6 Mo. 64 | Mo. | 1839
Lead Opinion
Statement of the case made, and opinion.of the court delivered by
Morton the plaintiff brought an action of ejectment against the defendant in the circuit court of Lincoln county to recover possession of a tract of land, lying in that county, containing two thousand arpens. The defendant pleaded not guilty. ■ On the trial, the plaintiff produced a title or deed from one Paul Chouteau to himself for the land, and also showed the land had been granted to Chouteau by the Spanish government, and confirmed by the American gov-ernmeht. To defeat the plaintiff’s right to recover, the defendant sets up title in himself by a deed from one Joseph Suggett to him, and then shows a deed from the auditor of Public Accounts of the State to Suggett, with the certificate of the auditor that the tract of land was sold to Suggett for taxes due the State.. . There was other evidence in the case, and on the .trial the defendant had judgment, to reverse which the plaintiff prosecutes his. writ of error. I will ■now proceed to detail the balance of the testimony, and state the points and objections, .as they occurred in the cir-edit court. The land was sold for taxes due for the year 1831..-' The defendant gave in evidence to support his de-fence a certificate of Elias Barcroft, Auditor of Public Accounts for the State, in substance as-follows, to wit: Ido-' hereby certify that the collector of the county of Lincoln did deliver according to law to-said Auditor a list containing the following described tract, lot or parcel of land, lying in
1st. The defendant has not shown in evidence any legal title to the premises in any other person than the plaintiff.
2nd. The deed given in evidence by the defendant, purporting to have been made by the Auditor to J. R. Suggett for the land in question did not convey any legal or valid title to the land.
3rd. The land in question could not be lawfully sold for the non-payment of taxes, unless the same had been previ-
4th. The land in question could not be lawfully sold, for the non-payment of taxes unless the sale thereof had been previously advertised publicly according to'law, and there is no legal evidence before the jury that the sale thereof was so advertised. ■ ’' .
5th. The Auditor of Public Accounts-had no lawful authority to sell said land-for non-payment of taxes &c., unless Paul . Chouteau was a non-resident of Lincoln county, and there is no lawful evidence before the jury of that fact.
The defendant then moved the court for . these instrup-■-tions,-as follows:
. -1st; That if they believe from the evidence that the tract of land.in controversy was .sold by the-Auditor by authority of law,for- the nonpayment of taxes due thereon, and that all the essentiairequisit.es of the. law had been complied ' with in making said sale, granting a certificate to the purchaser and in conveying the. same to 3. R..Suggott, tliepur-chaser at the sale, then they must find for thcdefendant. ’•
2nd. That the defendant has shown a gopd legal title in J.. -It. Suggett, the "person under whom he claims the land ■in question, and that they, must therefore find for the defendant. .
'3rd. That, the defendant- has shown a better.title out of tire plaintiff than the plaintiff has shown.
- The court then gave these instructions for the -defendant. To the refusal to give those asked by him, and the giving .the ¿bove for the-defendant, the plaintiff excepted, and took his bill of. exceptions. The jury found a verdict for the defendant, and the court refused to gránt a new trial. The causo is brought hereby writ of error. The errors assigned by-.plainti.iPs counsel are rather general, but they are that the court refused to.give to the jury, the instructions-asked by tiie counsel for the plaintiff, and that the court erred in giving the -instructions asked for by the defendant. The first position-taken by Mr.'Bates for the. plaintiff is,-that the Rev-en'ue laws. must, he cónstrúed strictly, and that,- in this case, the laws and proceedings being summary and against com-
Mr. Jameson answers to this. point, that in general law'is, as stated, bat that first,.in this case, the'law has been strictly complied with. Secondly, that an officer of the-law is by that law presumed to do 'h'is'.duty till the contrary,is proved. 3rd Starkie 1249—Bullers N. P.298—Viners’ abf. ' title.Evidence — Hardins R. 362. Upon this-doctrine of the defendants counsel, it' is supposab'le by me,-the court predicated the second instruction as numbered .in this opinion,'' among those given for the deft; 'but on - the tecord it is the third.' 'That instruction asserts that the, legal title to the land'was shown, to'be iri Suggett, and not in the. plaintiff, therefore the jury cannot find for the plaintiff. tion asserts that the title is not in the plaintiff, and disposes of the whole case, both law and fact; and for that reason is bad, but- as the law, arising on the facts, is'iairly before -.the court, I will proceéd to examine the case.
