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Campbell v. City of Helena

Supreme Court of Montana
Jul 20, 1932
92 Mont. 366 (Mont. 1932)

Opinion

No. 6,975.

Submitted June 14, 1932.

Decided July 20, 1932. Rehearing denied November 16, 1932.

Cities and Towns — Municipally Owned Water Plants — Operation a Proprietary, not Governmental, Function — Care Required to Furnish Water Free from Contamination — Action for Damages Due to Drinking Impure Water — Defenses not Available to City — Notice to City of Injury not Required — Statutes and Statutory Construction — Pleading — Complaint — Motion to Strike Paragraphs as Repetitious. Cities and Towns — City Owning and Operating Water System Does so in Proprietary, not Governmental, Capacity — Nature of Duties Cast upon City. 1. Where a city operates its own water system and furnishes water to its inhabitants on a rental basis, it acts, not in its governmental character, but in its proprietary capacity, and is charged with the same duties as is a private corporation performing the same service. Same — Municipally Owned Water System — Duty of City to Exercise Proper Care to Prevent Water from Becoming Contaminated — Negligence of Health Officers No Defense to Action for Damages Due to Disease from Drinking Impure Water. 2. A city which furnishes water to its inhabitants in its proprietary or business capacity owes the duty of exercising care commensurate with the risk in seeing that the water is free from contamination likely to affect the health of its customers, and in an action against it for damages incident to the contraction of typhoid fever resulting from the drinking of water contaminated by sewage from a broken sewer-pipe finding its way into a water-pipe in the same defective condition will not be heard to say in defense that plaintiff's illness was due to the negligence of the state board of health and the local health officers, charged by statute with the supervision and inspection of city water supplies. Same — Protection of City Owned Water Supply Part of Corporate Duty of City. 3. The protection of a city owned water supply from pollution by a broken sewer main within its limits, or the correction of a condition brought about by negligent care of the main, is a part of the corporate duty of the city. Statutes and Statutory Construction — Legislative Intention in Passing Act — How to be Ascertained. 4. In construing a statute, the paramount duty of the court is to give effect to the intention of the legislature in enacting it, its intention in that behalf being the law itself; to ascertain the intention, recourse must first be had to the language employed in, and the apparent purpose to be subserved by, the Act. Same — Possible Effect of Act Approving Codification of Laws. 5. An Act approving codification of the laws (Chap. 54, Laws of 1925) may cure defects in connection with the title to an Act embodied therein, constitute an informal method of amendment, or render constitutional a statute which, with its title considered, would be unconstitutional. Same — When, in Construction of Statute Included in Codification of Laws, Title to Act as Originally Passed may be Considered. 6. Where the meaning of a statute is obscure, resort may, inter alia, be had to its title, and where at the time of its construction it bears no title due to its omission in codification of the laws, the title it bore at the time it was passed may be consulted as an aid in arriving at the intention of the legislature in enacting the law, provided the Act remained unchanged by amendment or incorporation therein of something additional by the codifier. Cities and Towns — Notice to City of Injury Suffered from Contaminated City Water not Required as Condition Precedent to Maintain Action for Damages. 7. Held, that section 5080, Revised Codes 1921, requiring as a condition precedent to the right to maintain an action against a city for damages for injuries to persons on the streets or other enumerated places in the city, a notice of the claim, does not apply in an action where the injury was the result of drinking contaminated city water from which he contracted typhoid fever. (DISTRICT JUDGE W.H. MEIGS, sitting in place of MR. JUSTICE GALEN, disqualified, dissenting.) Same — Purpose of Statute Requiring Notice to City of Injury Sustained. 8. The requirement of section 5080, above, that the notice which one must give to a city before he may maintain an action against it for damages for injuries sustained must contain the time when and the place where the accident occurred, is for the purpose of enabling the city, or its representatives, to examine the place and investigate the question of its liability, if any. Same — City Knowingly Furnishing Contaminated Water to Consumer — Injured Party not Required to Prove Source of Contamination. 9. Where plaintiff in his action against a city for damages resulting from typhoid fever contracted by drinking contaminated water furnished by it pleads that defendant knowingly furnished such water and can substantiate his charge, he is not required to prove the source of the contamination to entitle him to recover. Pleading — When Repetitious Matter in Complaint not Subject to Motion to Strike. 10. The fact that each of a number of paragraphs in a complaint averring negligence repeated the same preliminary allegations did not render it subject to a motion to strike as repetitious where each paragraph closed with a specific allegation of negligence; however, allegations in one or more paragraphs which may be proved under others should be stricken as immaterial and repetitious. Cities and Towns — Action to Recover Damages for Contraction of Disease from Drinking Impure Water — What Defenses not Available to Defendant. 11. In an action against a city to recover damages incident to drinking contaminated water furnished by it, resulting in an attack of typhoid fever, plaintiff alleged, inter alia, that defendant had furnished the water with knowledge that it was unfit for human consumption. The answer denied that it had control over the supply and that it had notice or knowledge of the contamination prior to a certain date. In special defenses it averred that the duty of determining the condition of the water was by statute cast upon the state board of health and the county and city health officers who failed to notify defendant of conditions, and that plaintiff was not entitled to maintain the action for failure to give the statutory notice to the city of his injury. Plaintiff declining to reply, motion for judgment on the pleadings on the ground that each of the special defenses constituted a complete defense was sustained. Held, on appeal from the judgment of dismissal that the action of the court was error in both respects, under the above rules. Same — What Defendant City may Show Under General Denials to Complaint in Defense to Above Action. 12. Under its general denials to the complaint in the above action, evidence that the defendant city complied with the rules and regulations of the health officers, and evidence as to what those rules and regulations were, would be relevant upon trial of cause on merits, as bearing directly upon the question of the city's negligence and its knowledge respecting the condition of the water.

Appeal from District Court, Lewis and Clark County; A.J. Horsky, Judge.

Mr. E.G. Toomey and Mr. R. Lee Word, for Appellant, submitted an original and a reply brief and argued the cause orally.

Mr. Raymond T. Nagle, City Attorney, Messrs. Gunn, Rasch, Hall Gunn and Mr. Wm. B. Jones, for Respondent, submitted an original and a supplemental brief; Mr. Nagle and Mr. E.M. Hall argued the cause orally.


When a municipal corporation voluntarily engages in selling and distributing water to its customers for its local advantage or profit, it enters the field of ordinary private business, and has the same rights and is subject to the same liabilities as private corporations or individuals with respect to damages from impurity of water. ( Keever v. City of Mankato, 113 Minn. 55, Ann. Cas. 1912A, 216, 33 L.R.A. (n.s.) 339, 129 N.W. 158, 775; Lockwood v. Dover, 73 N.H. 209, 61 A. 32; Danaher v. Brooklyn, 119 N.Y. 241, 7 L.R.A. 592, 23 N.E. 745, 746; Stubbs v. Rochester, 226 N.Y. 516, 5 A.L.R. 1396, 124 N.E. 137; Public Service Commission v. City of Helena, 52 Mont. 527, 159 P. 24; Aronson v. City of Everett, 136 Wn. 312, 239 P. 1011; Griffith v. City of Butte, 72 Mont. 552, 234 P. 829; Van Alstyne v. City of Amsterdam, 119 Misc Rep. 817, 197 N.Y. Supp. 570; Wagner v. Rock Island, 146 Ill. 139, 21 L.R.A. 519, 34 N.E. 545; Pearl v. Inhabitants of Revere, 219 Mass. 604, 107 N.E. 417; Brown v. Salt Lake City, 33 Utah, 222, 126 Am. St. Rep. 828, 14 Ann. Cas. 1004, 14 L.R.A. (n.s.) 619, 93 P. 570; Wigal v. City of Parkersburg, 74 W. Va. 25, 52 L.R.A. (n.s.) 465, 81 S.E. 554; Coleman v. City of La Grande, 73 Or. 521, 144 P. 468; State Journal Printing Co. v. Madison, 148 Wis. 396, 134 N.W. 909; Lenzen v. New Broubfels, 13 Tex. Civ. App. 335, 35 S.W. 341; Miller Grocery Co. v. City of Des Moines, 195 Iowa, 1310, 28 A.L.R. 815, 192 N.W. 306.)

A water supply corporation is bound to use reasonable care and diligence in providing pure and wholesome water that is at all times free from infection or contamination which renders the water unsafe or dangerous to individuals, or unsuitable for domestic purposes, and is liable for injury from its failure to do so. ( Hayes v. Torrington Water Co., 88 Conn. 609, 92 A. 406; Jones v. Mount Holly Water Co., 87 N.J.L. 106, 93 A. 860; Kohlmeyer v. Ohio Valley Water Co., 58 Pa. Super. 63; Green v. Ashland Water Co., 101 Wis. 258, 70 Am. St. Rep. 911, 43 L.R.A. 117, 77 N.W. 722; Ritterbush v. City of Pittsburg, 205 Cal. 84, 61 A.L.R. 448, 269 P. 930; Roscoe v. Everett, 136 Wn. 295, 239 P. 831; Aronson v. City of Everett, supra; Hamilton v. Madison Water Co., 116 Me. 157, Ann. Cas. 1918D, 853, 100 A. 659; Pennsylvania R. Co. v. Lincoln Trust Co., 91 Ind. App. 28, 167 N.E. 721, 170 N.E. 92; Public Service Commission v. City of Helena, supra; Missoula P.S. Co. v. Bitter Root Irr. Dist., 80 Mont. 64, 257 P. 1038; 27 R.C.L., sec. 48, p. 1432.)

