Northern Pacific Railroad v. Clark

153 U.S. 252, 14 S. Ct. 809, 38 L. Ed. 706, 1894 U.S. LEXIS 2181

• Court: Supreme Court of the United States
• Decided: April 30, 1894
• Docket: 1045
• Status: Published

Opinion

Mr. Justice Jackson,

after stating the case, delivered the opinion of the court.

In the view we take of the case, the answer to the last question will dispose of the suit, and render it unnecessary to enter upon the consideration and determination of the other propositions of law on which instructions are asked.

By an act of the legislature of the Territory, approved March 9, 1883, c. 99, Laws of 1883, it was provided that all railroad companies, except railroads operated by horse power, owned and operated within the Territory, should pay two per centum on the gross earnings of their railroads for a period of five years, and thereafter three per centum on the gross earnings, in lieu of all other taxes upon said railroads and the capital stock and business thereof. The payment of this percentage was to be made at designated dates in each year, and penalties were imposed upon the companies failing to comply with the provisions of the law as to the making of returns of earnings and paying the percentages imposed by the act. The moneys so received and collected were to be apportioned between the Territory and the several counties through which the railroads respectively ran.

This act of 1883 left the railroad companies no choice as to whether they would pay the designated percentage on their gross earnings, or remain subject to taxation upon their property in the ordinary method. It was compulsory upon them. It is not material to the present case to consider whether this act was constitutional or not; it was repealed by the act of the legislature approved January 29, 1889. Now, it is shown by the bill that at the time the act of 1883 was repealed the appellant was in default of the payment of the percentages due upon its gross earnings for the years 1886, 1887, and 1888.

On March 7, 1889, the legislature of the Territory of Dakota passed the act, entitled “ An act providing for the levy and collection of taxes upon property of railroad companies in this Territory,” 1 which went into force and effect immediately after its passage.

This act is by its terms nothing but a tax law, and while it adopted the same rule of percentages on the gross earnings as is provided in the act of 1883, it differed from that act in not being compulsory upon the railroad companies, for it left to

them the election as to which of two modes of taxation they should accept or submit to.- It practically gave to the rail road companies the choice of having their property taxed as other property in the Territory, by assessment and levy, or of taking the benefits of the act upon the terms and conditions provided therein. It was, by section 7, made a condition of the acceptance of the act that “ any railroad company assessed under chapter 99 of the Laws of 1883 shall, within thirty days after the passage of this act, pay into the territorial treasury the full amount of the taxes and interest due under the assessments under said laws of 1883, including taxes on both territorial and interstate earnings,” “ before the} can avail themselves of the provisions of this act.” It was further provided that any company failing to strictly comply with the provisions of the act within the time provided should be immediately subject to assessment and taxation upon its property in the same manner as the property of individuals was assessed and taxed.

The companies accepting the benefits of the act were not only to pay arrearages under the law of 1883, but were also to pay a percentage of gross earnings for the current year of 1889, it being provided that “ if such acceptance was filed on or before the 15th day of February in any year such companies should pay one-half of said amount on said 15th day of February and the balance on the 15th day of August next following. Should acceptance be filed before the 15th day of August and after the 15tb day of February in any year, then an amount equal to three per centum of such account shall be paid in full on or before the 15th day of August in each year.”

It is shown by the bill that the appellant accepted the provisions and benefits of the act within thirty days after March 7, 1889, and it thereby became liable to pay the required percentage on its gross earnings on or before the 15th day of August, 1889. It is also shown by the bill that within, thirty days after the passage of the act it paid the arrearages of percentages on its gross earnings accruing under the act of 1883, for the years 1886, 1887, and 1888; but it is not alleged that it made payment, or tender of payment, of the percentage on its gross earnings for the year 1889, or any portion thereof, although by the express provisions of the act a percentage on a portion of such gross earnings was due and payable on the 15th day of August, 1889.

The moneys to be received and collected by the territorial ■treasurer under this act from the railroad companies which .accepted its provisions were to be apportioned between the Territory and the several counties, respectively, through which the railroads run, or in which the companies had lands subject to taxation, in the manner pointed out in section 6 of the act. The several counties, whose auditors are made defendants in the present case, were therefore interested in the gross earnings tax, which, the appellant was required to pay for the year 1889 in lieu of all other ordinary taxes upon its'property.

The gross earnings act remained in force until November ■2, 1889, when it was repealed by the repugnant provisions ¡contained in the constitution of the State of North Dakota, .as adopted and approved by Congress, and the claim is now made by the appellant that this repeal relieves it from liability to pay any percentage on its gross earnings for the year 1889, or any part thereof, because the same was not payable •until after 1890; and that it was not liable to assessment and taxation on its property because it had accepted the provisions •of the gross earnings act of 1889.