The first question is,hasthe law.been-pursued in regard' to-the salé of this land? Xhe plaintiff insists on a strict execution of thé law, and strict and legal proof must be made put. . This, he says, has'not been doné. The defendant insists that the law has been duly pursued,, and -that 'th.ere is on the recor'd legal proof thereof. I will now pay-some at-tehtion to the general, doctriné invoked by the-plaintiffs counsel. .I hold it is true that, -in exparte, and -summary proceedings, the law must be strictly pursued, in the case of M’Clung vs. Ross, it was decided by the Supreme - Court of the U. S. that under the laws of .Tennessee, where lands are sold by a summary proceeding for the'payment of ta.xes, it. is essential' to the validity of the sale and1 of the deeds made thereen; that every fact necessary to give the court jurisdiction should appear .upon the', record, 5 Wheatons R. 116. In,-the,case of Williamson et al vs Peyton’s lessee, 4 Wheat. R. 77, Ch. Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of the court. ’ That was a case where lands Were sold'for the
Dissenting Opinion
Dissenting opinion of
Morton brought his action of ejectment against Reeds in the circuit court of Lincoln county. The judgment of that court being given against him.he appeals to this.
Morton claims under Paul Chouteau by a deed dated the 17th day of August 1831 conveying the land in controversy to Joseph C. Laville and George Morton, and by a deed from the said Laville dated the 6th day of May 1837 conveying the undivided moiety of the said land to the said Morton.
The deed from Chouteau to Laville and Morton was recorded on the 29th day of September 1835, that from La-ville to Morton on the 10th day of July 1837. It was admitted that Morton the plaintiff had all the title to the said land which Chouteau had on the 17th day of August 1831, except such title as was conveyed to Joseph R. Suggett by the deed cf the Auditor of Public Accounts, and the other
Auditor’s fees paid by Joseph 'll. Suggett. , 25 cents, signed, &c.
This certificate was filed for record and recorded on-30.th January 1836 by the recorder of Lincoln county. ■
2nd. A deed from the Auditor of Public Accounts in the nsual form, dated 20th July 1834, recorded in the office of the recorder of Lincoln county on the 14th day of January 1S34,
It was admitted by the plaintiff that whatever title passed to the said Suggett by the said deed of the Auditor to him, was passed to and vested in him the said defendant Reeds ' by deed from Suggett before the commencement of this suit;
3rd, The record of the advertisement and certificate of - Elias Barcroft Auditor of Public Accounts, as the same is , recorded in the recorders office of Lincoln county, &c., as follows; _ ,
Notice is 'hereby given to all persons whom it may concern, that unless the taxes and the interest .thereon at the rate of fifteen per centum per year which-may become due on the following described real estate assessed and taxed as belonging to non-residents shall be paid into, the state trea- . sury on or before the 15th day of June 1832, the property thus described will then be s®ld-at the door of the Auditor’s office in the City of Jefferson, or so much of each tract of' land; or lot of ground will be sold as will satisfv'tfie taxes
Here follows a tabular list of the lands advertised to be sold, which lie in Lincoln county, of which'the tract in dispute is one. Then follows the certificate,.viz: I, the undersigned Auditor of Public Accounts of the State of Missouri do hereby certify that 'the foregoing is a true copy of the advertisement of sale of lands and other property sold to individuals and to the State of Missouri at the door of the Auditor’s office in the City of Jefferson on the 16th, 18th and 19th days of June 1832, lying and being in the said county of Lincoln. And I do further certify, that the provisions of the law in such cases made and provided, have been complied with.
4. The verbal testimony of Henry Watts. This witness stated that he acted as sheriff of Lincoln county for, four years including the years 1831, 32 and 33; that several times he received from the Auditor, printed advertisements of land while he was such sheriff; thinks they were advertisements from the Treasury department of the State of lands sold for taxes; he thinks he set them up in public places of the county deeming it his duty to do so; one year he set up three such advertisements, one of them on a post in in the court house, one at Sutton’s^Mill, and one tt Auburn; he thinks they were of lands sold, because persons often applied to him to know if their lands had been sold for taxes, and he referred them to that list to ascertain. They were large printed papers about the size of the recorder’s book, and containing several leaves; he cannot say that he recei- ' ved or set up any such papers relating to the year 1831; cannot remember the year with any certainty. Having referred to the record of the advertisement in the record book above set forth, he says he thinks one set of the papers received by him contained the same names, and lists of lands
The plaintiff then moved the court to give the jury these following instructions, and they were refused.