The trial court erred in holding that by law the state board of health was and is given exclusive jurisdiction and control over the defendant city in the matter of the furnishing and supplying of pure and wholesome water to its customers; that the city operated its water plant entirely in a governmental capacity, and that the city could take no action which had for its purpose the keeping of its water supply pure and wholesome without first getting permission from the state board of health to do so. There is no warrant under either the state statutes or the decisions of this court for such a holding. (See sec. 2448, Rev. Codes 1921.) As to the meaning of the term "general supervision" used in that section, see In re James, 97 Vt. 362, 123 A. 385; Great Northern Ry. Co. v. Snohomish County, 48 Wn. 478, 93 P. 924; Van Tongeren v. Heffernan, 5 Dak. 160, 38 N.W. 52; Stone v. Heath, 179 Mass. 385, 388, 60 N.E. 975. The most that defendant can claim is that under that section the state board "has general supervision of the work of local and county boards of health." But from this it by no means follows, as contended by respondent, that "the statute and the rules and regulations of the state board of health have made the furnishing of pure water by a city a governmental function or duty." The decisions of this court and the many authorities cited above are all against such contention.

If, as all the authorities hold save the court of South Carolina, a city engaged in the business of furnishing water to its citizens does so in its private or proprietary capacity, and that negligence in that respect furnishes a valid cause of action to one injured by the use of contaminated water, then the fact that a state board of health has general supervision over the work of the local and county boards of health is beside the question of liability, since all the states from which cases have been cited above have state boards of health, each with powers of supervision as broad as those of the Montana state board, and in all those states the liability of a municipality for negligently furnishing contaminated water has been declared.

The city cannot escape liability because the need of pure and wholesome water appertains to sanitation and the general health of the city. As said in City of Denver v. Porter, 126 Fed. 291, 61 C.C.A. 168: "If the duty in question is substantially one of a local or corporate nature, the city cannot escape responsibility for its careful performance because it may in some general way also relate to a function of government." (See, also, City of Winona v. Botzet, 169 Fed. 321, 23 L.R.A. (n.s.) 204, 94 C.C.A. 563; City of Shawnee v. Roush, 101 Okla. 50, 223 P. 354; City of Galveston v. Rowan, 20 F.2d 501; Esburg Cigar Co. v. Portland, 34 Or. 282, 75 Am. St. Rep. 651, 55 P. 961; Wagner v. Portland, 40 Or. 389, 60 P. 985, 67 P. 300; Devoust v. City of Alameda, 149 Cal. 69, 9 Ann. Cas. 847, 5 L.R.A. (n.s.) 536, 84 P. 760, 762; Eaton v. City of Weiser, 12 Idaho, 544, 118 Am. St. Rep. 225, 86 P. 541; Aschoff v. Evansville, 34 Ind. App. 25, 72 N.E. 279; City of Richmond v. Lincoln, 167 Ind. 468, 79 N.E. 445; Keever v. City of Mankato, supra; Henry v. City of Lincoln, 93 Neb. 331, 50 L.R.A. (n.s.) 174, 140 N.W. 664; Miller Grocery Co. v. City of Des Moines, supra.)

It is alleged by defendant in its answer by way of a complete defense to plaintiff's cause of action that the plaintiff gave the city no notice of his injury and of his intent to sue therefor. In fairness to the court below it may be said that while it left this alleged defense in the answer, it was of opinion that no notice was necessary before plaintiff brought action. We cannot believe that the legislature in passing section 5080, Revised Codes 1921, had in mind any injury which could not be fixed both as to time and place of occurrence in the notice required by that section. When it was passed in 1903, we submit that no such condition of affairs as is here presented could have been in the minds of the legislators, and so the injury was not within either the letter or the spirit of the section. ( Megins v. City of Duluth, 97 Minn. 23, 106 N.W. 89.) Eminent authorities hold that a city engaged in the business of furnishing water to its citizens is not entitled to receive notice of claim of injuries before suit is brought because, in that respect, such a city stands upon the same footing as does a private person or corporation. ( Henry v. Lincoln, 93 Neb. 331, 50 L.R.A. (n.s.) 174, 140 N.W. 664; D'Amico v. City of Boston, 178 Mass. 599, 58 N.E. 158; Borski v. City of Wakefield, 239 Mich. 656, 215 N.W. 19; Cook v. City of Beatrice, 114 Neb. 305, 207 N.W. 518.)


Appellant's argument is based on the premise that the city has full authority and control of matters relating to the purity of its water and to matters relating to public health in connection therewith. He cites a long list of cases where cities owned and operated municipal water systems in which it is held that the city, in so doing, was acting in its proprietary as distinguished from its governmental capacity.

In none of the many cases cited by appellant on this point does it appear that there was a statute, like the statute of Montana, which confers jurisdiction upon the state and local boards of health in matters relating to public water supplies, the purity of the water and the protection of the public health. Appellant's cases are, therefore, not in point. Respondent does not contend that the city, in the absence of the statute conferring this jurisdiction on the state and local boards of health, would not come within the rule announced in the cases cited by appellant. But respondent does contend that such statutes take this matter out of the hands of the city and make it a governmental function administered by the state and local boards of health. If a statute, or ordinance, shows that the duties to be performed are connected with or have reference to the preservation of the public health, then they are in furtherance of governmental functions. This has been squarely decided by this court. ( Griffith v. City of Butte, 72 Mont. 552, 234 P. 829.)

By Chapter 177 of the Laws of 1907, now sections 2641 to 2657, Revised Codes 1921, the state assumed full jurisdiction and control over water systems and supplies of water of cities for domestic use as a health measure. At the same session, sections 2444 to 2502 of the 1921 Code were enacted as Chapter 110 of the Laws of 1907, conferring on the state board of health the power and duty of enforcing the provisions of Chapters 177 and 110.

By these statutes water supplied by a city for domestic use is placed under the control of the state board of health, and the board has the same jurisdiction and control as it has over the sewage of a city, all in the interest of the public health. ( Miles City v. State Board of Health, 39 Mont. 405, 25 L.R.A. (n.s.) 589, 102 P. 696.) The rules and regulations adopted by that board have the force and effect of law. ( Shilkett v. State, 29 Okla. Cr. 17, 232 P. 127; Blue v. Beach, 155 Ind. 121, 80 Am. St. Rep. 195, 50 L.R.A. 64, 56 N.E. 89; People v. Robertson, 302 Ill. 422, 22 A.L.R. 835, 134 N.E. 815; 29 C.J., p. 248.) While the language of these statutes and rules and regulations in some instances is permissive in form, a duty exists to exercise the power conferred. ( Mayor of New York v. Furze, 3 Hill (N.Y.), 612; State Board of Health v. St. Johnsbury, 82 Vt. 276, 18 Ann. Cas. 496, 23 L.R.A. (n.s.) 766, 767, 73 A. 581.)

The whole duty, therefore, with reference to the protection of the water against pollution and when the water became polluted to determine whether or not the pollution was dangerous to health and to protect the users of the water from such danger, if it existed, rested upon the state board of health and the local health officer. The negligence, therefore, if any, was the negligence of the state board of health or of the city health officer, for which negligence the city is not liable. ( Danaher v. City of Brooklyn, 51 Hun, 563, 4 N.Y. Supp. 312; s.c., 119 N.Y. 241, 7 L.R.A. 592, 23 N.E. 745; Bryant v. City of St. Paul, 33 Minn. 289, 53 Am. Rep. 31, 23 N.W. 220; Hughes v. City of Auburn, 161 N.Y. 96, 46 L.R.A. 636, 55 N.E. 389; Gilboy v. City of Detroit, 115 Mich. 121, 73 N.W. 128; Beeks v. Dickinson County, 131 Iowa, 244, 9 Ann. Cas. 812, 6 L.R.A. (n.s.) 831, 108 N.W. 311; Valentine v. Englewood, 76 N.J.L. 509, 16 Ann. Cas. 731, 19 L.R.A. (n.s.) 262, 71 A. 344; Nicholson v. Detroit, 129 Mich. 246, 56 L.R.A. 601, 88 N.W. 695; Ogg v. City of Lansing, 35 Iowa, 495, 14 Am. Rep. 499; Hull v. Roxborough, 142 N.C. 453, 12 L.R.A. (n.s.) 638, 55 S.E. 351; Murray v. Omaha, 66 Neb. 279, 103 Am. St. Rep. 702, 92 N.W. 299; Franklin v. City of Seattle, 112 Wn. 671, 12 A.L.R. 247, 192 P. 1015; Sievers v. City of San Francisco, 115 Cal. 648, 56 Am. St. Rep. 153, 47 P. 687; Metz v. Ashville, 150 N.C. 748, 22 L.R.A. (n.s.) 940, 64 S.E. 881; Murray v. Village of Grass Lake, 125 Mich. 2, 83 N.W. 995; Gross v. Portsmouth, 68 N.H. 266, 73 Am. St. Rep. 586, 33 A. 256; see, also, Dillon on Municipal Corporations, 5th ed., pp. 2879, 2896.)

