Land v. Clark

GAROUTTE,J.

—Defendant was elected to the office of mayor of the city of Sacramento, and plaintiff was his predecessor in office. When the time arrived for defendant to take possession of his office, plaintiff refused to give him possession, and this litigation thereupon arose. The action is in the nature of a proceeding in injunction, and many questions of law are raised upon this appeal. The court only finds it necessary to consider a single one of these questions.

Plaintiff relies upon various provisions of the Purity of Elections Act to support his conduct in declining to give up the office to his successor, Clark, and especially upon section 4 of the act. (Stats. 1893, p. 15.) Among other matters, that section provides: “Any candidate for a public office ¡vho shall refuse or neglect to file, or who makes a false statement of moneys received or expended, as prescribed by section 3 of this act, shall, in addition to the punishment for such offense prescribed by the laws of this state, forfeit any office to which he may have been elected at the election with reference to which this statement is required to be made. If a candidate elected to a public office refuses or neglects to file the statement prescribed by section 3 of this act, . . . the incumbent of the office, unless he is himself a defaulting candidate, must not surrender or deliver up said office, but shall continue to discharge the duties and shall receive the emoluments thereof.” Plaintiff, resting upon the authority which he claims is found in this section, declined to give up the office, and now declares that defendant refused and neglected to file the statement of moneys expended as required by the section aforesaid, and for that reason he alleges that defendant forfeited his right to the office, and that he, plaintiff, as the present incumbent, is entitled to continue in the discharge of its duties.

Does the statement filed by defendant substantially comply with the law? If it does, the whole case against him falls to the ground, and the consideration of other questions is not demanded. Section 3 of the act declares that the statement filed shall be “an itemized statement, showing in detail all moneys paid, loaned, contributed, or otherwise furnished to

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him, or for his use, directly or indirectly, in aid of his election, and all moneys contributed, loaned, or expended by him, didirectly or indirectly, by himself, or through any other person, in aid of his election. Such statement shall give the names of the various persons who paid, loaned, contributed, or otherwise furnished such moneys in aid of bis election, and the names of the various persons to whom such moneys were contributed, loaned, or paid, the specific nature of each item, the service performed, and by whom performed, and the purpose for which the money was expended, contributed, or loaned. Let us test the statement filed by these requirements of the law, and in doing so our attention will only be directed to those items contested by plaintiff. Under the head of “ Receipts,” the statement says, “ Ho money received.” This declaration goes even beyond the demands of the statute. The statute only contemplates a record of affirmative matters. It does not contemplate negative declarations. And if no moneys had been received by the defendant, either directly or indirectly, no mention of that fact need be included in the statement. The Purity of Elections Act is not concerned in things the candidate did not do, but only in those things he did do.