54 Neb. 72 | Neb. | 1898
The purpose of this proceeding is to compel the respondent, as auditor of public accounts, to register and certify to the legality of 180 funding bonds of Douglas county of $1,000 each. It is disclosed that the proposition to issue these bonds, for the purpose of funding the outstanding indebtedness of the county, was submitted to the. electors thereof at the general election held on November 2, 1897; that the total vote east at said election was 18,762, of which 12,061 votes were in favor of
Said section 30, requiring two-thirds of all the votes cast at an election to adopt a proposition submitted to a vote of the people of a county involving the issuance of bonds is a general provision, and applicable to all kinds of bonds, where there is no special law upon the subject. It is plain that sections 132 to 136, .inclusive, of said article 1, chapter 18, Compiled Statutes, in express terms relate exclusively to the subject of funding county indebtedness, and to the issuance of bonds for that purpose. Section 134 provides, inter, alia, “That where, by the issuance of the proposed bonds, the rate of interest on said indebtedness will be reduced, and the amount of the indebtedness will not be increased, a majority of the votes cast shall be sufficient to adopt the proposition.” The foregoing is a specific provision -relating solely to a particular subject, namely, the issuing of bonds for the purpose of funding county indebtedness,
After the submission of the cause, and the foregoing-portion of this opinion had been prepared, a reargument was ordered by the court, on its own motion, upon the proposition whether the proviso clause of said section 134, already quoted, is inimical to that part of section 11, article 3, of the constitution, which provides that “no bill shall contain more than one subject, and the same shall be clearly expressed in its title.” Counsel for relator, in compliance with the suggestion of the court, has filed a brief in support of the validity of the law, which he has supplemented with an able oral argument at the bar. Consideration will now be given to the constitutional question already mentioned.
The legislature of 1879 passed a law entitled “An act concerning- counties and county officers” (Session Laws 1879, p. 353), which has been carried into the various editions of the Compiled Statutes as article 1 of chapter 18. Sections 132 and 134 of said act are in the language following:
“Sec. 132. The county board of any county in the state of Nebraska are hereby authorized and empowered to issue coupon bonds of such denominations as they may deem best, sufficient to pay the outstanding and unpaid warrants and indebtedness of such county; Provided, That the county board of any such county may limit the provisions of this sub-division to any fund or funds of said county; Provided, further, That in no event shall bonds be issued to a greater amount than ten per cent of the assessed valuation of such county; And provided further, That the county board shall first submit the ques*75 tion of issuing said bonds to a vote of the qualified electors of such county.
“Sec. 134. It shall be the duty of the county board of any county issuing bonds under the provisions of, this subdivision to ascertain the highest price at which said bonds can be negotiated, and to embrace in the proposition submitted to the qualified electors under this act the minimum price at which said bonds shall be sold; Provided, That no bonds issued under the provisions of this subdivision shall be sold for less than eighty-five per cent of their par value.”
In 1883 the legislature amended both of said sections, and others, under the title “An act to amend sections 132, 134, 135, 136, and 137 of chapter 18 of the Compiled Statutes, entitled ‘Counties and County Officers.’ ” (Session Laws 1883, p. 191.) The proviso clause of the original section 134 was so amended as to prohibit the sale by county boards of funding bonds at a sum less than their par value, and a second proviso was at the same time added to said section, the one involved herein and already set out, which we again quote: “And provided further, That where, by the issuance of the proposed bonds, the rate of interest on said indebtedness will be reduced, and the amount of the indebtedness will not be increased, a majority of the votes cast shall be sufficient to adopt the proposition.” . That the provision of section 11, article 3, of the constitution of this state requires that the title to an act must fairly express the subject of legislation, is so well established by the decisions of this court as to make a discussion of the subject at this time wholly unnecessary. If the subject-matter of a law is not embraced within the scope of the title adopted by the legislature, the constitutional requirement is violated, and the legislation cannot be upheld. This doctrine is applicable alike to original legislation and amendatory statutes, so that where a .title to a bill is to amend an existing section of an act, no amendment can be made which is not germane to such original section.
Writ allowed.