The local board of health and local health officer are not, under such laws as we have under consideration, servants or agents of the municipality, for whose acts or negligence the municipality can be held liable under the doctrine of respondeat superior, or otherwise. ( Maxmilian v. Mayor, 62 N.Y. 160, 20 Am. Rep. 468, cited with approval in State ex rel. Shea v. Cocking, 66 Mont. 169, 28 A.L.R. 772, 213 P. 594; Detroit v. Laughna, 34 Mich. 402; Lacock v. City of Schenectady, 224 App. Div. 512, 231 N.Y. Supp. 379; Territory v. Board of County Commrs., 8 Mont. 396, 7 L.R.A. 105, 20 P. 809; City of Lafayette v. Timberlake, 88 Ind. 330; Caspary v. City of Portland, 19 Or. 496, 20 Am. St. Rep. 842, 24 P. 1036; County Commrs. v. Duckett, 20 Md. 468, 83 Am. Dec. 557; Smith v. Seattle School District, 112 Wn. 64, 191 P. 858; Valentine v. Englewood, 76 N.J.L. 509, 16 Ann. Cas. 731, 19 L.R.A. (n.s.) 262, 71 A. 344.)

The appointment of the local officers was commanded by the state board of health law, and the city had no discretion in the matter, and such officers, when appointed, were under the control, direction and supervision of the state board, and the city was not given any control or supervision of their acts whatever. Control, supervision and direction of a subordinate or servant is one of the essential and necessary elements that must exist before the doctrine of respondeat superior can be invoked. ( Hooper v. Brawner, 148 Md. 417, 42 A.L.R. 1437, 129 A. 672; 39 C.J., sec. 1454, p. 1269.)

At common law a city is liable the same as a private company for sickness or death caused by the furnishing of contaminated water for the reason that in the absence of statute providing otherwise, a city exercises its private or proprietary power in supplying water for domestic use. In view of this fact the statement is made in the text-books and court opinions that a city is liable for negligence in furnishing water for domestic use the same as a private company. When, however, the state in the exercise of the police power assumes complete control and jurisdiction over the city supply so far as the public health is concerned, as has been done in Montana, the city is necessarily relieved from such liability. (19 R.C.L., p. 1114.)

Compliance with section 5080, Revised Codes 1921, with relation to notice, is a condition prerequisite to maintaining the action. The service of such notice is not a limitation which may be waived, but is a condition precedent to the right of the plaintiff to maintain the action. It must be alleged in the complaint and it must be proved by the evidence. ( Eby v. City of Lewistown, 55 Mont. 113, 173 P. 1163; Dolenty v. Broadwater, 45 Mont. 261, 122 P. 919; Tonn v. City of Helena, 42 Mont. 127, 36 L.R.A. (n.s.) 1136, 111 P. 715.) Plaintiff argues that when the city engages in the business of furnishing water it acts in a private and proprietary capacity, and that it is not entitled to notice of injury under section 5080. Counsel cites four cases from three states to support his views. The undoubted weight of authority, however, is contrary. ( Western Salt Co. v. City of San Diego, 181 Cal. 696, 186 P. 345; Frasch v. City of New Ulm, 130 Minn. 41, L.R.A. 1915E, 749, 153 N.W. 121; Dickie v. City of Centralia, 91 Wn. 467, 157 P. 1084, a suit for damages for typhoid fever contracted from city water; see, also, O'Neil v. City of Richmond, 141 Va. 168, 126 S.E. 56.) The reasons for requiring notice to the city are just as important in the case of private or proprietary functions as they are in governmental functions.

Contracting typhoid fever is an "injury or loss * * * received or suffered" within the meaning of section 5080, supra. As to what constitutes an "injury," see City and County of San Francisco v. Industrial Acc. Com., 183 Cal. 273, 191 P. 26; Vennen v. New Dells Lumber Co., 161 Wis. 370, Ann. Cas. 1918B, 293, L.R.A. 1916A, 273, 154 N.W. 640; Dove v. Alpena Hide Leather Co., 198 Mich. 132, 164 N.W. 253; H.P. Hood Sons v. Maryland Casualty Co., 206 Mass. 223, 138 Am. St. Rep. 379, 30 L.R.A. (n.s.) 1192, 92 N.E. 329; Heileman Brewing Co. v. Schultz, 161 Wis. 46, 152 N.W. 446; New River Coal Co. v. Files, 215 Ala. 64, 109 So. 360. "Injury" includes innumerable cases resulting in injury to persons, feelings or character.

Section 5080 particularly applied to waterworks: There are several instances, where statutes similar to the Montana statute have been applied directly to cases where typhoid fever was contracted. Prominent among these cases is the case of Frasch v. City of New Ulm, supra. The complaint there did not allege the service of notice of the injury and a demurrer was sustained. On appeal the judgment was affirmed. The above case is cited with approval in Dickie v. City of Centralia, 91 Wn. 467, 157 P. 1084; see, also, Sheer v. City of Everett, O'Neil v. City of Richmond, Western Salt Co. v. City of San Diego, supra. The statute clearly applies to any defect in the plant or equipment of the water system or sewer system, such as a broken sewer-pipe, broken or disjointed water-main and the like, and we submit that this statute also applies to contaminated or defective water supplied in a public water system as such water is an inseparable part of such "public works."


The plaintiff, Edwin J. Campbell, brought action to recover damages suffered as the result of drinking contaminated water furnished by the city of Helena, and from which he contracted typhoid fever.

His complaint alleges that the city owns, maintains, operates and controls a water supply and system in its corporate capacity from which it furnishes water for drinking and domestic purposes on a rental basis, and so furnished water to the place where this plaintiff resides during the period covered by the allegations. It is then alleged that, in the summer of 1929, through the negligence of the defendant, its officers, agents and employees, the water became contaminated and that for a period of at least four weeks prior to the time when plaintiff became infected, the defendant had knowledge that the water it was furnishing him was germ-laden and unfit for human consumption, yet negligently failed to remedy the situation or warn plaintiff not to drink the water; that he did drink of the water at his place of residence on the thirteenth day of September, 1929, and thereby contracted typhoid fever from which he was seriously ill and confined to a hospital for a period of three weeks, to his damage in the sum of $10,000.

The defendant moved to strike certain portions of the complaint, which motion was overruled, and then answered, admitting that it owned and operated the water system but denying that it did so in its corporate capacity, and denying that it has control over the water supply. It further denied that it had any notice or knowledge that the water was contaminated prior to September 16, 1929. The answer set up two special defenses, the first being that the duty to determine the condition of the water was transferred by statute to the State Board of Health and its subordinates, the county and city health officers who had knowledge of the condition for some time prior to September 13, but failed to notify the city, and, second, that the plaintiff was not entitled to maintain his action by reason of the fact that he had not given written notice of his injury to the city as required by law.

The plaintiff moved to strike the special defenses from the answer, which motion was denied, and then demurred to the answer; the demurrer was overruled and plaintiff given ten days in which to further plead; he refused to plead further and thereupon defendant moved for judgment on the pleadings on the ground that each special defense constituted a complete defense to the cause of action pleaded. This motion was sustained and judgment of dismissal entered. The plaintiff has appealed from the judgment.

Three questions are presented for determination. First, in operating a municipally owned water supply and system, does the city act in its governmental or in its proprietary capacity? Second: Do the laws creating a State Board of Health and subordinate county and city health departments take the control of water systems out of the hands of the city so as to relieve it of the duty of maintaining a pure supply of water? Third: Does the law require one injured in the manner plaintiff alleges he was injured to give notice to the city as a condition precedent to the maintenance of an action for damages?

1. A city is not required to furnish water to its inhabitants, [1] but it is authorized to do so, if a majority of the taxpayers "affected thereby," on submission, shall authorize the city to enter upon this commercial enterprise. (Subd. 64, sec. 5039, Rev. Codes 1921.) For many years the city of Helena has owned and controlled its waterworks and, as far back as 1897 this court intimated that in the ownership and control of that water system the city acts in its proprietary character, as distinguished from its governmental capacity. ( Helena Consolidated Water Co. v. Steele, 20 Mont. 1, 37 L.R.A. 412, 49 P. 382.) In 1915, this court declared: "The powers granted to a municipality are to be distinguished into two classes — the first including those which are legislative, public or governmental, and import sovereignty; the second those which are proprietary or quasi private, conferred for the private advantage of the inhabitants and of the city itself as a legal person," and "when a city is engaged in operating a municipal plant under authority granted by the general law, it acts in a proprietary or business capacity. In this behalf it stands upon the same footing as a private individual or business corporation similarly situated." ( Milligan v. City of Miles City, 51 Mont. 374, L.R.A. 1916C, 395, 153 P. 276.) This distinction is reiterated and the foregoing decisions are cited with approval in Public Service Commission v. City of Helena, 52 Mont. 527, 159 P. 24, and we now have no inclination to depart from a principle so long and firmly established.

2. The defendant may be said to admit the correctness of the [2, 3] foregoing statement of the law, but it contends that in the protection of the public health the city acts in its governmental capacity, which governmental function is, by law, imposed upon the State Board of Health and its subordinates, the county and city health officers.

