137 N.W. 593 | S.D. | 1912
This -is an appeal by the plaintiff, C. F. Seim, from a judgment entered in favo-r of the defendants. The- proceeding is in the nature of a writ of prohibition to restrain and prohibit -the defendants from submitting to a vote the question, “Shall intoxicating liquors- be sold at retail in the town of Albee?” upon the ground that the petition' filed- with the clerk of the town of Albee did not -contain the signatures of 25 legal freeholder voters of 'said to-wn. I-t ,is alleged in the complaint -of the appellant, in sub-stance, that s'aJd petition did not contain the names of more than 16 legal freeholder voters, although it purported to h-ave 27 legal signers thereto; that the 10 persons named in the complaint were not qualified to sign- a liquor petition -asking f-or a vote on that question; that the records failed to disclose that they had title to real property, -although -some of them had contracts for the purchase of small tracts of land within the limits of the ’-town of Albee; that these titles' c-ame from ene C. F. Schultz, a saloon keeper at th'at pla'ce; that whatever title they had to- real estate in the town -of Albee was -conveyed to them by said Schultz, and-was only held for thé purpose 'of qualifying them to sign- liquor petitions, and- they 'had no real interest or title in any real estate; that the petition in question' was signed-in the months of January and February, 1911; and filed'with the town clerk on the 2nd day of February, 1911, and that upon this .petition'the town trustees, defendant's herein, were about to submit the question to the voters of said town. '
On the trial the court, inter alia, found “that said petition so filed on the 2d day of February, 1911, was signed by 27 legal freeholder voters of said town of Albee, each and every one of whom was qualified to sign said petition;” that the persons named in the petition, alleged not to be qualified to sign the same, were, and each of them, at the time they signed said petition, legal freeholder voters of said town, and legally qualified and entitled to sign said petition under the laws of this state, and each of the said persons were residents, electors, and owners in fee of lands ■in said town of Albee. The court concluded from its findings that the defendants were entitled to judgment denying a premptory writ of prohibition, and judgment was accordingly entered in favor of the defendants. Motion for new trial was made and denied.
This court recently decided, in the case of State ex rel. Dilman v. Weide et al., 135 N. W. 696, that persons holding contracts for the purchase of real estate are freeholders, within the meaning of the 'statute requiring the petition upon the question as to whether or not intoxicating lquors shall bé sold at retail shall be signed by 25 legal freeholders.
The judgment and order denying a new trial are affirmed.