Henry Billings Brown

“ It was entirely reasonable to assume that the territorial legislature might wish to extend the power of refunding the bonds to those issued by its own municipalities, as well as by itself, as it did by the act of March 19, 1891, but it is inconceivable that, after having passed a complete and independent act of its own for the refunding of territorial bonds, Congress should authorize a territorial legislature to repeal it. ”

“ Respondents, however, relied largely upon the fact that as the loan commission of Arizona was abolished prior to the judgment of the supreme court in this case, there are now no persons upon whom the duty rests to fund the bonds in question, or against whom the writ of mandamus can go. There is no doubt that the legislature of Arizona did, on March 13, 1899, pass an act 'to Abolish the Loan Commission,' hereinafter set forth in full. ”

“ For the purpose of liquidating and providing for the payment of the outstanding and existing indebtedness of the territory of Arizona, the governor of the said territory, together with the territorial auditor and territorial secretary, and their successors in office, shall constitute a board of commissioners, to be styled the loan commissioners of the territory of Arizona, and shall have and exercise the powers and perform the duties hereinafter provided.' Congress, by an act approved June 25, 1890, re-enacted this statute substantially verbatim. ”

“ Congress itself exercised the same power of amendment by its acts of July 13, 1892, August 3, 1894, and June 6, 1896. While we held in the recent case of Shuerman v. Arizona, 184 U.S. 342, ante, 406, 22 Sup. Ct. Rep. 406, that the territorial statute of 1887 was the foundation for the appointment of the loan commissioners, and that their authority must be exercised in the manner prescribed by the territorial laws, it by no means follows that it was within the contemplation of Congress to authorize the legislature to repeal the act of 1890 under which their existence was continued. ”

“ The question when a suit against an individual in his official capacity abates by his retirement from office has been discussed in a number of cases in this court, and a distinction taken between applications for a mandamus against the head of a department or bureau for a personal delinquency, and those against a continuing municipal board with a continuing duty, and the delinquency is that of the board in its corporate capacity. ”

“ Later, the territorial legislature of Iowa repealed the charter, and directed the settlement of the affairs of the corporation by trustees under the supervision of the court. It was held that the annulment of several of the provisions of the bank's charter did not make the charter of the bank a congressional charter, but that it still remained a creation of the legislature of Wisconsin, and that no Federal question arose from the repeal of that charter by the legislature of Iowa. The case is totally different from the one under consideration, and that of Lyons v. Woods is equally so. ”

“ Rep. 225, wherein a bill in equity against the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of the General Land Office, by their personal names, to restrain them from exercising jurisdiction with respect to the disposition of certain public lands, and to compel the Secretary to issue patents therefor to the plaintiff, was held to abate, as to the Secretary, upon his resignation from office, and could not afterwards be maintained against the Commissioner alone. ”