A careful reading of the statutory provisions respecting the powers and duties of the State Board of Health (secs. 2641-2657, Rev. Codes 1921), and of their subordinates, the county and city health officers (secs. 2444-2502, Id.), discloses that, for the protection of the public health, these officials are given "general oversight and care" of the sources of all water supplies for domestic use and of the installation of water systems and sewer systems as affecting such supplies, and are commanded to consult with and advise the city authorities in such matters. It has supervisory control over the subordinate health officials and may promulgate rules and regulations, and the health officers are authorized to investigate, on complaint, alleged nuisances tending to pollute water supply sources and prohibit the continuance thereof.

This board has general supervision over the "interests and health of the citizens of the state" and may appoint local health officers if the local authorities fail to do so. The local health officer is authorized to make sanitary inspection whenever and wherever he has reason to suspect that anything exists that may be detrimental to the public health, and, under rules promulgated by the state board, he shall investigate "suspicion" of the existence of such a condition, and shall investigate premises on which cases of typhoid fever exist and take necessary steps to prevent spread of disease and prevent the use of water which may be a probable source of infection, and abate nuisances affecting water used for human consumption.

But all of the powers, duties and authority vested in these officers pertain with the same force when a water system is owned, controlled and operated by a private person or corporation as when it is municipally owned, controlled and operated.

If, then, the reposing of power in the health officers to protect the public health in the manner designated relieves a city of liability for negligently and knowingly furnishing polluted water to its customers, all private enterprises performing a like service are likewise relieved. This cannot be. The city furnishes water to its inhabitants in its private corporate capacity, and it stands exactly in the shoes of the old Helena Water Company from which it purchased the plant; its activity in supplying water for domestic purposes, for hire, carries with it the duty to exercise care, commensurate with the risk involved, to see that the water which it supplies is free from filth and germs which will affect the health of its customers, just as is a private operator of a water system.

To say that a city is required to supply an adequate amount of water but is not concerned with the quality of that water because the quality has to do with the public health, would be a refinement of technical hair-splitting. To say that the health officers have been negligent is no defense to the charge that the city knowingly delivered polluted water to a customer; if the attempt was to hold the city liable in a manner wherein it was obeying a mandate of the health officers, a different question would be presented.

Even where it is held that, as the statutes give to the health officers supervisory control, the city is not required to "watch over the quality of the water as affected by the natural sources of supply," the city "is bound to keep its sewers and streets in such condition that the waters will not be polluted." ( Danaher v. City of Brooklyn, 4 N.Y. Supp. 312.)

In Griffith v. City of Butte, 72 Mont. 552, 234 P. 829, this court quoted from Denver v. Maurer, 47 Colo. 209, 135 Am. St. Rep. 210, 106 P. 875, as follows: "When the city, acting in its private corporate character, by means of that sewer, created on its streets a condition that menaced the health and comfort of the community, no authorities need be cited to show that it was its private corporate duty to remove the condition from its streets. It follows, therefore, that the flushing of that sewer, though done to preserve health and comfort, was not done primarily in the performance of the governmental duty pertaining to the preservation of health, but was done in discharge of the general duty of caring for the streets." So here, the protection of the water supplied from pollution within the corporate limits and the correction of a condition brought about by negligent care of a sewer main, was but a part of the corporate duty of the city. (6 McQuillin on Municipal Corporations, 900.)

3. Section 5080, Revised Codes 1921, declares a condition [4-8] precedent to the right to maintain any action falling within its provisions. ( Tonn v. City of Helena, 42 Mont. 127, 36 L.R.A. (n.s.) 1136, 111 P. 715.) This section was first enacted as Chapter 93, Laws of 1903, under the title "An Act relating to actions against cities and towns for damages to persons injured on streets and other public grounds by reason of the negligence of any city or town in Montana"; it was carried forward, without the title, as section 3289, Revised Codes 1907, and finally as section 5080, above.

The body of the Act, unchanged since 1903, reads: "Before any city or town in this state shall be liable for damages for, or on account of, any injury or loss alleged to have been received or suffered by reason of any defect in any bridge, street, road, sidewalk, culvert, park, public grounds, ferry-boat, or public works of any kind in said city or town, the person so alleged to be injured, or someone in his behalf, shall give to the city or town council, or trustee, or other governing body of such city or town, within sixty days after the alleged injury, notice thereof; said notice shall contain the time when and the place where said injury is alleged to have occurred."

Counsel for the defendant earnestly contend that, as the pleadings disclose that no notice was given the city by this plaintiff, the judgment on the pleadings must be affirmed. They contend that certain language of the Act, viz.: "Any injury or loss * * * received or suffered by reason of any defect in any * * * public works of any kind," requires notice to be given in such a case as this. If the quoted language were all — if it were unaffected by the context of the Act — the argument might be advanced with much force. But it is not all. The closing requirement that the "notice shall contain the time when and the place where said injury * * * occurred" indicates that the makers of the law had in mind only physical injuries resulting directly from an accident occurring by reason of a "defect" in or on a street, sidewalk or other public work. That this is sound is demonstrated, if demonstration can be said to be necessary, by resort to well-known principles of statutory construction.

In construing a statute the paramount rule is to give effect to the intention of its makers (59 C.J. 949), or, as declared by this court, "the intention of the legislature must control." ( McNair v. School District, 87 Mont. 423, 69 A.L.R. 866, 288 P. 188), for "the intention of the legislature in enacting a law is the law itself." ( Edwards v. Morton, 92 Tex. 152, 46 S.W. 792; State v. Livingston Concrete Co., 34 Mont. 570, 9 Ann. Cas. 204, 87 P. 980.)

To ascertain the intention of the legislature, recourse must first be had to the language employed in, and the apparent purpose to be subserved by, the statute ( McNair v. School District, above, and cases therein cited), but where the meaning of a statute is obscure, resort may be had to other canons of construction, including recourse to the title to the original Act. ( Sullivan v. City of Butte, 65 Mont. 495, 211 P. 301; McLaughlin v. Bardsen, 50 Mont. 177, 145 P. 954.)

However, in the instant case it is asserted that, by the formal adoption of the Codes of 1921 (Chap. 54, Laws of 1925), the statute is entirely divorced from its title and we cannot now look to it for any purpose. With this contention we cannot agree. The Act of 1925, approving the Codes of 1921, may cure defects in connection with the title to the Act, constitute an informal method of amendment, or render constitutional an Act which, with its title considered, would be unconstitutional ( State ex rel. Urton v. American Bank Trust Co., 75 Mont. 369, 243 P. 1093; State ex rel. Rankin v. Yegen, 79 Mont. 184, 255 P. 744; Central of Georgia Ry. Co. v. State, 104 Ga. 831, 42 L.R.A. 518, 31 S.E. 531), but, as "the intention of the legislature * * * is the law itself," in the absence of an amendment to the original Act, either by direct legislation, or incorporation of something additional by the codifier, the codification of the laws of the state can have no bearing upon the original intention of the maker of the law; that intention lives and controls, so long as the law remains unchanged, with all the vigor it had when the Act left the hands of its maker, and resort may always be had to the title, in a proper case, as an aid to the determination of that intention.

While the question has not heretofore been directly raised in this state, the rule just stated was followed in Kelly v. City of Butte, 44 Mont. 115, 119 P. 171. The defendant asserts that this case is not in point, as the decision discloses that the cause of action arose in 1905, or before the codification of 1907, and that therefore the court was called upon to consider the Act as it had existed since 1903. In this counsel are mistaken; the Act under consideration but declares a condition precedent to the maintenance of an action for damages for an injury, and, if time was controlling, the court would look to the time of the commencement of the action; the time of the injury would be immaterial.

Reference to the transcript in the Kelly Case discloses that the first pleading before the court was an amended complaint filed in October, 1909, or more than two years after the codification of 1907. It can hardly be presumed that the action was commenced nearly three years prior to the filing of this amended complaint, but, be that as it may, the court in 1911, without regard to the time when the injury was received or the action commenced, looked to the title of the Act to determine the intention of the legislature in its enactment, and, on its consideration, overruled the decision in Butte Machinery Co. v. City of Butte, 43 Mont. 351, 116 P. 357, on the ground that the title had been "overlooked" in deciding that case. In the Butte Machinery Case, the cause of action arose in 1909, and, if counsel for the defendant here were right, that decision was sound and should not have been overruled.

If we consider the title to the Act of 1903 (now sec. 5080), there can be no question but that the legislative assembly of that year had no intention to make it applicable to such a case as this, for that body explicitly declared that it relates to an "action for damages to persons injured on streets or other public grounds."

The plaintiff was not injured in or on any street or public grounds; if he can be said to have been "injured" in the sense in which the term is here used, he was injured by drinking polluted water in his home.

In construing a statute the court must give effect to every word, phrase, clause or sentence therein, if it is possible to do so. ( Stange v. Esval, 67 Mont. 301, 215 P. 807; State ex rel. Thacher v. Boyle, 62 Mont. 97, 204 P. 378.) With this rule in mind, the statute before us, read in the light of its title, precludes the idea that its maker intended that notice should be given in such a case as this; the wording of the statute, in its entirety, clearly indicates the intention that the Act relates to actions based upon personal injury received by reason of an accident caused by a defect in a street or other "public place" or "works" to which the general public had the right of access and, consequently, which the city was in duty bound to use reasonable care to keep in a reasonably safe condition of repair for the protection of those who rightfully traveled the way or went upon the grounds.

