Cobpobations

Municipal corporations may be dissolved in England; (1) by act of parliament; Co. Litt. 176, n.; (2) by the loss of an integral part; University v. Williams, 9 Gill & J. (Md.) 365, 31 Am. Dec. 72; (3) by a surrender of their franchises; 6 Term 277; (4) by forfeiture of their charter; 6 Beav. 220. In the United States these modes of dissolution are not applicable, and there can be no dissolution, except by an act of the legislature which created the corporation. See Dodge v. People, 113 111. 491, 1 N. E. 826; Meriwether v. Garrett, 102 U. S. 472, 26 L. Ed. 197; Mobile v. Watson, 116 U. S. 289, Sup. Ct. 398, 29 L. Ed. 620. The change 6f name does not dissolve a municipal corporation; Girard v. Philadelphia, 7 Wall. (U. S.) 1, 19 L. Ed. 63; Broughton V. Pensacola, 93 U. S. 266, 23 L. Ed. 896; but the power of so changing exists only in the legislature. Nor does the failure of the Inhabitants of municipality to elect officers operate as a dissolution of it; State v. Dunson, 71 Tex. 65, 9 S. W. 103; nor Is a municipal charter forfeited by mere non-user for any period of time; Butler v. Walker, 98 Ala. 358, 13 South. 261, 39 Am. St. Rep. 61. Upon the division of a municipal corporation into two separate towns, each is entitled to hold in severalty the public property within its limits; North Hempstead v. Hempstead, 2 Wend. 109. See Winona v. School A statute permitting the annexation of property belonging to women to municipalities without giving them an opportunity to make defenses tp the proceedings does not deprive them of the equal protection of the laws; Carrithers v. Shelby ville, 126 Ky. 769, 104 S. W. 744, 17 L. R. A. (N. S.) 421. In Taggart v, Claypool, 146 Ind. 690, 44 N. E. 18, 32 L. R. A. 580, it was held that a provision in an annexation statute granting the right of appeal to resident freeholders only, to the exclusion of owners of property within the territory who were not resident therein, was not in conflict either with the provision of the state constitution or with the XIVth Amendment. The right of a nonresident owner of property within the territory affected was denied; State v. Dlmond, 44 Neb. 154, 62 N. W. 498. ' While it is generally held that a municipal corporation may delegate to the abutter a duty of clearing ice and snow from the sidewalk, it cannot discharge Itself from liability for any injury resulting from a failure to perform a delegated duty; 8 Yale Law J. 344. One who places an obstruction in a public street by special authority from the proper municipal officers, cannot be held liable in trespass for an injury resulting to one using the street on the ground that such obstruction was a nuisance, but only on the ground of negligence; Sanford v. White, 150 Fed. 724, 80 C. C. A. 390. In actions generally, the original minutes or records of a corporation are competent evidence of its acts and proceedings; Denning V. Roome, 6 Wend. (N. Y.) 651. It is competent for the legislature to delegate to municipal corporations the power to make by-laws and ordinances which have, when authorized, the force, in favor of the municipality and against the persons bound thereby, of laws passed by the legislature of the state; Des Moines G. Co. v. Des Moines, 44 la. 608, 24 Am. Rep. 766; but ordinances can not enlarge or change the charter by enlarging, diminishing, or varj’ing its powers; Thomas v. Richmond, 12 Wall. (U. S.) 349, 20 L. Ed. 453. See Delegation; Police Poweb; Assessment.