1st. The defendant has not shown in evidence any legal title to the premises in any person other than the plaintiff,
2nd. The deed, given in evidence and purporting to have been made by the Auditor of Public Accounts to Joseph R. Suggett for the land in question did not convey any legal or valid title to the said land.
3rd. The land in question could not be lawfully sold for the non-payment of taxes, unless the same had been previously regularly assessed for taxation, and there is no evidence before the jury of such assessment.
4th. The land in question could not be lawfully sold for the non-payment of taxes and for penalties and costs unless the sale thereof had been previously advertised publicly according to law, and there is no lawful evidence before the jury that the sale thereof was so advertised.
5th. The Auditor of Public Accounts had no lawful authority to sell said land for non-payment of taxes, penalties and costs unless Paul Chouteau was a non-resident of Lincoln county, and there is no lawful evidence before the jo¡-ry that said Paul Chouteau wras a non-residont of said county.
On motion of the defendant the court gave the following instructions, viz:
1st. the jury believed from the evidence that the tract of land in controversy was sold by the A uditor by authority of law for the non-payment of taxes due thereon and that all the essential requisites of the law had been complied with in making said sale, granting a certificate to the purchaser, and in conveying the land to Joseph R. Suggett the purchaer at the sale, under whom the defendant claims, then they must find for the defendant.
. 2nd. That the defendant has shown a better title out of the plaintiff than the plaintiff has shown.
3rd. That the defemlant has shewn a good legal title in Joseph R. Suggett, the person under whom he claims, to
The instructions asked by the defendant were given and as above mentioned those asked by the plaintiff were refused, and the plaintiff excepted to the giving of the instructions for the defendant, and the refusing of those- asked by himself.
The appellant’s counsel admits that the case turns entirely on the validity of the tax title, and that all the points arising out of that title are embraced in these instructions, asked by the plaintiff, and as above mentioned refused, and in those asked by the defendant which were,given.
For Morton the appellant it is insisted “that the sale to *3uggett, as evidence on the record, is illegal and void ,• that ‘the proceeding is by special statute in derogation of the ‘common law and common right, and-therefore the act itself ‘must be strictly pursued, and every requirement of the law ‘strictly enforced against those who claim authority to strip ‘a man of his private property; that this is a plain common ‘kw principle in accordance with our bill of rights which ‘declares that no man shall be deprivéd of his life, liberty, or ‘property, but by the judgment of his peers, or the laws of ‘the land; that the books abound with cases in full confir‘mation of this principle. In Ronkendorf vs Taylor’s lessee ‘the Supreme Court of the United States say, in ex parte ‘proceedings under a special authority great strictness isre-‘quired. To divest an individual of his property agaiwt ‘his consent, every substantial requisite of the law must be -shown to have been complied with. No presumption can ‘be raised in favor of a collector who sells real estate for ‘taxes, to cover any radical defect in his proceedings ; ‘and the proof of the regularity of the proceedings de-. ‘volves upon the person, who claims under the collector’s ‘sale. That this is the uniform spirit of the decisions of the ‘Supreme Court of the United States from the earliest to ‘the latest casos; that a strong case in point is Stead’s ex’rs ‘vs. Course; that-the appellee relies upon the 11th section 'of the act of January 1827 which provides that the Auditor shall transmit, to the recorder of the county,, a copy of the
The defendant, in. the Circuit Court, appellee here, con-. tends that “the Auditor’s certificate is evidence prima faci# ‘thatthe’every act, required previous'to the salé, is done; '“but if it should be thought that this last act of setting up ‘thq advertisements of. sale by the sheriff ought, to be proved ‘by1 other testimony, that the testimony of Watts the 'sheriff ‘of Lincoln county in. 1831 is sufficient to' establish, that ‘fact.” • . t . . •
' The following .are the points, which-appear to me material to a'-correct decision of .this cause.. ,1st. Whether the Auditor possessed -o l'íróially information that the land in controversy had bee if u--.;ed, that Paul Gh'outeau was a nonresident of Line sir -. ounty, 'and that the taxes'were unpaid, and whether the ¿ud requires that he should be- officially informed that there was no personal property of Paul Chou-teau in Lincoln- coun'ty. • .
