Riverland Oil Co. v. Williams

1936 OK 128, 56 P.2d 1167, 176 Okla. 448, 1936 Okla. LEXIS 228
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 4, 1936
DocketNo. 25521.
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 1936 OK 128 (Riverland Oil Co. v. Williams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Riverland Oil Co. v. Williams, 1936 OK 128, 56 P.2d 1167, 176 Okla. 448, 1936 Okla. LEXIS 228 (Okla. 1936).

Opinion

BAYLESS, J.

Riverland Oil Company, a corporation, employer, and its insurance carrier, as petitioners, petition this court for a review of an award of the State Industrial Commission in favor of an employee, Henry Williams, respondent.

Petitioners raised but one issue and it related to the correct interpretation of section 2, chapter 20, S. L. -1933, purporting to amend section 13305, O. S. 1931, which was applied by the commission in determining the amount of the award made. The briefs made no attack upon the constitutionality of the amended act, but such a question appeared to the court to be present and briefs upon this question were requested.

Section 13365, O. S. 1931, related to the (power of the commission to provide for the payment of the compensation awarded in periodical payments or a lump sum. Chapter 29, S. L. 1933, purports to be section 13365’, supra, as re-enacted and amended. It reads in part:

“In causes coming under the ‘other cases’ provision of section 13356, supra, and in proceedings to enforce claims for compensation during period of healing or temporary total disability, the compensation under the provisions of this act shall be payable periodically, in accordance with the method of payment of the wages of the employee at the time of his injury, and shall be so provided for in any award made thereon. Provided, however, in all cases where the commission shall determine, under the evidence, that claimant is suffering from a disability permanent in nature, but partial in extent, the compensation ordered paid shall be determined and fixed by ascertaining the amount which would be due for a permanent total disability and awarding to claimant a percentage thereof equal to the percentage of disability, for the full period of 500 weeks.”

Under this quoted portion of said act the commission not only provided for the periodical payment of the award, but also determined the compensation to be paid. In doing this the commission applied a schedule of compensation benefits provided therein which had never before been found therein or elsewhere. In doing this it also ignored the “other cases” subdivision of section 13356, O. S. 1931, which has always contained the schedule of compensation benefits to be paid for all injuries and resulting disabilities c'assified as “other cases.” The injury in this matter was one falling within “other eases.”

The question then is: Is the title to chapter 29, S. L. 1933, broad enough to evince an intention to cover the subject of the determination of the amount to be awarded, and thereby broaden the scope of section 13365, supra; and if this must be answered in the affirmative, is the title good as judged by section 57, art. 5, Constitution of Oklahoma? Said title reads:

“An Act amending sections 13367 and 13372, Oklahoma Statutes 1931, relating to awards made under Workmen’s Compensation Act; providing for procedure thereunder; amount and tenure of compensation in certain cases; enforcement of awards made; for survival of awards in case of death of claimant; limiting time for awards upon applications based upon change of condition ; and declaring an emergency.”

The title is one restricted to amendatory legislation. It purports to amend legislation already in existence. It specifies the particular items with respect to which it is to be amended, and among them is “amount and tenure of compensation in certain cases.” The tenure of the compensation, that is, the term it is to endure; the period over which payments of portions of the amount awarded may be made, was within the scope of section 13365. supra, and was the proper subject of amendment. But until this amendment. the matter of the determination, the calculation, of the amount to be awarded for the injuries c’assified under subdivision 3 of section 13356, supra, as “other cases,” has never been comprehended within section 13365, supra. It is a debatable question whether the title is broad enough to cover this new subject-matter. If we answer this question in the negative, the portion of the act as amended falls because of the first requirement of section 57, article 5, Constitution of Oklahoma (13514, O. S. 1931). If we answer the question in the affirmative, it *450 must fall also because of tlie portion of said section 57, article 5, supra, relating to amendment.

We liave said in Pottawatomie County v. Alexander, 68 Okla. 126, 172 P. 436:

“An act to amend a particular section of a general law is.limited in its scope to the subject-matter of the section proposed to be amended. Such amendment ex vi termini implies merely a change of its provisions upon the same subject to which the original section relates.”

See, also, Carrell v. Board of County Commissioners of Hughes County, 68 Okla. 124, 172 P. 438, and Ex parte Masters, 126 Okla 80, 258 P. 861.

In our opinion in Pottawatomie County v. Alexander, supra, we said:

“Had the amended act been entitled generally as an act to amend chapter 152, any amendment germane and pertinent might] have been made; but, being specifically limited to the section designated, the inter-polatioii by proviso of a new subject dealt with in another section of the old.act was not permissible. Any further changes than those designated in the title were precluded by the specific enumeration of those named.
“It is held generally that, where the title of the amendatory act specifies the section or sections to be amended, the amendment must be germane to the subject-matter of the sections specified, and that amendments of other sections, not specified, will be void.”

In the opinion in Ex parte Masters, supra, we were considering an act of the Legislature amending certain existing laws relating to the rules of the road for vehicular traffic. The section to be amended did not mention the rate of speed of travel. The rate of speed of 1 ravel of vehicles was regulated by another section. The section relating to the rules of the road, as amended, contained a ¡proviso relating to a rate of speed of travel differing from the existing law, which law was not attempted to be amended by the act under consideration. We said :

“The question then arises, Was the provision with reference to speed germane to or embraced within the subject-matter of said section 10164, the section of the general law sought to be amended? Section 10164 ¡was composed of eight ‘Rules of the Road,’ which prescribed rules for the conduct of persons driving vehicles over the state highways in the following instances : ((1) When meeting each other; (2) when overtaking others; (3) when turning- to the right into another road; (4) when turning to the left into another road; (5) when crossing from one side of the street to the other; (6) when ¡passing other vehicles from the rear. Rule 7 gave certain vehicles right of way over others, and rule 8 was the penal clause. Thus, it will be observed, the said section did not attempt to prescribe or regulate the rate of speed at which vehicles might travel. The Legislature itself recognized that the subject of the speed of vehicles had not been dealt with, and, in 1923, passed two special acts with regard to such matters.
“We have seen, under the holding of this court in Pottawatomie County v.

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Bluebook (online)
1936 OK 128, 56 P.2d 1167, 176 Okla. 448, 1936 Okla. LEXIS 228, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/riverland-oil-co-v-williams-okla-1936.