The specific requirement that the notice give the time when and the place where the accident occurred, is for the purpose of enabling the city, or its representatives, to examine the place where the defect is alleged to exist and to investigate the question of its liability, if any. ( Tonn v. City of Helena, above; Eby v. City of Lewistown, 55 Mont. 113, 173 P. 1163.)

The construction placed upon dissimilar statutes by other courts is of no value here.

Counsel for defendant place great reliance upon the decision of the supreme court of Minnesota in Winters v. City of Duluth, 82 Minn. 127, 84 N.W. 788, wherein it is held that, under an Act which contains provisions similar to ours, together with others not included in section 5080, notice was required before an employee of the city was entitled to maintain an action for damages for injuries received when he stumbled upon an obstruction or projection in the floor of the pumping station of the city's water system. This result was reached by adopting the Century Dictionary's definition of the term "public works" as including "waterworks" and deducing the legislative intent from the wording of the Act itself. The Act construed was broader than is ours, in that it provided for notices of injuries "by reason of any alleged negligence of any officer, agent, servant or employee of said city." This additional provision of the Act may indicate an intention on the part of the legislature that notice must be given the city of the cause of injury by reason of any action against the city, based upon its negligence. But while in the above decision, the court held this portion of the Act unconstitutional as not being embraced within the title, it may have been influenced thereby nevertheless in ascertaining the intention of the lawmakers. The court held that, because of the breadth of the Act, the rule of ejusdem generis did not apply, and that the words "public grounds" were intended "to be used therein in their general and usual sense; that is, as including all grounds held, used, or controlled by the city * * * for the use and enjoyment of the public."

We fail to see wherein the Duluth decision is in point, even if we were to accept the court's wide latitude of interpretation of the statute, for, in the instant case, the "place where" the plaintiff was injured does not come within the definition of "public grounds," and was not a "place held, used, or controlled by the city * * * for the use and enjoyment of the public" so as to come within the reasoning of the Duluth Case. The plaintiff was not injured on any "grounds held, used or controlled" by the city, but was injured by the drinking, in his own home, of contaminated water supplied to him by the city.

As indicating that the intention of the Minnesota legislature was to require notice to the city in all personal injury cases, that body later, by re-enactment, restored to the Act the portion stricken by the court, under the simple title: "An Act requiring a notice of claim for damages, to be given to cities * * * for loss or injury sustained in certain causes." (Chap. 381, Laws of Minnesota, 1913.) Under this later Act, the Minnesota court has held that the required notice must be given in a case wherein the fact conditions were practically identical with those before us ( Frasch v. City of New Ulm, 130 Minn. 41, L.R.A. 1915E, 749, 153 N.W. 121), but, strangely enough, holds that the statute does not require such notice as a condition precedent to the bringing of an action for damages by one who contracted typhoid fever as a result of sewage entering her cellar from a defective sewer-pipe. ( Hughes v. Village of Nashwauk, 177 Minn. 547, 225 N.W. 898.)

If the Minnesota court in the Duluth Case determined the intention of the legislature without regard to that portion of the statute which it held unconstitutional, we cannot agree with it and think the dissenting opinion of Mr. Justice Collins correctly interprets the Act and states the law when he said: "The Act, according to its title, relates simply to 'persons injured on streets and other public grounds'; * * * the general words 'and other public grounds' immediately following the word 'streets,' under the well-settled rule of ejusdem generis, must be held to mean grounds of the same general kind as those mentioned, viz.: public highways and places where the general public have a right to go, and they cannot be held to mean anything different."

Statutes requiring notice and of the general type of ours are held not to apply to actions arising from negligence in carrying on any private commercial enterprise, in the following well-reasoned cases: Henry v. City of Lincoln, 93 Neb. 331, 50 L.R.A. (n.s.) 174, 140 N.W. 664; Cook v. City of Beatrice, 114 Neb. 305, 207 N.W. 518; Borski v. City of Wakefield, 239 Mich. 656, 215 N.W. 19; Brown v. Salt Lake City, 33 Utah, 222, 126 Am. St. Rep. 828, 14 Ann. Cas. 1004, 14 L.R.A. (n.s.) 619, 93 P. 570.

Section 5080 is not applicable to the facts before us; the [9] cause of action is based upon the negligence of the city in knowingly furnishing its customers polluted water. Proof of such negligence, proximately resulting in injury and damage, would entitle the plaintiff to a judgment; consequently, the plaintiff cannot be required to prove the source of the contamination, much less give notice to the city as to the "place where" the contamination entered the water main because of a "defect" therein.

4. The defendant moved to strike paragraphs seven to eleven of [10, 11] the complaint on the ground that they are repetitious, redundant and unnecessary. It is true that each of the paragraphs mentioned repeats former allegations to the effect that the city knew that the water was contaminated for a period of four weeks prior to September 13, 1929, and knowingly furnished such contaminated water to this plaintiff, but each of those paragraphs closes with a specific allegation of negligence, to-wit: paragraph seven alleges that the city failed to disclose to the plaintiff that the water furnished was dangerous to life and health; eight, that it failed to warn him against the use of the water; nine, that the city failed to chlorinate the water; ten, that it failed to turn the contaminated water out of the city mains; eleven, that it failed to adopt any precautionary measures for the protection of its customers. These allegations may become important on a trial of the case, but the negligent omission alleged in paragraph eight can be proved under the allegation contained in paragraph seven, and those contained in paragraphs nine and ten can be proved under the allegations of paragraph eleven; hence, the motion should have been granted as to paragraphs eight, nine and ten. ( Flatt v. Norman, 91 Mont. 543, 11 P.2d 798.)

5. From what is heretofore said, plaintiff's motion to strike the two affirmative defenses set up in the answer, to the effect that the city is relieved from responsibility by reason of the authority vested in the state and local health boards and officers, and that plaintiff is not entitled to maintain his action because of his failure to give the notice required by section 5080, above, should have been sustained.

In the event that the plaintiff's testimony is sufficient to [12] put defendant upon its proof, evidence that defendant complied with the rules and regulations of the health officers, and evidence as to those rules and regulations, would be relevant under the general denials of the answer, as bearing directly upon the question of defendant's negligence and its knowledge respecting the condition of the water.

The judgment is reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings in accordance with the views herein expressed.


The view I take of this case compels me to dissent. Called to sit herein in the stead of Mr. Justice Galen, one of the ablest jurists this state has produced, who himself dissents upon occasion, I would fain be in harmony with my brethren on the law of the case. To be so in this instance, however, would cause me to feel that I have failed in the conscientious discharge of the imperative duty resting upon me, not to remain silent — the easy way — but to set forth the reasons for the faith within me, even though I stand alone.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages from the defendant, a municipal corporation, for injuries allegedly sustained in being made ill with typhoid fever on or about the thirteenth day of September, 1929, from the drinking of contaminated water knowingly furnished and delivered the plaintiff at his residence by the defendant through its waterworks system for compensation during the four successive weeks immediately preceding said date.

The defendant in its answer, among other things and as a second and further answer and defense, alleged that the contamination was caused by sewage escaping through a break and defect in a sewer and into the water system by reason of defects in the water-pipes near the break; and further that the plaintiff did not, within sixty days, or at all, after the time of his injury or loss, nor did anyone in his behalf, or at all, give to the city council any notice thereof.

The plaintiff moved to strike this second and further answer in its entirety, which being denied, interposed a general demurrer thereto, which being overruled, the plaintiff refused to plead further and judgment on the pleadings was thereupon entered. The demurrer admits the allegations of fact if well pleaded, which they are if the statute is applicable.

The statute relied upon by the defendant reads in full as follows: "Before any city or town in this state shall be liable for damages for, or on account of, any injury or loss alleged to have been received or suffered by reason of any defect in any bridge, street, road, sidewalk, culvert, park, public ground, ferry-boat, or public works of any kind in said city or town, the person so alleged to be injured, or someone in his behalf, shall give to the city or town council, or trustee, or other governing body of such city or town, within sixty days after the alleged injury, notice thereof; said notice to contain the time when and the place where said injury is alleged to have occurred." (Chap. 93, p. 165, Laws of 1903.)

The above statute, enacted by the Eighth Legislative Assembly in 1903, has never been amended, was carried into the Revised Codes of 1907 of Montana as section 3289, and as section 5080 into the Revised Codes of Montana of 1921.

In Butte Machinery Co. v. City of Butte, (May, 1911) 43 Mont. 351, 116 P. 357, this court inadvertently overlooked the title to the Act and held that it applied alike to injuries to person and to property. In Kelly v. City of Butte, (November, 1911), 44 Mont. 115, 119 P. 171, the error was pointed out and corrected. In reversing Butte Machinery Co. v. City of Butte, this court held that the Act applied to injuries to persons only and not to property. With this construction the Act has remained a part of the statute law of this state, without change or modification whatsoever, to the present time.

Counsel for appellant argue that the rule of ejusdem generis applies and controls the construction of the statute, section 5080, and in their brief say that the phrase "public works of any kind" is to take the meaning which it shares in common with preceding terms, that is, "places over which and on which the public may travel, or in which the public may gather, * * * a place of public travel or resort and not a subsurface water or sewer line." In doing so counsel had to carry in mind and give explanation to two preceding terms, namely, "park" and "public ground," and did so by the language used, "a place in which the public may gather or resort," in each of which water, living or subsurface, and sewer facilities as well, are necessary.