■2nd. What evidence is the Auditor’s deed to- the purchaser at the sale for taxes?- ] , • .- ■ '
3rd...Whether the several certificates of the Auditor are made conformably to law’, and if so. made, what'.is their legal effect. ■ • . .' ,
. 4th. Whether the tax .of 37| cents' Imposed .by the -20th
5th. Whether the legislature intended that so much only of the land should be sold as would be sufficient to pay the taxes at one dollar and twenty-fivj cents per acre, and that the sale should be void because the whole tract was sold.
6th. Did Laville and Morton acquire any precedence, because Chouteau’s deed to them was recorded before that of the Auditor to Suggett was recorded ?
1st. The act of 1825 to provide for, levying, &c., State and county taxes prescribes the duty of the assessor in office In 1831; and for the taxes of that year the land in controversy was sold. By that act the assessor is required to make out, for the use of the county court, two lists of the taxable property of his county, one of which shall exhibit in alphabetical order, the names of all persons, liable to pay taxess residing within the county, the other shall exhibit in like order the names of all persons residing without the county who own property within &c. See section 17, p. 569 of the digest of 1825.
The act of 3rd January 1827 directs the several county courts so soon as all appeals shall have been determined, and the assessors lists corrected, to cause their clerk to make out, from the corrected assessment lists, two lists each exhibiting, in alphabetical order, the names of all persons resident of the county liable to pay taxqs thereon; also in like order two lists containing the names of all persons not resident of the county, who are liable-to pay taxes therein, with the enumeration, description and valuation therein contained, and assessments thereon for State anti county purposes, the former to be called the resident tax list, the latter the nonresident tax list, which lists shall be verified by the clerk under his seal of office, one of which shall be delivered td the collector of the county &c., and the other shall remain in the office of such clerk, and at. the same time the clerk is required to certify to the Auditor of Public Accounts the amount of the per centum which the county court has ordered to be assessed on the amount of State taxes for the use of the
The same act of 1825 above mentioned makes it the duty of the collector of each county, on or before the first Monday in December in each year, to deliver to the Auditor of Public Accounts a complete list of the names of all persons residing out of his county liable to pay taxes therein with a description., valuation and assessment of the property taxed, and of the the amount of State and county taxes duo thereon, and remaining unpaid, and this list to be verified by oath or affirmation. See 32nd section of the act p. 676.
Thus we find that the Auditor has before him, officially, the best information that Paul Chouteau was in 1831 a nonresident of Lincoln county, that his property was assessed, and that on the first Monday in December 1831 his taxes were unpaid.. For unless property had been assessed the collector could not have reported his taxes unpaid, and that he was a non-resident. In pursuance of a duty expressly enjoined on him by an act of the General Assembly of the State of Missouri the clerk of the county court of Lincoln county made out from the lists of the assessor corrected by the court of appeals, two lists of taxable property, one of which was given to the collector by which he was informed that this land was assessed to Paul Chouteau a nonresident; the collector again in pursuance of a duty expressly enjoined on him by law, delivers to the Auditor his list, showing that this Paul Chouteau is still a non-resident, and that his taxes are unpaid. Had the defendant produced in evidence the corrected list deposited in the office of the clerk of the county court, it would have been evidence of assessment because it was made out by an officer in pursuance of a duty expressly enjoined on him by law; but the •collector being furnished with a list of equal authority, delivers his list to the Auditor, not under the obligation of the official oath only, hut also under the obligation of a special oath “where an officer,” says Judge McOlean delivering the opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States in
As that case was so much relied on by the counsel for the appellant, I will advert to it more particularly than he has. The action was brought by Taylors lessee against Ronken-dorf who claimed under a collector’s sale and deed. The collector in that case was furnished with what they called a tax book made out by an officer, called a register from the original assessment lists corrected by a court of appeals.-?