The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1877-02-10
IMPORTANT DECISION.
In the Case Of Charles Latte vs..
Morgan Morgans.

III LDS Ease " OlulloS hd11C0 vs..
Morgan Morgans.
Police JuricS Prohibited from LcrMny
Tar for -Iny Parish P"rpose
which SHAH Errcrd one U"ndrrd
Per Ceutum Of the State Tar for
1876 The state 7ur is only EoN
.Nil|s on tic PETER.
In the case of Charles Lalittc vs..
! Morgan Moryans, tax collector which
was before the Suptcme Court on an
appeal from the court of the parish
of st. CHARLES, Chief Justice Man.
uiny read yesterday the following
able and important decision:
The tax collector of the parish Of
St. Charles wa, proceeding to sell the
property of tine l,ii,i,"'ia' to enforce
The payment Of the PARISH tx f."
1876, assessed upon plaintiffs prop
city at the rate Of fourteen and Il
half mills on the dollar, when plain
tiff paid a portion thereof, viz: the
assessment Of four mills on the dollar,
equal to that levied for the general
expenses of the State Government
and the school tax, and enjointd tho
collection of the residue upon various
grounds, of which thc first is that the
, police jnricS of the parishes are pro-
/ hibited from lovyinS Il tax for any
parish purpose, which shall exceed
. one hnu,lrtd per crntum of the State
tax for that year, and that the State
tax WAS only four mills on the dollar.
The law upon which the plaintiff
relies to support that ground Of in
Junction is tire prohibition contained
in the following section Of the ac' Of
lS72: Nor shall the police jury of
any parish levy tax for any parish
purpose except to pay Indebtedness
incurred prior to the passage OF this
! act. dnriNy any year which shall cX.
coed one hnndrcd per ccntum of the
State tax for that year, unless snch
excess, whether levied by village,
city or parochial authorities, shall
first bc sanctioned by vote Of a
majority of the voters of said village,
city or parish at an election held for
! that pnrr'Sr.' Acts of 1872, p. 81.
In the revenue act of the previous
year which was in force in 1876, and
governed the assessment for that year,
1t is enacted that can actual id val
orcm tax Of four mills on each dollar
of the valuation for each year Of all
the real and p".soual property in the
State subject to taxation SHAll De as
sesscd, levied and collected i'll cur
rent money for the purpose of sup
povtin. the Government Of the State,
Of payin: the pnb|ir drht and Of pro-
noting the public Interest," Acts Of
ISL, p. !O4.
+ The defendant denied that the as
ScS>mcnt tnf II mills on the dollar
by the Police Jn,y was in contravrn-
ton of that law. inaSmnch as that
was the sum total Of tho State taxes
for that year, and prayed a di<so|u,
ton Of the injnucri"n with 100 per
cent. upon the taxes cnjoincl as dam
ages. The Judgment was in his favor
and in accordance with that prayer.
The tax of four mills on the dollar
is for the purpose of supporting the
Government Of the State, of paying
the public debt and promoting the
public interest. Other taxes are i'm.
posed under authoiity of special laws
for special purposes, e. G., one to pro.
tect the lands from overflow by the
construction and repair Of levces, an
other for the support of the public
schools, II third to pay the inter
est of the public debt, etc., and
these cannot be diverted from tho
purpose to which they have severally
been cenSccrated. If the tax of fonr
mills on the dollar is deemed suth.
cicnt to detray the expenses of the
State Government, it May reason
ably be inferred that the General AS
scmbly deemed a similar tax ade.
quate to the support of the parish
government, and that the restriction
imposed by the act of 1872 was in
tended to be measured by the rate of
taxation authorized each year for the
Government of the State.
An old and sound rule for the con-
struction of statutes is, that inquiry
must be made of the mischief to be
renrdird, and thus ascertain the mo-
tive which impelled the Legislature
to enact the new law. Blackstone
says: "Thc most universal ard ef-
fectual way of discovering the trnc
meaning of a law, when the words
are dubious. is by considering the
reason and spirit Of it, or the cause
which moved the Legislature to en-
act It'll VOL, 81, Com.
1t is part ofthe public history of
the country, that for several years
Immediately preceding the enactment
of the statute we are considering, the
parochial authorities of many parish
cs had made lavish and wantoa ex-
penditures, and that practically their
power to impose taxes was unlimited
in their own opinion. 1t was exer
cised without restraint. The reports
of the court exhibit to what extent
this power was used, and for what
purposes. Mauifestly that was the
cause that moved the Legislature to
enact this act restricting their power
within specified limits.
The defendant insists that all Of
the taxes levied by authority of the
State, viz the lcvee tax, school tax
interest tax, the tax for the State Gov
eminent, etc, are but one tax. This
theory is necessary to sustain IFS ar
gumept, that the expression, estate
tax used in the statute, means all
the State taxes but the fact is other
wise. The tax of four mills on the
dollar for the expenses OF the State
Government is imposed by the act OF
| I SEl fbot fn~ Tho novnnnt Of the in =