This contention, if correct, would relieve the appellant from .any burden in the way of taxation for the year 1889, but such .a claim as this cannot possibly be sustained. The act of March 7, 1889, clearly intended that the gross earnings tax, therein provided for, as to all companies which would accept its provisions, should supply revenue for the Territory and ¡the counties for the year 1889. It is equally clear from the whole act, as a tax law, that the railroad company had to pay the required percentage on its gross earnings for that year, and that such percentage was payable in part on the 15th •day of August in that year. It is not therefore correct to jsay that no part of the gross earnings were payable until 1890; but, if that were not the case, having' accepted the ■provisions of that act and thus becoming liable to pay the designated percentage of its gross earnings in lieu of taxes for the ■year 1889, that liability would not be discharged by the subsequent repeal of the gross earnings act of 1889. If the company was released from the gross earnings tax by the repeal of the act its property immediately became subject to assessment and taxation in the manner provided for the assessment and taxation of property of individuals in the Territory, and it would not vitiate any such assessment made on the part of the counties that happened to be made prior t.o the repeal of the act of 1889. Such assessment would remain in full force and effect after the repeal of the act, and until satisfied.

It is next contended by the appellant that its payment of arrearages, claimed to be due under the act of 1883, was a consideration for the exemption of its property from taxation for the year 1889. This position cannot be sustained, for, by the terms of the act of 1889, the payment of those arrearages was simply a condition upon which the railroad company was allowed to accept the benefits of that act, which was not an act exempting the property of the railroad company from taxation, but merely substituted one mode of taxation for another upon the terms and conditions specified. One of the terms on which the railroad was allowed to accept the gross earnings tax, in lieu of the ordinary tax upon its property, was that it should pay the arrearages which the Territory •claimed under the act of 1883. No exemption from taxation for the year 1889 was contemplated. The railroads accepting the act were required to pay the gross earnings tax for that year in addition to such arrearages. It cannot, therefore, be properly claimed that the payment of these arrearages constituted a consideration for any exemption from taxation, or that such payment raised any equity on the part of the appellant against the payment of taxes for 1889, whether such taxes were imposed in the shape of a percentage on the ..gross earnings for that year, or in the shape of the ordinary .assessment upon its property.

There is nothing in the allegations of the bill showing affirmatively that the company did not possess the equitable title or ownership in the lands described and assessed. Nor do the averments of the bill negative the fact that the appellant was properly chargeable with taxes on the lands coming within the grant of July 2, 1864, and within the limits of the line of definite location of its road. Payment of the gross •earnings tax, imposed by the act of 1889, would have dis charged all claims for taxes upon the company’s lands for that year, but no ground is shown by the bill for releasing the appellant from the payment of either the percentage tax on its gross earnings, or from the payment of the assessments upon its lands made by the county auditors. By section 7 of the act of 1889, its failure to promptly and strictly comply with the provisions thereof, and pay all sums therein provided to be paid, subjected the company to assessment and taxation in the same manner as individuals. It did not comply with the provisions of the act in paying the percentage of gross earnings due on the 15th day of August, 1889, and thereupon its property became liable to assessment and taxation as the property of individuals in the several counties.

Being liable to pay either the percentage on gross earnings in accordance with the provisions of the act of 1889, or the tax upon its lands, as other property of like character was assessed, the appellant was not entitled to any relief in a court of equity by injunction without payment or tender of what was due under one or the other of these modes of taxation.

In State Railroad Tax Cases, 92 U. S. 575, 616, 617, the rule is established that before an injunction will be granted in such cases as the present, a party must pay or tender what can be seen to be due on the face of the bill, and, speaking for the court in that case, Mr. Justice Miller said that the duty of making such a tender or payment before any injunction will be allowed is laid down “ as a rule to govern the courts of the United States in their action in such cases.” This rule was repeated in National Bank v. Kimball, 103 U. S. 732, 733, where it was treated as a fatal objection to the bill that there was no offer to pay any sum as a tax which the party ought to pay, and, again speaking for this court, Mr. Justice Miller there said: “¥e have announced more than once that it is the established rule of this court that no one can be permitted to go into a court of equity to enjoin the collection of a tax, until he has shown himself .entitled to the aid of the court by paying so much of the tax assessed against him as it can be plainly seen he ought to pay,” etc.

Applying this rule to the present case, it is clear that the appellant’s bill was properly dismissed for failing to pay, or tender to pay, taxes which he ought to have paid on its property, or, in lieu thereof, a percentage of its gross earnings.

Our response, therefore, to the eighth question certified is, that the bill was without equity, because of the failure to aver that the plaintiff had tendered or paid the gross earnings percentage for the year 1889, (or the tax assessed by the county auditors,) and was' not entitled to the equitable relief prayed without first tendering or paying such taxes.