While the books contain a multitude of cases construing various statutes of a similar nature, requiring notice, the industry of counsel and research disclose apparently only one case, Winters v. City of Duluth, (1901) 82 Minn. 127, 84 N.W. 788, construing in effect an identical statute including identical title with the Montana statute. From the large number of times in which the case has been cited, both federal and state, it may be aptly called a leading case on the question determined. The language of the decision is so apropos to the argument made that extended quotation therefrom is warranted. The case arose from injuries sustained by an employee stumbling upon an obstruction or projection in the floor of the pumping station connected with the waterworks system of the defendant city. No notice thereof was given the city council. The same contention was made there, as here, namely, "That the words 'other public grounds,' following the word 'streets,' in the title of the Act, must, under the rule of ejusdem generis, be held to mean grounds of the same general kind as those previously mentioned, and be limited to public highways and places where the general public have a right to be." Disposing of this contention, the court said: "If the words of the title 'streets and other public grounds' were the only ones used to designate the public places in the body of the Act, the rule of construction involved might be controlling as to the legislative intent. But 'canons of construction are not the masters of the courts, but merely their servants, to aid them in ascertaining the legislative intent.' * * * The rule that, where general words in a statute follow particular and specific words, the former must be limited to things of the same kind as those specifically mentioned, can be used only as an aid in ascertaining the legislative intent, and when that is apparent from the statute itself the rule has no application. (Suth. St. Constr., secs. 279, 280; Willis v. Mabon, 48 Minn. 140, 156, 31 Am. St. Rep. 626, 16 L.R.A. 281, 50 N.W. 1110.) Such is this case, as far as the title to the Act in question is concerned; for, when we turn to the body of the Act, it is perfectly obvious that the legislature did not intend to limit the words 'other public grounds' to public grounds of the same kind as streets. The legislative intent, as declared in section 1 of this Act, is clear and specific. The intention is to require a notice of the injury to be given, as a condition precedent to the liability of any city to any person for any injury received by reason of any defect in any bridge, street, road, sidewalk, park, public ground, ferry-boat, or public works of any kind in such city. It would be absurd as well as discourteous to impute to the legislature an intention to limit the meaning of general words used in the title of the Act so as to defeat the expressed purpose of its enactment. * * *

"The statute expressly provides that, before any city shall be liable for any injury to any person by reason of any defect in any public ground or public works of any kind in the city, the notice required therein must be given. The words 'public works of any kind,' as used in the statute, are broad enough to, and do, cover the facts of this case; for all fixed works constructed for public use, as railways, docks, canals, waterworks, and roads, are included in the term 'public works.' (Cent. Dict. * * *)

"The term 'public grounds,' in its general and usual meaning, and in the sense in which it is used in the title to this statute, includes any public works in the city. * * * The necessity for notice to a municipality of an injury suffered by reason of a defect in any of its public works or grounds is just as essential for its protection as it would be in case the injury was caused by a defect in its streets, and to limit its operation to injuries caused by the condition of its public highways would defeat the manifest purpose of the Act, by an illiberal construction, contrary to the spirit of the constitutional limitation."

This court, Mr. Justice Smith writing the opinion, in Kelly v. City of Butte, supra, gave the term "public works" the same general and usual meaning, in saying: "Section 3289, Revised Codes [sec. 5080, R.C.M. 1921] providing that notice of claim for injuries must be given to a city or town before it shall be liable for damages, refers, in terms, to any 'defect' in any bridge, street, public works, etc."

The per curiam opinion in strictly construing the word "on" in the title of the Act renders nugatory the words "or public works of any kind in said city or town," in the body of the Act because, forsooth, the water was delivered the plaintiff "not in or on any public place, but in the place where he resided, — a private residence." Where else could it have been delivered under the circumstances pleaded? The implication is that if the plaintiff's residence had been "in or on any public place" the statute would apply. Here the primary causes of plaintiff's illness were, first, the break and defect in the sewer, and, second, the defect in the water-pipe permitting the contaminated sewage to enter and contaminate the water, which plaintiff drank, thereby causing his illness. As to this particular plaintiff, his illness and the character thereof, the particular part of the city in which he resided, and mayhap his very existence were not known by the city council, and did not know for more than two years from the date of the alleged illness when this suit was instituted. It was said in the argument that a typhoid epidemic existed in the city at about the time of plaintiff's illness, and of such nature as to give rise to the fear that the various sections and sources of the city's water system were all infected. Even now, in Helena, in Great Falls, or any other city of the state, some individual might claim he was made ill with some character of illness from the drinking of some character of deleterious water, delivered to him at his private residence by the city through its public works, — the water system. No epidemic therefrom existed. No notice thereof was ever given the city council, nor anything known of it for more than two years later when a suit to recover large damages was filed. Surely, the mere statement hereof shows the absolute necessity for the city council to be given notice. It is also the rule of law according to the authorities. The Act in question, section 5080, uses the words "public grounds." Rarely are such seen without observing thereon buildings, and correlatively there comes at once to the mind the thought of public works, public works of some or any kind, and which also must have been in the mind of the legislature.

In State v. McKinney, 29 Mont. 375, 1 Ann. Cas. 579, 74 P. 1095, Mr. Commissioner Clayberg writing the opinion, sets forth from the collected wisdom of the authorities five cardinal principles controlling the constitutional enactment of a statute. The fourth principle relative to the title is as follows: "The title is generally sufficient if the body of the Act treats only, directly or indirectly, of the subjects mentioned in the title, and of other subjects germane thereto, or of matters in furtherance of or necessary to accomplish the general objects of the bill, as mentioned in the title. Details need not be mentioned. The title need not contain a complete list of all matters covered by the Act." This able jurist, quoting with approval from State ex rel. Olsen v. Board of Control, 85 Minn. 165, in a quotation too long to fully incorporate here, says: "The supreme court of Minnesota has so thoroughly discussed the principles which must control a court in passing upon the constitutionality of a statute where objections are made to its title that we feel constrained to quote at length from its decision: 'Every reasonable presumption should be in favor of the title, which should be more liberally construed than the body of the law, giving to the general words in such title paramount weight. It is not essential that the best or even an accurate title be employed, if it be suggestive in any sense of the legislative purpose. The remedy to be secured, and mischief avoided, is the best test of a sufficient title, which is to prevent it from being made a cloak or artifice to distract attention from the substance of the Act itself. The title, if objected to, should be aided, if possible, by resort to the body of the Act, to show that it was not intended by such title to mislead the legislature or the people, nor to distract their attention from its distinctive measures. Throughout all the decisions it will be found that it is a regard for the law itself, rather than any puerile consideration for the title, which is made the essential object of judicial anxiety.'"

In Evers v. Hudson, 36 Mont. 135, 92 P. 462, Mr. Justice Holloway, a most able and learned jurist, in addition to the five principles enunciated by Mr. Commissioner Clayberg in State v. McKinney, sets forth four more, two of which, 7 and 8, may be here quoted: "7. If a title fairly indicates the general subject of the Act, is comprehensive enough in its scope reasonably to cover all the provisions thereof, and is not calculated to mislead either the legislature or the public, this is a sufficient compliance with the constitutional requirement. 8. Generality or comprehensiveness in the title is no objection, provided the title is not misleading or deceptive and fairly directs the mind to the subject of the law in a way calculated to attract the attention truly to the matter which is proposed to be legislated upon."

In State v. Anaconda C.M. Co., 23 Mont. 498, 501, 59 P. 854, Mr. Justice Hunt, writing the opinion, said: "Upon the highest authority it is held that, under constitutional provisions substantially like that referred to in Montana, where the degree of particularity necessary to be expressed in the title of a bill is not indicated by the Constitution itself, the courts ought not 'embarrass legislation by technical interpretations based upon mere form of phraseology. The objection should be grave, and the conflict between the statute and the Constitution palpable, before the judiciary should disregard a legislative enactment upon the sole ground that it embraced more than one object, or, if but one object, that it was not sufficiently expressed by its title.' ( Montclair v. Ramsdell, 107 U.S. 147, 155, 2 Sup. Ct. 391, 27 L.Ed. 431; Powell v. Supervisors of Brunswick County, 88 Va. 707, 14 S.E. 543.)"

In 25 R.C.L. 1052, a rule of construction is there stated: "One of the recognized rules of construction of statutes is that we are to look to the state of the law when the statute was enacted in order to see for what it was intended as a substitute. No single statute should be interpreted solely by its own words. Upon enactment it becomes a part of, and is to be read in connection with, the whole body of the law. Its interpretation is to be in the light of the general policy of previous legislation and of the long established principles of law and equity. Every statute which is properly the subject of judicial construction should receive such a construction as will not conflict with general principles and will make it harmonize with the preexisting body of law." This rule was quoted with approval by Mr. Justice Galen in State v. Bowker, 63 Mont. 1, 5, 205 P. 961; again in State ex rel. Ewald v. Certain Intoxicating Liquors, 71 Mont. 79, 83, 227 P. 472; and cited as authority by Judge Bennett in Fergus Motor Co. v. Sorenson, 73 Mont. 122, 128, 235 P. 422.