— The register there acted under the authority of tiie corporation, as the clerk here acted under the authority of the county court. On the trial of the cause Ronkendorf offered in evidence, to prove the assessment, by the tax book of the collector. The counsel there, bolder than the counsel here, contended not only that the tax book was no evidence, but they also contended that it ought to- be shown that the assessor was regularly and lawfully appointed, and that the original assessment lists ought to be produced 'to show that the property had been assessed. Thoge two points were considered together by the Judge, and previously to overruling them he declared the rule which the appellants counsel relies on so much that he connects it, in his quotation, with our bill of rights. In considering those two points Judge McClean says. “But it was contended that the orig‘inal lists of the assessment must be produced and also proof ‘of the appointment of the assessors. The court lecognize ‘the principle contended for by the counsel for the plaintiffs ‘in error, that in an ex parte proceeding of this kind, under ‘a special authority great strictness is required, i o divest ‘au individual of his property against his consent, every substantial requisite of the law must be shown to have been ‘complied with. No presumption can be raised in behalf of ‘a collector, who sells real estate for taxes, to cover any radical defect in his procceedings, and the proof of regularity ‘in the proceedure devolves upon the person who claims un‘der the collector’s sale.” Recognizing then the principle the Judge proceeds to deliver the opinion of the court by
. In contemplation of law all taxable personal property, lying and being within a county has an owner in that county for the purpose of paying taxes. The 4th section of the act of 1825, to provide for levying, &c. State and county taxes> requires the assessor to proceed through every part of his county, and to require all persons owning, possessing, or having the care, or nianagement of property, taxable by law lying and being in the county to deliver to him written lists of the same, and by that section it is made their duty
Here is a palpable defect of a warrant, by the authority of which the defendant Hickman claimed the right to survey 3200 acres of land, and-to demand from the state a patent for the same ; the plaintiff in the inferior-court claims by right of pre-emption, a right good .in itself; but the title of Hickman was the elder of .the two., and .the .eourt of ap
In assuming that the Auditor’s deed to Suggett, is prima facie good evidence of title in his alienee, I feel myself sustained not only by that general rule of law so well illustrated in the two cases last above cited, v'z: Hickman vs. Boffman and Ronkendorf vs. Taylor’s lessee, but also, by a decision of the court of appeals of the State of Kentucky, which is directly in point. That case is Allen vs. Robinson 3 Bibb 326. The action was ejectment brought by Robinson vs. Allen &c. for land which’Allen claimed under a sale and conveyance made by the register of the land office for the non-payment of taxes. In the course of the trial Robinson offered evidence to avoid the register’s deed which the inferior court rejected. Allen took the case up on some point decided against him. The - court of appeals reversed the decision on the point made by Allen;. and the whole of the evidence in the case being made a part of the record,, they say, “But as a new trial must be awarded, it becomes ‘necessary to decide whether or not the circuit court deci‘ded correctly in rejecting the evidence of William Hunter,, ‘which was offered by the plaintiff in that court.”
“The sale and conveyance of the register when legally ‘made pass to the-purchaser the legal title; and, in a congest involving the validity of such sale, the,register’s de.ed ‘(ashe is an officer presumed to have done,his duty) should ‘be taken as prima facie evidence of. the requisitions of the ‘law having been fulfilled. But as the register derives his ‘authority to sell’land.for the, non-payment of taxes from the-. ‘law, to make his deed effectual tp pass the. title, that authority must.be strictly pursued, and although the deed..will prh-
“As therefore the plaintiff in the court below could avoid ‘the effect of the register’s deed by proof of the sale having ‘been illegally made, it results that the evidence offered by ‘him in that court, but which was rejected, if it tended to ‘prove such illegality, ought to have been admitted. That ‘the evidence tended to such proof we think evident. The ‘law requires that the register should advertise the time and ‘place of sale for three months, twice in each month successively, in the gazette of the public printer. The obvious ‘moaning of this provision of the statute requires, that the time and place of sale should be advertised at least three ‘months before the-sale. The eviden.ce which was rejected should have been received, as it tended to prove that the register did not advertise the time of sale for three months ‘as the law requires.”
From other parts of this case it appears that the Auditor sends to the register of the land office a book containing a list of the lands of non-residents the taxes on which are unpaid wtlh the amount of taxes &c. The register then does not see the return either of the assessor, or of the collector, and yet the the court of appeals of that state presumes 1st. that the assessor has done his duty correctly, 2nd. that the collector has done his duty correctly, 3rd. that the Auditor has sent to the register a book containing a correct list of the lands'of non-residents, on which the taxes are unpaid; and consequently that this register is officially informed that those lands were assessed, that the taxes were unpaid, and that the owners were non-residents. Thus informed the register sells the land and makes the deed; and the courts of that state decide that this deed of the register conveys to the purchaser a title prima facie good and valid, and that the presumption of this validity shall avail the purchaser, until it be proved that some illegality of the proceedings of tb e register, or of some of the subordinate officers, renders the deed invalid.
