The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1885-06-03

From the Circuit Court OF Wilkinson
county. J. b. Chrisman, Judge.
Tar title Descriptions Various al
ieg>d irregularities.
CAMPBELL, J.:
This was an action of ejectment by
Day against the appellants to enforce
his title TO certain lands struck off 70 the
State at sale for unpaid taxes on June
). 1876, and purchased by him from the
State. The case was tried by the court,
without jury, and resulted in judg
ment for the plaintiff for the lands sued
for and S333.33.
The description of the land as Span
| ish claim, Sec. 12,T. +, r. l T., $40 acres, F"
was no. void for uncertainty.
The sale by the tax collector of Wilkin-
son county, on the first Monday of June,
1876, was not void because it was made
for State tax of Z mills on the dollar
of the valuation of taxable property. 1t
is true that when the sale was made, the
two mills teachers tax" and the one
mill imposed by 1853 of the Code OF
| 1871 had been abolished as to future
fiscal years, but it is manifest that it was
not the legislative will that the tax col
lector of Wilkinson county should omit
to collect these items for the fiscal year
| 1875. On the contrary, it is plain that
the Legislature intended that the taxes
levied under existing laws for 1875
should be collected in that county
This view is deduced from considering
the act of March %, 1876, as to the
collection of the taxes for 1875 in thai
county, acts 1876, p. 345,) i'll connec
tion with the acts of April 10, 1876, (p
90, and April 10, 1876 Up. l29). COnsid
ering these several acts, it appears to bC
a Just view, and maintainable on settled
rules of Interpretation, that the act al
to Wilkinson county was not affected by
the other acts, which looked TO The
future, and were not intended to dis
turb the arrangement previously mad'
for Wilkinson county as to the taxes o
1875 which had already been levied anC
were then being collected. 1t certainl,
was not the legislative intent to releas
Wilkinson county from the payment 70
F, the fiscal year 1875 taxes levied il
pursuance Of existing laws. and whicl
had been paid by the other counties il
t the State.
! The sale was not void for "an exces
, sive county tax" The State tax wa
/ Il mills on lnS UoildT. NE NdludlIO
of the $40 acres was $3.50. The Stat
e tax on that was S1S.56 The count
levy was 140 per cent of the State tax
which. added to the State tax, mad
$44. ga, and 1912 added for teacher;
p, tax" aggregated $4,000. The sum TO
which the sale was made was S49.6S, o
one cent and six-tenths too much. Thi
= excess resulted from the fact that tn
: clerk whose duty it was to extend upO
: the roll the various items Of taxatio
? followed the common practice of writ
ing down the whole number rather tina
y the fraction when no appreciable differ
ence results. An error so trivial an
e innocent as this did Lot annul the sal,
The sale was not void because tn
county levy of taxes was made at th
wrong time The levy was properly mad
at the meeting of the board of supervisor
: begun on the second Monday of Octobe
: 1876. We have carefully reconsidere
. this question, and adhere to our declar;
!. ton on the subject in hcCready .. Ian
; dale, IS Miss. 1firnled.
, Sessions & Cassidy, for appellants.
4 d. C. Bramlett, c. p Nelson, for al
= pellee