"In construing a statute the court must, if possible, ascertain and carry into effect the intention of the legislature enacting it ( Power v. Board of Co. Commrs., 7 Mont. 82, 14 P. 658); and such intention is to be gathered from the terms of the statute, when considered in the light of the surrounding circumstances ( Jay v. School District No. 1, 24 Mont. 219, 61 P. 250)"; ( State ex rel. Evans v. Stewart, 53 Mont. 18, 31, 161 P. 309); "and the apparent purpose to be subserved. ( Johnson v. Butte Superior Copper Co., 41 Mont. 158, 48 L.R.A. (n.s.) 938, 108 P. 1057.)" ( State ex rel. Carter v. Kall, 53 Mont. 162, 168, 5 A.L.R. 1309, 162 P. 385; Sullivan v. City of Butte, 65 Mont. 495, 496, 211 P. 301; Bennett v. Meeker, 61 Mont. 307, 310, 202 P. 203; Lerch v. Missoula Brick Tile Co., 45 Mont. 314, 320, Ann. Cas. 1914A, 346, 123 P. 25.) "Every word, phrase, clause or sentence employed is to be considered and none shall be held meaningless if it is possible to give effect to it. ( Stadler v. City of Helena, 46 Mont. 128, 127 P. 454.)" ( Mid-Northern Oil Co. v. Walker, 65 Mont. 414, 428, 211 P. 353; City of Billings v. Public Service Com., 67 Mont. 29, 38, 214 P. 608; State ex rel. Board of Co. Commrs. v. District Court, 62 Mont. 275, 279, 204 P. 600; sec. 10520, Rev. Codes 1921.)

At the time section 5080 was enacted there were then upon the statute books of this state sections 4811 and 4812, Political Code 1895. Section 4811 provided that "all accounts and demands against a city or town must be submitted to the council," etc. Section 4812 provided that "all accounts and demands against a city or town must be presented to the council, duly itemized and accompanied by an affidavit of the party or his agent, * * * within one year from the date the same accrued; and any claim or demand not so presented within the time aforesaid is forever barred." These sections were amended by additions thereto, but without changing the provisions above quoted, by Chapter 30, Laws of 1903, p. 42. These sections were carried forward into the Revised Codes of 1907 as sections 3282 and 3283, without showing the amendments, the amendments being given as sections 3287 and 3288, Revised Codes 1907. Sections 3282 and 3283 were repealed by Chapter 109, Laws of 1921, p. 109.

In Dawes v. City of Great Falls, 31 Mont. 9, 77 P. 309, the action was based upon the alleged negligence of the city in making a dangerous excavation in one of the streets, and negligently allowing such excavation to remain in a dangerous condition, with full knowledge of such condition, into which the plaintiff fell and was injured. A trial was had by the court with a jury, which resulted in a verdict and judgment in favor of the plaintiff for the sum of $1,000 damages. Motion for nonsuit was made by the city for the reason that the complaint did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action in "that there is no allegation that the demand of plaintiff was ever presented to the city council, as required by the provisions of sections 4811 and 4812 of the Political Code." The trial court, the loved Judge J.B. Leslie presiding, denied the motion. His ruling was affirmed, the supreme court holding that such provisions could not apply to a claim for damages arising from a tort. Recall that section 4812 required the demand to be presented "within one year from the date the same accrued." Whensoever the injury occurred, it was over a year prior to the institution of suit, hence a stale injury. It is reasonable to suppose that one or more of the legislators from the Great Falls district were conversant with this case, hence the enactment of Chapter 93, Acts of 1903, now section 5080, Revised Codes 1921. "We are to look to the state of the law when the statute was enacted in order to see for what it was intended as a substitute." (25 R.C.L. 1052, quoted supra; see, also, United States Cement Co. v. Cooper, 172 Ind. 599, 88 N.E. 69, 72; Commonwealth v. Chicago, St. L. N.O.R. Co., 124 Ky. 497, 99 S.W. 596, 599; State v. Western Union Tel. Co., 196 Ala. 570, 72 So. 99, 100.)

The per curiam opinion cites Henry v. City of Lincoln, 93 Neb. 331, 50 L.R.A. (n.s.) 174, 140 N.W. 664; Cook v. City of Beatrice, 114 Neb. 305, 207 N.W. 518, 519; Borski v. City of Wakefield, 239 Mich. 656, 215 N.W. 19; Brown v. Salt Lake City, 33 Utah, 222, 126 Am. St. Rep. 828, 14 Ann. Cas. 1004, 14 L.R.A. (n.s.) 619, 95 P. 570, as authorities holding the giving of notice not necessary in a case arising out of the conduct of a purely private enterprise voluntarily entered into by a municipality for hire. The case of D'Amico v. City of Boston, 176 Mass. 599, 58 N.E. 158, is quite generally cited with Henry v. City of Lincoln. These two cases, said Mr. Justice Prentis, in O'Neil v. City of Richmond, 141 Va. 168, 126 S.E. 56, appear to stand alone, and that in Henry v. City of Lincoln there was a strong dissenting opinion. The case of Cook v. City of Beatrice simply follows Henry v. City of Lincoln, the early case in that jurisdiction. Borski v. City of Wakefield follows Henry v. City of Lincoln, cites D'Amico v. City of Boston, and says the cases in which the question has been considered are not numerous. For the contrary view the opinion cites Dickie v. City of Centralia, 91 Wn. 467, 157 P. 1084, and Western Salt Co. v. City of San Diego, 181 Cal. 696, 186 P. 345. In Brown v. Salt Lake City, the statute was confined exclusively to streets, and the Utah supreme court, in an opinion by the late and one of Utah's most able jurists, Mr. Justice Frick, page 373 of 95 P., said: "It will be observed the claims that require presentation are of two kinds: (1) Claims arising out of defective or obstructed streets, alleys, cross-walks, sidewalks, culverts or bridges, or for negligence of the city authorities with respect thereto; (2) claims consisting of various items of account or otherwise that may arise out of transactions with the city, and not arising in tort. This seems manifest from the language used with respect to the character of the claims that must be presented to the city council under the second class mentioned in the statute. It seems reasonably clear to us that, in view of the case of Dawes v. City of Great Falls, 31 Mont. 9, 77 P. 309, the claim in this case does not belong to the class last above noticed." Nor did it come within the first class because "a claim included within the statute is one pertaining to a personal injury or damage to property, and must be presented within ninety days after the happening of such injury or damage," further said the court.

Indeed, it may then be said that the practical necessity for the city, governed and managed in the interests of its inhabitants and taxpayers, the ultimate payors, to have notice of the claim, before suit, of any injury or loss alleged to have been sustained in the discharge of its corporate or business functions and duties, is the primary reason that induced the legislature to enact the statute in question. In the absence of statute a city, free from any active wrongdoing, is not liable in a private action for damages occurring while in the exercise or discharge of its purely municipal and governmental functions and duties. (6 McQuillin on Municipal Corporations, sec. 2793, and Id. 1932 Supp.; City of Portsmouth v. Weiss, (1926) 145 Va. 94, 133 S.E. 781, 785 et seq.; Clinton v. City of Santa Cruz, (1930) 104 Cal.App. 490, 285 P. 1062; Hughes v. Village of Nashwauk, (1929) 177 Minn. 547, 225 N.W. 898.)