The answer of" the court to that question will accordmgl/y he certified to the Circuit Cowrt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Mb. Justice Bbewee dissented.

1 Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Dakota :

1. Percentage of gross earnings to be paid in lieu of other taxes.— In lieu of any and all other taxes upon any railroads, except railroads operated by horse power, within this Territory, or upon the equipment, appurtenances, or appendages thereof, or upon any other property situated' in this Territory belonging to the corporation owning or operating such railroads, upon the capital stock or business transactions of said railroad company, there shall hereafter be paid into the treasury of this Territory an amount equal to a percentage of all the gross earnings of the corporation owning or operating such railroad, arising from the operating of such railroad, as shall be situated within this Territory, both upon territorial and interstate traffic, in case the railroad company owning or operating such line shall accept and become subject to this act as hereinafter provided.

Every such railroad corporation or person owning or operating or that may hereafter own or operate any line of railroad in this Territory which shall have accepted this act shall pay to said treasurer each year “ for the first five years ” after the approval of this act an amount equal to three per centum of such gross earnings, “ and for and in each and evei’y year after the expiration of such five years an amount equal to two per cent of said gross earnings,” and the payment of such amount annually as aforesaid shall be and is in full of any and all other taxation and assessment whatever upon the property aforesaid.

Said payments shall be made, except as hereinafter provided, one-half on or before the 15th day of Eebruary, and one-half on or before the first day of August in each year. And for the purpose of ascertaining the gross earnings aforesaid, an accurate account of such earnings shall be kept by said company. An abstract shall be furnished by said company to the treasurer of this Territory on or before the first day of Eebruary in each year, the truth of which abstract shall be verified by the affidavits of the treasurer and secretary of such company, and for the purpose of ascertaining the truth of- such affidavits and the correctness of such abstracts, full power is hereby vested in the governor of this Territory, or any other person appointed by law, to examine under oath the officers, employés of said company, or other persons, and if any person so examined by the governor or other authorized person shall knowingly or wilfully swear falsely, concerning the matter aforesaid, every such person is declared to have committed perjury; and for the purpose of securing to the Territory the payment of the aforesaid per centum it is hereby declared that the Territory shall have a lien upon the railroad of said company, and upon all property, estate, or effects of said company whatsoever, personal, real, or mixed, and the lien hereby secured to the Territory shall have and take precedence of all demands, decrees, and judgments against said company.

2. When company shall fail to make return. —If any such railroad company having accepted this act shall fail to make return of its gross earnings as aforesaid, or of any part thereof, at the time and in the manner provided by law, and such default shall continue during the period of thirty days, such company shall be subject to a penalty of an amount equal to ten per cent of the tax imposed upon such company by this act, and the treasurer' of the Territory shall forthwith ascertain the amount of such percentage justly due from such company, as near as may be, from such evidence as may be available, and shall thereupon collect such amount so ascertained, together with the said penalty thereon.

The amount so ascertained by the territorial treasurer as in this section provided shall, together with the said penalty thereon, be by him entered in the books of his office, and such entry when so made shall stand in the place of the report required by law to be made by such company, and shall in all courts within this Territory be evidence of the amount of such tax and penalty and of the other facts stated therein in pursuance of this act.

3. Neglect to pay taxes. — In case any railroad company which shall have accepted the provisions of this act shall fail or neglect to pay the amount reported at the time and in the manner hereinafter provided, for a period of thirty days after the same shall have become due by the terms thereof, in such, case there shall be added to the amount of such tax ten per centum thereof as a penalty for such failure or neglect to pay.

4. Territorial treasurer to distrain. — At any time after the expiration of the period of thirty days after the amount as above provided has become due and payable under the provisions of this act, the territorial treasurer or his deputy shall distrain sufficient goods, chattels, or other movable property, if found within this Territory, to pay the said amount due from such corporation, together with the penalty thereon as hereinafter provided, and shall immediately advertise the sale of the same in at least three newspapers published within this Territory, stating the time when and the place where such property>shall be sold; such sale shall take place at some point on the railroad of such delinquent company, and at least four weeks’ notice of the time and place of such sale shall be given; such delinquent company, its successors or assigns, may pay in such amount and penalty at any time before the sale of the property distrained as herein provided, and thereupon further proceedings in connection with such distress shall cease, and the property distrained shall be delivered to the owner thereof.

