142 Iowa 377 | Iowa | 1909
The litigation involved in this case has twice before been in this court in some of its phases. See 110 Iowa, 702, 122 Iowa, 602. The plaintiff is a- school township which formerly comprised a complete congressional township in Greene County. Located in this township was the little village of Cooper, containing about one hundred inhabitants. The inhabitants were desirous of organizing the four sections contiguous and including Cooper into an independent district. They were unable to do so for want of the two hundred inhabitants, required by statute for such purpose. In March, 1896, they went through a certain form of organization, by proceedings irregular and illegal, and declared the organization of the independent district of Cooper, and immediately procured the passage of a curative act by the Legislature, then in session, which was supposed to legalize the corporate existence of such independent district. Directors were elected who assumed the legality of the corporate existence, and proceeded' at once to perform their assumed official duties as such directors. They took possession of a schoolhouse included within their alleged territory, and removed therefrom the stove,
It is undisputed that the issues presented by the pleadings in the case at bar were all presented in the pleadings of case No. 3,770, and that the evidence upon such issues was
We quote the substance thereof as follows:
That in case it shall be found that said independent district of Cooper has or ever had any legal existence, then plaintiff avers that the respective boards of directors of plaintiff and said alleged independent district of Cooper are established by law, and thereby constitute a special tribunal, with exclusive original jurisdiction to make such division of assets and liabilities, and that defendants, if legally representing said alleged independent district of Cooper, and if the territory described in the answer of defendants last named has been legally organized into an independent district as alleged (which fact plaintiff denies), then this court has no jurisdiction or power to determine and pass*382 upon or adjudicate the matters raised and alleged by said answer as to the right of the defendants as such alleged directors, or the alleged independent district, to any share or portion of said assets or liabilities, the same, if such independent district exists, being within the exclusive jurisdiction of the boards of directors as aforesaid. That until such division is made the defendants, nor the alleged independent district, have no right to remove the property described in plaintiff’s petition, nor to deprive plaintiff or sub-district No. 2 from or of the use of said property or schoolhouse.
. Par. 2. That if the facts alleged in said answer as to the legal existence of said alleged independent district of Cooper and the election and qualification of defendants as officers thereof is -true, then this court, has no jurisdiction to say or determine that defendants or said alleged independent district have any right to any of said property until an equitable division of the same, together with the other assets and liabilities, have been equitably divided by the boards of directors as provided by law, or abitrators chosen by the parties in interest as provided by law.
Some account must be taken of this plea and the form of it, in construing the decree of the district court as finally entered. The decree, in its results as finally entered, was in favor of the plaintiff. It is conceded by both parties, and is manifest from the- language of the final decree, that it was based upon the ground set forth in plaintiff’s emergency plea above quoted.
Upon this ground the judgment below is affirmed.