The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-04-22

E The inference that in limiting count,
as well as territorial Indebtedness I
2 percentage of the taxable propert,
= of the county or Territory, respectively
r congress intended property taxable b,
r the county or Territory, whicheve
I should issue the bonds, is supported b,
the fact that such limitations are al
most invariably referred to the valu,
OF taxable property as a standard, no
merely as furnishing a convenient fig
ure. but in relation to the sources o
payment (Litchfield V. Ballou, ia e
). 1os). that is, To the power of tax,
alton by the municipality itself
If the provisions of the Organic Act
of this Territory, limiting Indebtedness
which may be incurred by the Terri
tory or any subdivision thereof to a
percentage Of the assessed value of the
! taxable property of the Territory OF
subdivision as shown by the last gen.
eral assessment for taxation, have q
d1nerent meaning from nearly Identical
expressions in other acts of congress
on the subject, which appear to re-
strict county Indebtedness to a percent
age of the property taxable by the
county, then the Organic Act was in
government radically different from
that of the other Territories
If other methods than taxation are
provided for payment bondholders can
not complain that insufficient security
is thereby furnished or that a lew Of
taxes for their payment cannot be COM
PEELED They know before they take
the bonds what the security is. When
power to tax is unnecessary for the
purpose of providing counties with
/ means to discharge their pecuniary
/ obligations" GU. s. V. New Orleans,
supra, 1889, it may be said that there
/ is no implication that in the grant by
congress Of legislative power to auth
orize county bonds or in the Limitation
upon the extent of such bond issues
power to tax is necessarily an in
gredient Of such power TO contract, as
ordinarily political bodies can only
meet their obligations through the in
strunentality of taxation Rails
County Court V. u. S. supra. 376 Thus
in .. S. V. Macon, SO L. S. $50, a sink
ing fund consisting of one-twentieth of
one per cent.-on the taxable property
of the county was provided for the
payment of certain county bonds is
sued in payment of railroad stock. The
court held that the implication that the
legislature in authorizing the county to
incur the extraordinary debt intended
to grant it full power to tax for the
payment Of the debt was repealed by
the special provision for the tax of one
twentieth of one per cent. and the case
is thus brought directly within the
maxim expressio unius est excIusfo
alterius''
By Sec. 10 Act 65 s. L. 1907, entitled
"An Act to Enable the Counties to
Provide for County Loans" upon de-
fault in payment of bonds the holder
may bring an action against the de-
faulting county land should any
moneys be then or thereafter payable
by the Territory of Hawaii to the
County defendant in such action a
garnishee process may issue against
the auditor of the Territory and, by
Sec II, from the time of service cit
shall be unlawful for such garnishee
to draw, sign or issue any warrant
payable to the order of the County
defendant or any of it's officers or
permit or cause the same to be done,
for any moneys which may be then
or thereafter payable to such defend
ant until the action shall have been
J
in rendered, if any, shall have been
fully paid" and "aIl moneys due or
to become due to such defendant shall
be held in the Treasury of the Terri
tory from the time of such service
until such final judgment to an
amount sufficient to meet the demand.
By Sec. of Act SO Fifty per centum
of the total amount of poll and school
taxes and taxes on property and in
comes collected in each County shall |
be paid by the Treasurer of the Ter
ritory to such County" upon monthly |
warrants by the auditor of the Terri |
tory in favor of the County Treasurer, |
and, by Sec. 2 THE funds realized |
from such warrants shall be applied /
by each County Treasurer to the pay
ment of the expenses of his respective |
County, By Act III S. L. 1907 the |
treasurer of each county is authorized |
to establish as a special deposit in the |
treasury of his county a sinking fund |
to pay any present or future bonded /
of the county and is re- !
quired to transfer from its current re- !
ceipts and deposit to the credit of the |
sinking fund such an amount of money |
as will, compounded annually at the /
rate of interest specified in the bonds, /
amount IN the unexpIFed term tnefeoE |
to the full face value of such bond |
issue
Future legislative enactments which /
would substantially lessen this security /
for payment of county bonds would be |
liable to be treated as invalid under |
the constitutional prohibition of state |
legislation impairing the obligation of
contracts which may be applicable I'M /
der the provision in the Organic Act, /
Sec. 5, that the constitution shall /
have the same force and effect within |
the said Territory as elsewhere in the |
United States
But while the foregoing provisions |
seem to make it unnecessary for coun-
ties to have power to tax themselves
in order TO obtain money for paying |
their bonded Indebtedness, yet if the
Organic Act intends that county bonds |
shall be payable out of self imposed |
taxes and not out of territorial /
taxes voted by the legislature, then, /
in the absence Of power in the county /
to levy taxes for their payment. the |
issue of its bonds must be treated as
bx tho Orpa mic Act Isl Il