12 D.C. 217 | D.C. | 1881
delivered the opinion of the court.
This is an appeal by the District of Columbia from the decree of the chancellor of the 12th of November, 1880, perpetually enjoining the Commissioners of the District and their successors from selling or advertising for sale the property mentioned in the bill of complaint on account of the several tax levies and assessments mentioned in the
The property referred to is the bridge structure across the Potomac river from the city of Georgetown to Virginia. The right of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia to collect the taxes therein referred to is contested upon a variety of grounds set forth at large in the bill; and which will now be considered in turn.
First. It is insisted on the part of the Bridge Company that the property in question is exempt from taxation by express provision of law.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company was incorporated by the State of Virginia in 1824, and by the State of Maryland in 1825. By the terms of these statutes the charter was not to become operative until the Congress of the "United States should give its assent to its provisions ; and this ratification and assent were expressed by the act of Congress approved March 8, 1825. Section 9 of the charter declared “ that the said canal and all other works aforesaid or required to improve the navigation thereof at any time hereafter, with all their profits subject to the limitations herein provided and to none other, shall be, and the same are hereby vested in the said stockholders, their heirs and assigns forever, as tenants in common, in proportion to their respective shares, and be forever exempt from the payment of any tax, imposition, or assessment whatsoever.”
By the 21st section of the charter it was further provided that the right to the waters of the Potomac for the purpose of any lateral canal which the States of Virginia or Maryland might authorize to be made in connection with the said canal, was reserved to the said States respectively; “that the Government of the United States should retain the power to extend the said canal in or through the District of Columbia on either or both sides of the Potomac river,” and that before the charter should take effect “ the Congress of the United States should authorize the States of Virginia and Maryland, or either of them, to take and con
The eastern terminus of the canal route remained in Georgetown, until Congress, by the act of 26th May, 1830? incorporated the Alexandria Canal Company authorizing the construction of a canal from the line of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal in Georgetown, across the Potomac river, to a point on the river in or near the city of Alexandria. Under that charter a canal was conducted across the Potomac at Georgetown upon an aqueduct supported upon piers, built on rock in the bed of the river, and upon stone abutments. • The Alexandria Canal Company for many years operated the canal, until the 16th of May, 1866, when the Board of Public Works of Virginia, under authority of law, united with the city of Alexandria and with the Alexandria Canal Company, in a lease of the canal, its aqueduct, locks, banks, and all other, its" property, rights, and franchises, unto Henry H. Wells, Philip Quigley, William W. Dungan, their heirs and assigns, for ninety-nine years from that date. This lease and conveyance were ratified by act of the General Assembly of Virginia in the following year, and the lessees were thereby empowered to erect, build, operate, and maintain across the Potomac river, over the stone piers on which the acqueduct rested, a new aqueduct of wood, iron, or stone, and in connection therewith a bridge *of the same material for the passage of persons, animals, wagons, &o.
On the 27th of July, 1868, the assent of Congress was given to the construction by the said lessees of the bridge over the aqueduct and piers, for the passage of railroad tracks, persons and vehicles, and the act authorized the collection of tolls by the lessees from persons using the bridge.
Is the property in question exempt under a proper construction of these statutes?
The exemption of all the property of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal by the original charter is ample and explicit. The legislatures of the different States, in an unmistakable manner, declared that the property of the canal should be forever free from the payment of any taxation, imposition or assessment whatsoever, and Congress assented to that exemption. But in our opinion this exemption cannot be properly construed as embracing the property of the complainants. It is an established principle that the power of taxation is the highest attribute of sovereignty ; that its existence will always be presumed ; that, wherever an exemption from taxation is claimed, the language surrendering the power must be clear and unmistakable ; that a State cannot strip itself of this most essential power by doubtful words ; that as its existence rests upon necessity and is inherent in every sovereignty, wherever on any fair construction of the legislation invoked, there is a reasonable doubt whether the claim for the exemption is made out, that doubt must be solved in favor of the sovereignty. In other words, that the language used must be of such a character as, fairly interpreted, leaves no room for controversy on the point.
