, 1910.
Motion to Correct Transcript.
Opinion by
The appellant is required to send up a transcript on appeal, containing copies of the judgment or decree appealed from, of the notice of appeal and proof of service thereof, and of the undertaking on appeal, where
Opinion on the Merits
Decided January 10, 1911, rehearing denied April 4, 1911.
On the Merits.
delivered the opinion of the court.
If plaintiff had derived any special benefit from these improvements (Herman, Estop, § 1221) and with knowledge thereof had waited until their completion before interposing any objections thereto, some reason might well have been assigned for invoking an estoppel from its conduct. Section 787, subd. 4, B. & C. Comp.; Clinton v. Portland, 26 Or. 410, 38 Pac. 407); Wingate v. Astoria, 39 Or. 603 (65 Pac. 982). The testimony shows, however, that the president of the plaintiff corporation,
“There is a clear distinction to be observed between legislative and ministerial powers. The former cannot be delegated; the latter may. Legislative power implies judgment and discretion upon the part of those who exercise it, and a special confidence and trust upon the part of those who confer it.”
So, too, in City of St. Louis v. Clemens, 43 Mo. 395, a charter empowered the council to put in sewers of such dimensions as might be prescribed by ordinance. Pursuant to the authorization an ordinance was passed providing for the construction of a sewer “of such dimensions and of such materials as may be deemed requisite by the city engineer,” and it was ruled that the council could not delegate a duty thus plainly and expressly devolving upon them to the mere discretion and' caprice of a single individual.
The failure of plaintiff to demand plans of, or specifications for, the conduit or to covenant to pay the cost of making the alterations did not, in our opinion, relieve the council from tlíe necessity of adopting an ordinance prescribing generally the kind and size of the pipe, tube, or other means considered requisite, and directing the manner of laying it. It is quite probable that, if any request had been made by plaintiff’s agents, an ordinance would have been enacted ratifying the plans, etc., and adopting the report of the engineer. The initiation of any change in the manner of carrying or distributing the water was, by the ordinance enacted, imposed on plaintiff. If the installation of the irrigating system had been desired on streets which had not theretofore contained ditches, the method adopted might have been proper, but where, as in the case at bar, the ditches were already in existence and capable of conducting water which had previously been used for a beneficial purpose, we think the duty of inaugurating a change in the method of irrigation devolved on the council. It is certain, we think that any plans, specifications, or estimates which might have been made respecting the proposed alteration
It is not believed that the interest in the system of irrigation has become so paramount as to demand a perpetual injunction, if proper methods are adopted and carried into effect to regulate the kind and size of the conduits and to control the use of the water, and such being the case, the nature and extent of plaintiff’s title will be examined. The trial court found, inter alia, as matters of law, that authority to dig ditches and appropriate water for irrigation was secured by prescription and also obtained by the ordinance of June 5, 1885, whereby the interest had become a vested right; and that the municipality is estopped from interfering therewith, except that, as a conduit for the water, pipes may be laid in lieu of ditches if the expense thus to be incurred were paid by general taxation. The deduction thus reached was evidently based on the principle announced in the case of Denver v. Mullen, 7 Colo. 345 (3 Pac. 693), where it appeared that streets had been laid out in Denver, Colorado, on that part of the public domain which was subsequently known as the “congressional grant.” That city was incorporated in 1861 and control of the streets was given by charter to municipal officers. A canal extending across the streets then laid out, commenced in 1864, was completed the following year. Pursuant to an act of Congress, permitting a purchase of public land in trust for a town site (Act May 28, 1864, c. 99, 13 Stat. 94), a certificate of entry of the congressional grant was given May 6, 1865, and a patent for the premises was issued June 8, 1868, embracing the land included in the original town site. Seven or eight years after the canal was completed Hunt’s addition to Denver was made and the plat showed streets that were intersected by the canal, the right of way for which had been secured from the owners of land that had been
In respect to Hunt’s addition, it was held that when a municipal corporation accepts the dedication of streets, across which a canal had previously been located and rights of way therefor secured the donation was taken subject to the prior right of the owners of the conduit; and if public necessity demanded the building of bridges on the streets where crossed, the duty devolved solely upon the city. It was further ruled that though control of the highways had been conferred by charter on the municipal officers, such authority could not be extended so as to invalidate a subsequent acquisition by the canal proprietors of a right of way through lands which were then part of the public domain, and prior to securing a title by the city, notwithstanding the streets had previously been laid out and used as highways.
The rule thus declared was reaffirmed in suits affecting the claims of the owners to maintain the canal in question: Platte & Denver Ditch Co. v. Anderson, 8 Colo. 131 (6 Pac. 515); Walley v. Platte & Denver Ditch Co., 15 Colo. 579 (26 Pac. 129); Platte & Denver Canal & Milling Co. v. Lee, 2 Colo. App. 184 (29 Pac. 1036). In Platte & Denver C. & M. Co. v. Dowell, 17 Colo. 376 (30 Pac. 68), their rights were again the subjects of judicial inquiry. In that case a statute of Colorado required the owners of ditches of certain size to defray the cost of covering them, so as to protect the lives and property of inhabitants, and thereafter, at their own
If it be conceded that the decisions referred to are accurate interpretations of legal principles governing such cases, it is believed that the conclusions thus reached are not applicable to the facts involved herein. In the case of Denver v. Mullen, 7 Colo. 345 (3 Pac. 693), it will be kept in mind that the construction of the canal was commenced before the certificate of entry of the land was issued. Whether or not the certificate was given before the canal was completed cannot be determined from the facts stated in the opinion. But however that may be, as the finishing of the conduit and the appropriation of the water related back to the initiation of the enterprise (Nevada Ditch Co. v. Bennett, 30 Or. 59, 85: 45 Pac. 472: 60 Am. St. Rep. 777), the canal was evidently dug across the public domain of the United States, though such lands may theretofore have been laid out into lots and blocks by persons asserting some right to the premises. At the time the certificate of entry in that case was given, the act of Congress of March 3, 1863, was in force, requiring a survey of a reservation of a town site on public land to be made under direction of
After the amendment of the charter in 1882, and another alteration thereof was made without restoring the reservation of 1874 or that of 1878 (Sp. Laws Or. 1885, p. 244), D. L. Moomaw, the then owner of the irrigating system, evidently realizing that the right to continue the use of the water for that purpose was precarious, secured the passage of an ordinance, June 5, 1885, permitting the construction of ditches on either or both sides of any street in Baker City.
“The railway company accepted its franchise from the state, subject necessarily to the condition that it would conform at its own expense to any regulations, not arbitrary in their character, as to the opening or use of streets, which had for their object the safety of the public, or the promotion of the public convenience, and which might, from time to time, be established by the municipality, when proceeding under legislative authority within whose limits the company’s business was conducted.” Cincinnati R. Co. v. City of Connersville, 218 U. S. 336 (31 Sup. Ct. 93).
So, too, a water company, by virtue of a contract with a city in which it operated, obtained authority to make certain alterations and improvements, and, acting on the permission granted, laid its pipes and located certain water gates within the limits of the streets, near the edge of the sidewalk as then existing. Subsequently the city proposed to widen the sidewalk and put down granite curbing, and directed the company to move the gate boxes and place them outside the curbing, which was done. In an action to recover the cost of complying with this order, it was held that when the company placed its water gates in the streets under the terms of the contract, it did so
It follows from these considerations that the decree will be modified so as to enjoin the defendants, their agents, servants, etc., from interfering with plaintiff’s irrigating system until it has been regulated in the man