The Auditor of the State of Missouri stands one step nea-
But the .powers' of the Auditor of .Public Accounts of State, equally with those-of the corporation of the City Washington are all conferred by a public law. He is an fleer too of much moré relative importance to the State Missouri, and to her courts than the corporation of the of Washington is to the United States, and to their courts. The same observation may be made with regard to the enue office'rs of the State of -Kentucky, and the laws which they act. The courts of that State then, having less extensive jurisdiction than .those of the United may without any manner of disrespect to the.Supreme Court of the United States, be presumed to make much ter decisions .on their- own revenue laws to them so. vitally important, than that court would on on the acts 'of Congress-made for the regulation of the fiscal concerns of the corpo-. ration of the City of Washington. But the Kentucky. courts have decided that -the deed of their-register conveys'to the purchaser of lands, sold by him for taxes, a title prima facie valid, and for as good a reason the deed of our Auditor ought to convey to the purchaser of lands, sold by him taxes a title prima fae'e valid. We are in the same case of Ronkendorf vs. Taylor’s lessee told that because the powers of the corporation are conferred by a public law, therefore their acts prove themselves, and that the assessors acting under the authority of that corporation are presumed to be duly appointed. Then because our Auditor’s pow-p ers are equally conferred by a public law, his acts also prove themselves, and his deed must be presumed to be valid, till the contrary be proved. In concluding then that the deed of the Auditor conveys to Suggett, the purchaser of the land, a title prima.facie valid, I conceive that I am sustained not only by the two cases cited from the Kentucky books, but also by the case of Ronkendorf vs. Taylor’s lessee, or at least by the rule of decision declared by that court' in deci-J , the two farst m that case.
3rd. Are the several certificates of the Auditor given in evidence made conformably to law, and if so made, 'what is their legdl effect? . •• '
The first certificate in order of time is the certificate of
There are two other .certificates both of which are set out in the same instrument of writing, and they are both copied into the statement of the case-, they are both made under the 11th section of the act above cited.'which is in these words, “Be it &c. that upon all sales of real estate for taxes due thereon, made by the Auditor of Public Accounts and Treasurer, it shall be the duty of the Auditor and Treasurer to transmit to the recorder of the county wherein the land is situated, a copy of the advertisement, of sale certified to be a true copy; and a further certificate that the provisions of the law in such cases made and provided have been complied with, which copy of the advertisement so certified, and further certificate shall be, by the recorder, recorded in the record of deeds, and a copy of such record shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained in such certificates, whenever a sale under such advertisement shall come in question; and the certificate of sale to be given to the purchaser in such cases shall always refer to the record under which such sale was made.
The objection to these certificates is that they do not pursue the law; that they ought to state facts, that the act do.eis not make the certificates, evidence of opinion, and inferences
The first certificate states that the collector did deliver a list according to law, and that the Auditor did by advertisement dated on the IOth day of April 1832 advertise accor-ing to law: these statements with perhaps many others made in the first certificate i. e. the ceitificate of sale, were not required by the statute, and the giatuitous act of the Auditor as before obiorved is neither to injure the purchaser nor to aid the delinquent non-resident.
To the cert feat.-, of the advertisement no objection is tal en.
The further certificate, which the law requires to accompany the advertisement is in the very words of the law, viz: «•nut the provisions, of the law in such cases made and provided have been complied with” and the law declares that a copy of the record shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained in such certificates. The only facte required by law to be stated are, in 1¿ie firs t certificate that Suggeti was tiie purchaser, in the second, that the copy of the advertisement sent to the recorder is a true copy, and in the third that the provisions of the law in such cases made have been ■complied with; for unless this be admitted to be a certificate of facts, then there is no certificate, and the only question here is, whether that part of the 11 th sretion of 182?, which relates to the further certificate of the Auditor, be a dead letter, ^ nullity in law. And certainly if we are, in construing this section of the act, to restrict the meaning of the word/acifs to the sense in which.it is technically used in a bill of exceptions as contradistinguished from conclusions of law,that part of the section will.be a nullity. Forth© Auditor to state that the land had been assessed would have been superfluous and idle, for without assessment the collector could have had no list to inform him either of the taxes due, or of the non-residence of Paul Chouteau, and conse» quentlv he could have nsado no list of non-resident?, whose
4th. it was contended that the tax of 37} cents imposed by the 2!)th section of the act of 3rd January 1S27 is unconstitutional, and that there is no evidence that this tract of land was of that class on which th.it tax was intended to he imposed.