Now plainly such is not the case in the present instance. The charter of the Alexandria Canal Company of May 30 in many particulars is copied from the original charter of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, but in section 9 of the charter of the Alexandria Company, corresponding with section 9 of the original charter, the words of exemption from taxation are studiously omitted, although the rest of the section is literally copied. See 6th Stats, at Large, 422. There can
In like manner it was insisted on behalf of the Annapolis company, that under these statutes, its property was exempted from taxation, and no claim to the contrary had been made from 1837 to 1876. But the Supreme Court held that the Annapolis and Elk Ridge Company was invested with all the rights and powers neceesary to the construction and repair of a railroad and for that purpose was to have and use all the powers and privileges contained in the enumerated sections of the Baltimore and Ohio charter; that this was not a grant of all the powers and privileges of the latter company but only of such as were necessary to carry into effect the objects for which the¡ new company was incorporated, and
To the same effect was the decision of this court in the case of the Baltimore and Ohio R. R. Co. vs. The District of Columbia, reported in 3 Mac Arthur, 122.
In February, 1831, Cougress passed a law authorizing the extension into the District of Columbia, by the Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad, of a lateral railroad in connection with the main branch located from the city of Baltimore to the Ohio river in pursuance of their said act of incorporation, and the statute proceeded, “ and the said Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad Company are hereby authorized to exercise the same powers, rights and privileges and shall be subject to> the same restrictions in the extension and construction of the said lateral railroad into and within the said District as they may exercise or are subject to under and by virtue of their said charter or act of incorporation in the construction or extension of any railroad in the State of Maryland, and shall be entitled to the same rights, compensation, benefits and immunities in the use of the said road and with regard thereto as are provided in their said charter.”
It was claimed by the railroad company that this operated an exemption from taxation by Congress of the property of the company in the lateral road within the District of Columbia. But it was held by this court that such was not its effect, either by express terms or by necessary implication, and that its property lying within the District of Columbia was subject to taxation in the same manner as the property of private individuals.
The 21st section of the charter of the Chesapeake and
But if the statutes which we have been considering could he held to have exempted the Alexandria Canal Company from taxation, still such exemption would not exonerate the property from assessment in the hands of the present holders. In virtue of the act of the General Assembly of Virginia of February, 1866, the canal company has transferred to the lessees above named all its property and franchises, and it has been held repeatedly by the highest courts that such transfer does not carry with it an immunity from taxation in the hands of the new proprietors. Such was the decision in Morgan vs. Louisiana, 93 United States, 221, and in Railroad Company vs. The County of Hamblen, 102 United States, 277.
In the first of these cases it was held that where the property and franchises of a railroad company were sold under a decree, the immunity from taxation of the property of the company guaranteed .in the act of incorporation did not accompany the property in its transfer to the purchaser, since the immunity from taxation in such case was a privilege granted to the company itself and not transferable. In the latter case it was held that where, under a decree to
Again. It was no feature whatever of the original grant of incorporation to the Alexandria Canal Company that’it should maintain a bridge for passengers, vehicles or railroad cars over the top of the aqueduct carrying their canal across the river Potomac. A railroad or foot bridge was in no sense an appropriate part of a canal, or within the purposes or contemplation of those who granted the franchise to the company. These lessees, by the acts of Virginia' and of Congress, have been entrusted with a further and additional privilege not enjoyed by the lessors under whom they claim. If the canal company itself, by subsequent legislation, unaccompanied by an exemption from taxation, had been authorized to construct this bridge, the new property thus created could not have been fairly included under a grant of exemption of the property of the canal; and still less could the right of the sovereign to exact taxes be presumed to be waived in favor of the lessees.
We are, therefore, clearly of the opinion that there is nothing in the legislation relied on which exonerates the complainants from taxation.
Second. It is insisted in the bill that the property upon which this tax is sought to be levied is not within the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia, and for this reason is not assessable by the District authorities.
The complainants are the owners of the aqueduct and canal which is carried over it, extending from the Chesapeake and Ohio canal in Georgetown across the Potomac river to the Virginia shore. The wooden bridge in question is supported upon a Howe truss resting on the piers over the top^
By reiterated decisions it has been perfectly settled that the whole bed of the Potomac river, with all the islands therein, up to high water mark on the Virginia shore are within the explicit terms of the Maryland charter. An interesting point of grammatical construction in the Latin of the original charter demonstrates this. In describing the boundary, the charter declares that the line should pass from Delaware bay in a right line by the fortieth degree of north latitude westwardly, “unto the true meridian of the first fountain of the river Potomac; thence verging towards the south into the further bank of the said river, and following the same on the west and south unto a certain place called Cinquack,” &c. In the English translation, the expression “ the same ” may be equally applied to the bank, or to the river. In the latter case the line would be the middle thread of the river, which would have divided it equally with the State of Virginia. But the language in the Latin of the charter is “ ad ulteriorum, dictiflummis ripam, et earn sequendo,” &c,; and the use of the feminine relative pronoun earn shows that ripam, which is feminine, was the antecedent referred to rather than flumen, which is neuter. Whatever rights Maryland had in the river Potomac within the District of Columbia have devolved upon the District.