5. Land subject to taxation. — The lands of any railroad company shall become subject to taxation in the same manner as other similar property as soon as the same are sold, leased, contracted to be sold or leased; and on or before the first day of April of each year each railroad company having lands within this Territory shall return to the county clerk of each county within this Territory full and complete lists, verified by the affidavit of such officers of the company having knowledge of the facts, of all lands of such company situated within such county, sold, or contracted to be sold, of leased, during the year ending the last day of December preceding, and the list furnished on or before the first day of April, a.d. 1889, in compliance with the terms of this section, shall include a complete list of all lands sold or leased, prior to the last day of December, 1888.

6. 1low taxes apportioned. — The moneys received and collected by the-territorial treasurer in pursuance to this act shall be disposed of by him as-follows: In case the railroad company paying such tax owns no land granted in aid of the construction of its railroad, one-third of the same shall be retained in the territorial treasury for the use of the Territory, and the remainder shall be apportioned among the several counties into or through which the railroad or railroads of such companies run, in proportion to the number of miles of main track situated in such counties respectively. In case the railroad company paying such tax owns land granted in aid of the construction of its railroad¡ then thirty per cent of the tax paid by such company shall be retained in the territorial treasury for the-use of the Territory, and forty per cent shall be apportioned among the several counties into or through which the railroad or railroads of such company run, in proportion to the number of miles of main track situated in such counties, respectively, and thirty per cent shall be apportioned among the several counties in which lands forming a part of its land grant are situated, in proportion to the number of acres of surveyed and unsold lands in said counties.

7. Any railroad company. — Which, at the date of the passage of this act owns or is engaged in operating any line or lines of railroad in this Territory, may at any time within thirty days after the passage of this act, by resolution of its board of directors, attested by its secretary, and filed with the secretary of the Territory, accept and become subject to the provisions of this act, and provided that, any railroad 'company which is now in arrears in the payment of taxes assessed under chapter 99 of the Laws of 1883 shall, within thirty days after the passage of this act, pay into the territorial treasury the full amount of the taxes and interest due under the assessments under said laws of 1883 before they can avail themselves of the provisions of this act, by accepting its terms, including taxes on both territorial and interstate earnings. It is further expressly provided that any company failing to strictly comply with the provisions of this act within the term herein provided shall be immediately subject to assessment and taxation in the manner provided for the assessment and taxation of the property of individuals of this Territory, and said taxes shall be collected in the same manner as is now provided in cases of the property of individuals. Any company which has not complied with the provisions of chapter 99 of the Session Laws of 1883, by paying all taxes claimed on gross earnings both territorial and interstate, or by filing an account of gross earnings both territorial and interstate, shall prepare and file such account in the manner therein provided within thirty,days from the passage hereof, and pay one-half of the entire amount due under the agreement .and acceptance herein referred to, for the current year, and also the entire amount of taxes heretofore claimed by the Territory on local and interstate earnings of such companies, but remaining unpaid at the time of filing said account and within thirty days after the passage of this act, or the same shall not apply to such company or companies. The balance of said taxes due for the current year shall be paid to the territorial treasurer on or before the 15th day of August, 1889. Any railroad company that may be hereafter organized in this Territory, or that shall hereafter become the owner of or engaged in operating any lines of railroad in this Territory, may accept and become subject to the provisions of this act by filing a resolution of its board of directors in the manner as hereinbefore provided.

In case any such railroad company shall accept and become subject to the provisions of this act, it shall at the time of filing such acceptance render an account of gross earnings both territorial and interstate, in the manner as hereinbefore provided, and shall pay at the time of rendering such account, all amounts claimed by the territorial auditor as taxes due on the local and interstate earnings of such company for the current or any preceding year, and shall thereafter pay an amount equal to 3 per centum of such account, as follows: If such acceptance is filed on or before the fifteenth day of February in any year, such company shall pay one-half of said amount on said fifteenth day of February, and the balance on the fifteenth day of August following. Should such acceptance be filed before the fifteenth day of August and after the fifteenth day of February in any year, then an amount equal to 3 per centum of such account shall be paid in full on or before the fifteenth day of August in each year. Thereafter accounts shall be rendered and payment made in the manner provided in this act; provided, that any company failing to promptly and strictly comply with the provisions herein set forth and to pay all sums herein provided to be paid shall be subject to assessment and taxation in the same manner as individuals.

8. In ease of non-aeceptance. — The railroads and property of all railroad companies owning or operating lines of railway in this Territory, which companies shall not accept and become subject to the provisions of this act, shall not be entitled to the exemption in this act contained, but shall be subject to taxation in such manner as shall be provided by law.

9. JRepeal or amendment■ — This act shall be subject to repeal or amendment by any future legislature, and nothing herein contained shall be construed as a repeal of any revenue law now in existence, as applicable to-any railroad company which shall not accept the provisions of this act as herein provided.

10. Effect when. — This action shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved March 7, 1889.