The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1898-01-01
Opinion of Man Who IL Au-
thOrity on the Ques-
ton.
HARD BLOW TO THE STATE
Recent Finding Will Have An
Important Effect Upon
Future Collections.

LANSING, Mich, Dec. 90. The
construction placed upon the recent
decision of the supreme court affect
ing tax titles has excited so much
interest and is of such vast import
ance to the state, that the opinion
of a man who is an authority upon
the question, who is not tax title
dealer and who more than any other
man in central Michigan is qualified
to give his views upon the subject,
will be read with interest. The fol-
lowing lucid statement of the situa-
ton, together with the law in the
case, is furnished:
The Detroit Journal concludes
that the decision in the Connecti-
cut Mutualcase is unimportant, and
will not deter purchasers or retard
the payment of taxes. Most of the
descriptions of state tax land are
held for series of years. If all the
sales for the later years are in
validated because of being cumula-
tive titles, who will buy them when
his title must rest solely on the first
sale, which in most cases is clearly
invalid? The lands being held for
single year are in most cases held
under admittedly invalid sales. The
owners of both classes OF lands need
never pay taxes. The intended
purchaser of land from an owner
generally demands assurance that
there are no tax liens upon it. If
the holding in the case cited is main
tanned the greatest inducement that
can be offered n purchaser will be
the proof that the land is held as
state tax land for an invalid sale,
and, therefore, is perpetually exempt
from the enforced collection Of taxes.
What need the owner care how
many taxes are assessed against it?
They can never be collected.
The holding in the case referred
to is a distinct departure from the
rule of construction Of statutes as
heretofore repeatedly laid down,
both in this state and elsewhere.
AS early as the % Mich the supreme
court of this state held that ''con-
stitutions are to be construed as the 4
people construed them in their
adoption, and the public history of
the times should be consulted, and
should have weight in arriving at
that construction (Bay City VS..
State Treasurer). In Kennedy VS..
Gies, 20 Mich, 50, the court said:
Constitutions as well as statutes
are to be construed in the light of
previous history and surrounding
circumstances; and their language
is not to be measured by the mathe-
matical rules merely, but is subject |
in the nature of things, to numerous
implied exceptions or qualfica-
tions. " In Whipple VS.. Judge of |
Saginaw Circuit Court, 26 Mich. |
342, the court said that "the primary
object of all Interpretation of
statutes is to ascertain the real in
tent of the Legislature" C
The single sentence upon which
the decision is predicated is found !
in the three decree laws under
which sales have been made, and
has always been interpreted to mean
that for the years "thus held" (as
state tax land the land should not
again be advertised, except by
general notice of sale of state tax
lands.
In Westbrook VS.. Miller, 56 Mich.
15l, the court said: "When in the
performance of executive duties, it
becomes necessary for the executive
to construe statute,
great Difference s always due to its
judgment, and the obligation is in
creased by the lapse of considerable
time before its acts are called in
question. In Attorney General
VS.. Glaser, l02 Mich. 400, it was
said 1T has become rule of law
that the Interpretation placed upon
u statute by the different depart
ments of the state having a duty to
perform under the statute, while
not absolutely binding upon the
judicial department, is to be given
weight in doubtful case"
The auditor general has always
included in his petition under the
several decree laws the lands as
sessed that had before been bid to