Third. By the act of the 20th of June, 1874, the District government was only authorized to levy a tax upon real estate -within the District, and it is insisted upon the part of the complainants that this bridge cannot be considered as
In 68 N. Y., 554, Smith vs. The Mayor, a pier in a river is held to be real estate within the meaning of the tax laws. See also State vs. Northern Central Railway Co., 18 Md., 217, and Northern Central Railway vs. Canton Co., 30 M., 354. In the latter case it was held that the rails fastened to the road-bed of a railroad were real estate. In Snederker vs. Waring, 12 N. Y., the court held that a statue placed upon a pedestal built some distance in the earth, not secured to the pedestal except by its own gravity, was to be considered part of the real estate, so as to pass to a purchaser under a trust deed of the land, as against a purchaser under a judgment levied upon the statue as personalty.
The piers supporting this aqueduct extend down a great depth below the bottom of the river and are fastened to the solid rock. The wooden bridge is firmly attached to and incorporated with the stone work, and it would be impossible that it could be considered as personalty or anything else but real estate within the meaning of the tax laws. The taxes for the subsequent years are levied under a later statute which authorizes the assessment of personal as well as real estate, and this point is not of importance as respects the taxes for these years, as the property, if assessable at all, was sufficiently assessable under one designation or the other.
Fourth. It is contended on the part of the complainant that the proceeding of the assessors and District authorities in respect of this tax were so imperfect and faulty that the Court should enjoin their collection. We have been re
It is averred that for thirty years this company was not charged with taxes upon its property. This circumstance cannot avail if the tax is a legal one. In the case of the Annapolis & Elk Bidge Railroad Co. forty years had intervened, and in the case in 3 Mac Arthur, Baltimore & Ohio R. R. Co. vs. The District, more than twenty years had passed without the claim of taxation, but the court nevertheless sustained the right to tax when the subject was finally brought to their attention. TJie fact that the complainants have been so long exonerated from this burden should make them the more willing and able to pay at this time.
The assessment of this property upon the books of the corporation is in these words: “ Alexandria Canal Company; Beatty, Peter, Threlkeld & Deakin’s addition ; valuation; $75,000 ; wooden bridge across the Potomac.” It is insisted in the bill that the amount of this assessment represents a grossly exaggerated valuation, as appears from the evidence in the case, which shows that the entire cost of the bridge was about $27,000. It is hardly necessary to cite authorities to show that it is not competent for a court, in a proceeding like the present, to examine the question whether the assess
Whatever adverse criticisms may have been made, from time to time, upon the laws passed by the Legislative Assembly during its brief existence, its acts respecting the assessment of property seem to have been inspired by a desire to do full justice to the property owner where an assessment was incorrect. The acts of 1st session of 1871, ch. 23, and the amendments to that law, make it the duty of the assessors “ to personally inspect and examine all real estate ” within their districts, and to ascertain from each individual the nature of his property, and return the name of the owners, and every person or corporation or association is required,, within fifteen days after notification by the superintendent, to furnish a corrected list of all property, filling up the blank forms, which it is the duty of the assessor to leave with each property owner. A board of appeal is created
These acts of the legislative assembly are recognized by several acts of Congress ; among others, by the act of the 20th of June, 1874, ch. 113, of 1875, ch. 162, the act of the 3d of April and 19th of June, 1878.
It is evident from an examination of these acts, that a property owner within the District could scarcely remain in ignorance that an assessment had been made upon his property and that he was required to pay a tax, and, if persons with a full opportunity to complain of any injustice committed by the assessors, wilfully neglect to avail themselves of the opportunity so amply afforded them, they cannot expect a court of equity, after long delay, to relieve them from the consequence of their own laches.
In O’Neal vs. The Virginia and Maryland Bridge Company
In that case the court affirmed the right of the authorities of Washington county to levy the tax upon the bridge belonging to the Virginia and Maryland Bridge Company; under an assessment which included the entire bridge of the complainant, except so much of the abutment on the Virginia shore as was beyond the limits of Maryland, as prescribed by the charter to Lord Baltimore.