The words of the section are, “It chalí be the duty of the Auditor to make out duplicate copies of the non-resident tax lists in the month of January in each and every year; one of which ¡shall be be kept in his office by w hich to make sales, the other to be for the printer by which to advertise the lands to he sold-for taxes, which shad be handed to him by the Auditor; and twenty-five cents ¡.hall be added as a tax on each tract advertised to be sold for taxe ■, and twelve and a half rents as an additional tase on each tract or lot the copies of which are made out by f!,c 4 ¡A dor for the purposes above mentioned after the Si'll; ¡h.j of J; a i y in each and every year.
The record of the Auditor’s adveni e- offi, ;n ' A ia the office of the recorder of Lincoln con , . o at this tract of land was one of those subject •.•> the fa ■ of 37} cents; that advertisement wats set out > f-n- b:¡: ef exceptions. It is apparent from the letter a,:.’ sprit of file section above quoted, that this tax of 37} ce'ii.i w.v; a taxon the delinquent intended, as the Audito, i?; hi; adwi’-tL'ement very correctly states to be an equivalent for the costs or expenses of advertising &c., and although, it vas no part of
By the 40th section of the revenue act of KS23 a tax one dollar is imposed on each person convicted of a criminal offence. No exception was ever taken to this tax because one criminal might be richer than another. The tax of 37} cents is not in my opinion unconstitutional.
5th. Did the legislature intend that no land should bo sold for the taxes due thereon at a less price than $1,25 cents per aero; and is this sale void because the whole tract was soldi
. The act of 1835, under the provisions of which this tract was sold, directs the Auditor to purchase the land for the state if no person will pay the taxes for the whole tract.— See sections 28 & 36 of that act. But the appellant relies on the case of Stead’s ex’rs vs. Course, 4 Cranch 402 in which the Supreme Court of the United States decided that
The legi lature then did not, in my. opinion, intend that no lands should be sold for taxes at a less price than one and twenty-dive cents per acre, and the sale- is not in nry opinion void because the whole tract was sold for taxes i-t-'not-appearmg'-that any person was willing • to pay the tax-for ]ess than- tile wp0.je tract of land. '
. ■ . , ;'6íñ«. Did Laville and Morton acquire'any precedence, be-caP®e Chbuteaii’s 'deed to them was recorded before that ol the Auditor -to Suggett was recorded V
. The deed-of Chouteau to Laville and Morton was executed on the. 17th day of August '1831,.. By the 25th- .section J ° ■ of the revenue act of 1825' it is provided that there shall be perpetual lien on all -lands sold for taxes &c. i his land wa?'sold fo-f the. taxes of 1831, and therefore Chouteau con-to-Laville and Moi ton subject to bis lien anc^ consequently it avails them nothing to have recorded a d.eed which conveys no title against the claim of the puiy at the sale for taxes.
• -ft or the reasons above given 1 am oí opinion that the Au-possessed cfficial information that the land in contro-'.ve-rsv-had-been assessed, that Paul Chouteau was á non res-id en t of .Lincoln county in the year 1831, -and that his taxes’for- that, year were unpaid, and that the law did -not re- ' . -. . - • . . . quire -the collector to infprm the Auditor whether there
The proofs of the correctness of the Auditor’s proceedings being all matters of record, which the law presumes to be ill this case good j>rima facie evidence, and the in the circuit court having offered no evidence there to invalidate those proofs, it became, in my opinion, the duty of that court to direct the jury to find for the defendant there, appellee here. That court then, in my opinion;’ committed no error either m refusing to give the instructions asked by the j 1 lintifi', or in giving those asked by the defendant, therefore its judgment ought in my opinion to be affirmed,