Mayor of Knoxville v. Gass

119 Tenn. 438
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 15, 1907
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 119 Tenn. 438 (Mayor of Knoxville v. Gass) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mayor of Knoxville v. Gass, 119 Tenn. 438 (Tenn. 1907).

Opinion

MR. Justice McAlister

delivered the opinion of the Court.

This case was presented to the chancellor on a stipulation of agreed facts in accordance with the provisions of section 5206 of Shannon’s Code, and the only question for determination is in respect of the constitutionality of chapter 361, p. 1-203, of the Acts of 1907, entitled:

“An act to authorize municipalities of Tennessee having a population fjy the census of 1900, or any subsequent federal census, of not less than thirty thousand nor more than forty thousand, to issue $165,000 of coupon bonds, with which to fund the floating debts of said, cities, to increase and improve the Are department, to widen the streets, and pay damages to property holders, caused by the erection of viaducts and bridges; also to-authorize said cities to issue $15,000 of coupon bonds, with which to build sewers.
“Section 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, that all municipalities in Tennessee having a population by the federal census of 1900 or any subsequent federal census of not less than 30,000 nor more than 40,000, be, and they are hereby authorized and empowered to issue in their corporate capacity coupon bonds, to be signed by the mayor and countersigned by the recorder, in the manner and under the restrictions hereinafter provided to the amount of one hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars ($165,000), to be appropriated to fund the floating debts of said cities, increase [441]*441and improve their fire departments, widen streets, and pay damages to property holders caused by the erection of viaducts and bridges: provided, that said bonds or proceeds thereof shall be issued exclusively for the purpose above set out and in such manner within the corporate limits of said cities as may hereafter be determined upon by the mayor and aldermen of said cities.
“Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, that the cities aforesaid shall be, and they are hereby, authorized and empowered to issue an additional sum of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) in bonds for the purpose of building sewers, which bonds .shall be signed by the mayor and countersigned by the recorder, and the proceeds thereof shall be used exclusively for the purpose of building sewers and at such points in said cities as may be hereafter determined upon by the board of mayor and aider-men of said cities.
“Sec. 3. Bb it further enacted, that the bonds issued under the first and second sections of this act shall be of such denomination and bear such rate of interest not to exceed four and one-half per cent, as may be determined upon by the mayor and aldermen of said cities, and said bonds shall be issued, payable at the end of thirty years from date of issuance, and interest and principal shall be payable in gold at such places within or without the State of Tennessee as the mayor and aldermen of said cities may determine, and the interest shall be payable at such times as-the mayor and aldermen may deter[442]*442mine, and said bonds shall recite the date of issuance, the date of maturity, the fact that a special tax has been authorized to be levied to create a sinking fund for their payment, and shall include such other matters of law or fact as the mayor and aldermen of said cities may determine to be essential to protect the respective interests of said cities and the purchasers of said bonds, ■and said bonds shall be sold by the mayor and finance ■committee of said cities.
“Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, that the bonds provided for and issued under this act shall in no case be sold for less than par, and the coupons attached thereto ■shall at maturity be received by the mayor and aldermen -of said cities for all taxes due said cities, except sinking fund taxes levied for the retirement of this or any other bond issue of said cities and except for school taxes,
“Sec. 5. Be it further enacted, that as soon as the bonds herein authorized or any portion thereof shall have been issued thereunder the mayor and aldermen of said ■cities shall provide by ordinance a sinking fund wherewith to retire said bonds, and said funds shall be used •exclusively for sinking fund purposes, and be sufficient, with its accumulations, as nearly as may be estimated, to meet and retire the principal indebtedness at maturity, and said sinking fund shall be intrusted to the .management of the sinking fund commissioners now existing in said cities or may hereafter be appointed from time to time.
[443]*443“Sec. 6. Be it further /enacted, that all laws or ■parts of laws in conflict with this act he, and the same are hereby, repealed, and that this act take effect from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it.”

It may be observed that this act, while passed in the form of a general law, is only applicable, on account of its limitations as to population, to the city of Knox-wille.

In accordance with the provisions of the act, the may- or and aldermen of the city of Knoxville have issued said series of bonds, the validity of which has been •challenged on the ground that the title to said act embraces more than one subject and is therefore violative of article 2, section 17, of the constitution of Tennessee, which provides: “No bill shall become a law which embraces more than one subject, that subject to be expressed in the title.”

The legal criticism on the title is that it provides for ■the issuance of $165,000 of coupon bonds to fund the floating debts, to increase and improve the fire departments, to widen streets, and pay damages to property* 'holders caused by the erection of viaducts and bridges and that the enumerated purposes for which this series -of bonds may be issued constitute one subject, and that the title then proceeds to introduce another subject in the following clause: “Also to authorize said cities ’to issue fifteen thousand dollars of coupon bonds with which to build sewers.?

[444]*444It is said that these two subjects .are each distinct and are not germane to each other. The section of the constitution invoked in the present case has frequently been before this court for construction as applied to particular acts passed by the general assembly. The uniform holding of this court has been that, if one general subject is expressed in the title, it is not necessary that all the means or instrumentalities by- which the general purpose of the act is to be accomplished should appear, either in the title or in the body of the act, provided the subsidiary ihatters are germane to the general subject. The course of judicial decision on this subject may be illustrated by the following cases:

In Cannon v. Mathes, 8 Heisk., 505, the act under consideration was entitled: “An act to fix the state tax on property.” Section 4 of that act increased the tax on all privileges fifty per cent, upon the existing basis. It was held that a title purporting that an act is to impose a tax on property is sufficient to support a law embracing taxes on privileges as well as on property. It was said in that case, quoting with approval the text of Cooley on Constitutional Limitations, that ;

“The general purpose of these provisions is accomplished when a law has but one general subject, which is fairly indicated by its title.

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Bluebook (online)
119 Tenn. 438, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mayor-of-knoxville-v-gass-tenn-1907.