Fifth. There is, however, one ground upon which we think this injunction must be sustained. The assessment unquestionably was designed to be upon the wooden bridge, and not upon the stone structure, or the canal. But this, wooden bridge, as we have seen, consists, first, of that part within the town of Georgetown ; second, of that part between the shores of the river, and third, of that part of the causeway between the high-water mark on the Virginia shore and the level ground in Virginia. The language of the assessment is, “ upon the wooden bridge,” which word seems to describe an entire structure, and not a part of a bridge. Still if the matter stood on this alone, (upon the presump-' tion that public officers are supposed to discharge their duties properly.) the conclusion might be that they only designed to assess so much of the wooden bridge as was. within their jurisdiction ; that is to say, all of the-structure north of the high-water mark on the Virginia shore.
But the complainants alleged in the bill that they were uncertain what was designed to' be included in the assessment, and the more so, because the tax bill simply stated that the tax was levied upon “the bridge” at a valuation of $75,000; and the commissioners were required “to show, state, and discover upon what property the said assessment was made ; whether it included or was intended to include the whole aqueduct, embracing the stone piers, the wooden and iron structure through which the canal passes, and used-by boats and boatmen navigating the canal and the road bridge over the canal, with the approaches on the Virginia
The commissioners in their answer declare “ that tlie assessment in said bill mentioned is upon the wooden bridge across the Potomac river, and constructed in part upon Beatty, Peter, Threlkeld, and Deakin’s addition to the city of Georgetown, and that only that portion of said bridge which is within the limits of the District of Columbia was designed to be sold.”
Where a bill is filed for a discovery, the general rule applies that the answer of the defendant, if responsive, is evidence in his favor, unless overcome by the testimony of two witnesses, or one witness with corroborating circumstances. Turner vs. Knell, 24 Md., 60. There can be no-reason why admissions in such an answer in favor of the complainant should not have the force of testimony in his favor. It seems plain from the answer of the commissioners that they distinguish between the entire wooden bridge upon which the assessment was made, and that portion of the bridge which they design to sell. When they are stating what was assessed, they declare it was uthe wooden bridge ”— that is the entire bridge, but in describing what they intend to sell they aver it is only that portion of said bridge which was within the limits of the District.
This is not a case merely of excessive valuation, or of an omission upon the part of officials to comply with the directory provisions of the statute; but it is a claim advanced in this court by the District authorities to levy a tax upon the entire bridge, including that portion within Virginia, and we must, therefore, hold the assessment was illegal, and the collection of the tax should not be enforced. We are not to be understood as deciding that the granting of this injunction is to be considered as an acquittance of the tax properly due to the District. We are only deciding, that, for the reasons stated, no valid sale can be made under the •assessment.
Sixth. It has been insisted upon the part of the District of Columbia that this court is inhibited from granting an injunction in the present case by Section 3224 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, which declares: “No suit for the purpose of restraining the assessment or collection of any tax shall be maintained in any court.” TMb section is placed under the article “Internal Revenue,” and seems manifestly to apply to cases arising under the enforcement of that article. But the Supreme Court, in 2 Otto, 613, have declared that it was only intended to apply to taxes
It has been held in many cases by the courts that the mere illegality of a tax is no ground for the interposition of a court of equity, but that there must exist, in addition, special circumstances bringing the case under some recognized head of equity jurisdiction, such as that the enfoi’cement of the tax would lead to a multiplicity of suits or produce irreparable injury, or throw a cloud upon the complainant’s title to.real estate. Dow vs. City of Chicago, 11 Wall., 109. But we are of opinion that the general language used in the class of cases referred to applies to taxes levied by the sovereign alone.
In High on Injunctions, section 369, the author says: “Dr will be found on examination that courts of equity have been inclined in the cases of assessment of municipal corporations, to relax somewhat the stringency of the rule of non-interference as applied to the collections of State taxes. Thus a city assessment without authority of law will be enjoined, even where no question as to cloud upon title is raised.”
And in 2 Otto, 613, the State Railway Cases, the Supreme Court, after reiterating the general principle announced in Dow vs. Chicago, says: “ Whether the same rigid rule shall be applied to taxes levied by counties, towns and cities, we need not here inquire; but there is both reason and authority for holding that the control of the court in the exercise of power over private property by these corporations is more necessary and is unaccompanied by many of the evils that belong to it when affecting the revenues of the State.” And the above section from High on Injunctions is cited by the court to sustain this qualification of its former opinion. See also Webster vs. Commissioners, 51 Md.
For this reason we think equity has jurisdiction to grant the injunction in the present case, and the decree below is affirmed, but upon the single ground discussed in the fifth point.