Stanley Matthews

“ Indeed, in view of the nature of the remedy by mandamus as the means of executing the judgment, it is all the more material and important that the judgment itself should determine the nature of the contract and the extent of its obligation. The averment in the original petition that the bonds were issued under the authority of a particular statute becomes, therefore, an additional element in the plaintiff's case in that action for the purpose of showing with certainty what is the mode and measure of redress after judgment. ”

“ In the absence of a denial, the fact, as stated in the petition of the plaintiff, is confessed by the default, and stands as an admission on the record of its truth by the defendant. It is quite true that the judgment would have been the same whether the authority to issue the bonds was derived under the general statutes or under the charter of the railroad company, but good pleading required that the fact, whichever way it was, should be stated, and, when stated, the averment must be proved as laid. ”

“ It was part of the plaintiff's case to show, not merely the execution of the bonds by the county authorities, but that they were issued in pursuance of a law making them the valid obligations of the county. The power to issue such securities does not inhere in a municipal corporation, so as to be implied from its corporate existance; it must be conferred, either in express words, or by reasonable intendment; and, if the authority to issue them in a given case is challenged by a proper denial, the plaintiff is put to the proof. ”