The case of Frasch v. City of New Ulm, 130 Minn. 41, L.R.A. 1915E, 749, 153 N.W. 121, is clearly identical with the case here, and the language of the opinion is so clearly apropos to the notice requirement of section 5080, and contrary to the ruling in the per curiam opinion, that the lengthy quotation therefrom is warranted. It reads: "But it is said the provision with respect to written notice of claim should be confined to actions involving or pertaining to the public or governmental functions of a city, and not to causes arising out of the conduct of some private endeavor which it may choose to enter upon, such as the maintenance of waterworks or lighting systems. We have held municipal corporations to the same accountability for negligence in the conduct of enterprises other than strictly governmental that we exact from private corporations engaged in similar business. ( Wiltse v. City of Red Wing, 99 Minn. 255, 109 N.W. 114; Keever v. Mankato, 113 Minn. 55, Ann. Cas. 1912A, 216, 33 L.R.A. (n.s.) 339, 343, 129 N.W. 158, 775, 1 N.C.C.A. 187; Brantman v. City of Canby, 119 Minn. 396, 43 L.R.A. (n.s.) 962, 138 N.W. 671.) And it may be conceded that, in respect to every injury resulting from a negligent operation of its system of waterworks, defendant is answerable in damages to the same extent as would be a private owner thereof. But, even so, the legislature is not, because of similarity of liability, precluded from making distinctions between municipalities and private corporations in respect to conditions precedent to suit. When those conditions are complied with, the liability and redress are the same. This is a period when municipalities are not confined strictly to the functions of governmental agencies, but are permitted to embark in a variety of enterprises deemed beneficial and convenient to its inhabitants, upon the ground that cheaper and more efficient service can be rendered by the municipality than by persons or private corporations. Under this head come the so-called public utilities. This very need of entrusting a multitude of private or quasi-private matters to municipalities, in addition to their purely public duties, is sufficient reason for the requirement of timely notice of a claim, before the one who has suffered from the negligence of the municipality may resort to the court for its enforcement. Every reason which calls for the service of a written notice of claim upon a municipality before suit in any case applies in this. It is as important that the head or administrative body of a city have notice of a claim for negligent injury or damage caused by something connected with its water system as if the injury arose out of some negligent defect in its streets. The funds of a city must be used to pay the one claim, as well as the other. The purpose of notice is to enable a city to ascertain the facts and keep in touch with the evidence pertaining to the claim, so as to facilitate a just settlement, or, if that cannot be done, defend with effect. The legislature, having deemed it expedient to public welfare to permit municipalities to own and manage public utilities, may to a reasonable extent protect them against stale and long-hidden demands and perhaps unnecessary lawsuits, by requiring timely notice as a condition precedent to suit. We do not think this arbitrary class legislation. There can be no claim that thirty days' time is unreasonably short in cases like the present. Tonn v. Helena, 42 Mont. 127, 36 L.R.A. (n.s.) 1136, 111 P. 715, 3 N.C.C.A. 437, Steltz v. Wausau, 88 Wis. 618, 60 N.W. 1054, McCue v. Waupun, 96 Wis. 625, 71 N.W. 1054, and O'Donnell v. New London, 113 Wis. 292, 89 N.W. 511, go to sustain the proposition that, in respect to demands arising outside of the purely governmental functions of cities, or outside of statutory obligations imposed upon them, the legislature, in requiring service of notice of demand as a condition precedent to suit against them, is not improperly discriminating against individuals or private corporations owning and conducting like utilities." To the same effect are Berry v. City of Helena, (1919) 56 Mont. 122, 182 P. 117; Dickie v. City of Centralia, (1916) 91 Wn. 467, 157 P. 1084; O'Neil v. City of Richmond, (1925) 141 Va. 168, 126 S.E. 56; Sheer v. City of Everett, (1925) 134 Wn. 385, 235 P. 789; Lee v. City of Ft. Morgan, (1925) 77 Colo. 135, 235 P. 348, 350; City of Portsmouth v. Weiss, (1926) 145 Va. 94, 133 S.E. 781; Western Salt Co. v. City of San Diego, (1919) 181 Cal. 696, 186 P. 345; Condon v. City of Chicago, (1911) 249 Ill. 596, 94 N.E. 976; Continental Ins. Co. v. City of Los Angeles, (1928) 92 Cal.App. 585, 268 P. 920; Beeson v. City of Los Angeles, (1931) 115 Cal.App. 122, 300 P. 993; Crescent Wharf Warehouse Co. v. City of Los Angeles, (1929) 207 Cal. 430, 278 P. 1028; Dunn v. Boise City, (1927) 45 Idaho, 362, 262 P. 507; Mayor of Savannah v. Herndon, (1932) 44 Ga. App. 574, 162 S.E. 398; Szroka v. Northwestern Bell Tel. Co., (1927) 171 Minn. 57, 59 A.L.R. 404, 213 N.W. 557; Kuhlmann v. City of Fergus Falls, (1929) 178 Minn. 489, 227 N.W. 653.

Hughes v. City of Nashwauk, supra, is commented on in the per curiam opinion apparently with some degree of satisfaction to the effect that the supreme court of Minnesota has departed from its ruling in Frasch v. City of New Ulm, and that that state now is authority for the ruling in the instant opinion. The very contrary is the case. True, the Minnesota court reviews its former decisions, several of which are applicable here, and holds that notice before suit in their instant case is not required. Why? Hughes v. Village of Nashwauk is one of the few cases in which a city or town was guilty of active wrongdoing. The case, said the court, "is not predicated on negligence, but on the creation and maintenance of a nuisance upon the premises occupied by the plaintiff." The court then holds: "The complaint in the present case alleges such an invasion of the plaintiff's premises and the creation of a nuisance thereon. In that situation it appears to be settled by our decisions above noted that an equitable action to enjoin the nuisance and recover damages therefor would not come within the statute requiring notice. It is clear also that under the decision in the Barber Case an action at law for damages to property would not come within the statute. If damages may be recovered in an action at law on account of a nuisance created and maintained by defendant on plaintiff's premises, there appears no valid reason for distinguishing between damages to property and damages to the person so far as the notice statute is concerned. That statute makes the cause of the damage, and not the kind of damage resulting, the test of whether notice is required. Such notice is required where the cause of the damage is a 'defect in any bridge, street, sidewalk, * * * public works or any grounds or places whatsoever, or by reason of the negligence of any of its officers, agents,' etc. Here the cause of damage is alleged to be a nuisance created and maintained by the defendant on private property."

In Tonn v. City of Helena, 42 Mont. 127, 36 L.R.A. (n.s.) 1136, 111 P. 715, cited in Frasch v. City of New Ulm, Mr. Justice Holloway, writing the opinion, said: "It is argued that section 3289 [sec. 5080, Rev. Codes 1921] is unconstitutional in that an unjust discrimination is made in favor of municipalities and against all others who may be defendants in personal injury actions; or, in other words, that, in case the notice provided for above is not given, the city is thus granted a special immunity. A statute is not open to objection merely because it is class legislation. If the classification is reasonable, and all members of a given class receive equal protection, the statute will be upheld. This is the universal rule. (Citations omitted.) There would seem to be abundant reason for taking public municipal bodies out of the general class of litigants. Such bodies are governed only by public officers; the ramifications of their business interests are so extensive that it is a matter of common knowledge that they cannot ascertain the facts with reference to their liability with the same degree of exactness and dispatch as a private person or the officers or agents of a private corporation. We think it cannot be said that the classification made by this statute is unreasonable; and, since all cities of the state are treated alike, the statute is not open to the objection urged against it. ( Quong Wing v. Kirkendall, 39 Mont. 64, 101 P. 250; Lewis v. Northern P. Ry. Co., 36 Mont. 207, 92 P. 469; Parker-Washington Co. v. Kansas City, 73 Kan. 722, 85 P. 781.)"

The fact that a defect exists in any street, public grounds or public works of a city may be known by its mayor or other officer, or even that they had actual knowledge of a person's injury or loss, does not dispense with notice. A city under the statute is entitled to have notice, before suit, of the particular person claiming to have sustained injury or loss, "to enable the city officials to investigate and to determine from such investigation whether the city shall settle the claim or defend against it, and, if the latter alternative is chosen, to secure evidence." ( Berry v. City of Helena, supra.)

In Thomann v. City of Rochester, (1931) 256 N.Y. 165, 178 N.E. 129, Chief Justice Cardoza, now a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, writing the opinion, reversing Id. 230 App. Div. 612, 245 N.Y. Supp. 680, and affirming the trial court as to the statutory requirement for notice, said: "The requirement is strict, but not so strict as to be arbitrary. A judgment against a municipal corporation must be paid out of the public purse. Raids by the unscrupulous will multiply apace if claims may be postponed till the injury is stale. The law does not condemn as arbitrary a classification of rights and remedies that is thus rooted in the public needs."

The giving of the statutory notice is mandatory, hence it must be substantially complied with. ( Nagle v. City of Billings, (1927) 80 Mont. 278, 260 P. 717; Thomann v. City of Rochester, supra; Reid v. Kansas City, (1917) 195 Mo. App. 457, 192 S.W. 1047; Cawthon v. City of Houston, (1919) (Tex.Civ.App.), 212 S.W. 796; Id., (1921) (Tex.Com.App.) 231 S.W. 701; City of Ft. Worth v. Jones, (1923) (Tex.Civ.App.) 249 S.W. 296; Jones v. City of Ft. Worth, (1924) (Tex.Com.App.) 267 S.W. 681; Id., (1925) 270 S.W. 1002; Bowles v. City of Richmond, (1925) 147 Va. 730, 129 S.E. 489; Id., 133 S.E. 593; Dunn v. Boise City, (1927) 45 Idaho, 362, 262 P. 507; Hooge v. City of Milnor, (1927) 56 N.D. 285, 217 N.W. 163; City of Birmingham v. Simmons, (1930) 222 Ala. 111, 74 A.L.R. 766, 130 So. 896; Lane v. Gray, (1930) 50 R.I. 486, 68 A.L.R. 1530, 149 A. 593; Sheehy v. City of New York, (1899) 160 N.Y. 139, 54 N.E. 749.)

The overwhelming weight of authority is clearly contrary to the conclusions reached in the per curiam opinion. Having in mind what is said herein relative to the management of municipal affairs, governmental and proprietary, reason, supported by almost universal authority, rebels against the adoption of any such ruling in Montana.

The failure of the plaintiff to give the mandatory notice within time, or at all, as required by the statute, is decisive of this case. The trial court was right in overruling the demurrer to defendant's answer and entering judgment on the pleadings dismissing the action.

I regret the inordinate length of this opinion, yet to make my position clear it could not be otherwise.


Summaries of

Campbell v. City of Helena

Supreme Court of Montana
Jul 20, 1932
92 Mont. 366 (Mont. 1932)
Case details for

Campbell v. City of Helena

Case Details

Full title:CAMPBELL, APPELLANT, v. CITY OF HELENA, RESPONDENT

Court:Supreme Court of Montana

Date published: Jul 20, 1932

Citations

92 Mont. 366 (Mont. 1932)
16 P.2d 1

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