Case Information
*1 Honorable Geo. R. Sheppard
Comptroller- of Public Accounts
Austin, Texas Dear Sir: Opinion NO; o-2036-, -. -. -, Re: Furchasti'of postage% stamp3 by
the Texas Agricultural ExperIl ment Station at A. & M. College.
-owe have your~lettersof March 1, 1940;and March.14, '-" 1940; also‘~two letters froin Mr.-A. B. Conner, Director, Texas Ag?lcultural~Expi+Nmeiit'Stat~on,~A; & M; College, aded Feb;~~ ruarg 28, 1940, and March 13, 1940, which you forwarded to us. -.
'Thes‘e~lette?$ reveal that the Texas 'Agrlcultutial Eti-‘. ljeeliuent StatF6Khas purchased ~posttige' stamps-by executing a vbticher m@de.payable to & UnlteKStates Postmaster. Th$~ Station h&'-then ~lssued'~'c~h~ck against the Pure Feea Wc%king FuiiaUXpaykient tif~the statipps %iha it' ha3 been eriaorsedUbgthe P&%tm&st&E from whom ~th6 putidhtise was made:'~A'?eImbursemtint tibtibh&r h&s beeii 'submitted to you by the Stirltloti anti listea~-'~ th&i?eoii.is-'the Cimoilnt ~expended in the piirchase'of'these stamps. They have also attached the orlglnal Stamp voucher,
"~ ~With these facts In mind, you~request our opinion--a~-'~~ tb whether your department would, be auth&lzeKto Issue -a'war- rafit payable to the Director-'df'the Agriciiltural Experiment Station for refund of the stamps so purchased.
We have sfudied.the history of Article '3875, Vernbn's Revised Civil--Statutes; 1925, in an effort to ascertain from what' sources anKby what authority the funds used by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in purchasing these -~. stamps were derived. Being unable'to find tins legally created ?evolvlng br lnstltutional fund from which suchi purchases could be made, we wrote you on March 8, 1940, asktng for ln- formatlon~'regarding the source or sources from which the fund might be authorized. In response to-this request, we have Mr. A. B. Conner's letter of March 13, 1940, and in connection with this matter he says:
"The Pure'Feed working fund Is a fund of $lO;OOO advanced to-'the Director of the Agriciil- ttiral Experiment Station by the Board of Dlrec- *2 - .
Honorable Geo. H. Sheppard, page 2 0-2036
tors of the College many years ago. The original source of this fund, I understand, was from the net surplus accrued in the administration of the Pure Feed Law ana the wojrklng fund was set up irifter'an amend- m6nt mad&~ln.the 315t Legislature, Third Calld Sessioti; wtilbh.amefiament, shown' ln the General I;avS of Texas;-Thlra Callea'Sesslon, 3lst~Le~islature;lglO, page.16, tiectititi 2! fir&id&-'that' I;~ . . Said 'fiti& (StirplUs) ~ . . . sh&ll be us.ed by the.b6ard'of directors OT the AgrlcultW~l'aid‘Mechahlcal 'College for" iilak1ng'aI.l ritices3ary repair&at 'the AgrlctiItiiral %ind Mech~nlc%l~Col'leg~; Wectron'~bf buildlngs~' ana otliier Improvemefits, -~a& for such oth@‘pur-~ 'pose5 &s'mag be'aeemed advlstible by'the board ~of directbrs, ana'said funas shall be~paia outs by the.State Treasutier 6n warrants 13sued~bg the pr@sid&nt and secr~etary'of the boarKof'&l; rt%toPs.' ItIs my‘und~~standihg that 'this tibrking fund V&s from rn6fii.63 ttiansmltted'by the'State Trhasurer on warrants to the College under this Act." _ .
A's far &s'w&'have been abl'e to ascertain, the~A6t‘bf.. the-Ltiglslature deferred to by'Mr.~ Coiixier is~'the~'bliI~~sou~d~~ ~~ from which.the~ "working fund'" cd.iSd haii& b&n'~deri@&.'--~ S-&ate BrlS'No~. 10, Third Called Session, .TtiWtyLfii"st L@l%lattir&~~~'; r&fijrred to-'in l@?* Coniier~'% lettZ5, w~a* tin apprbprlatSon.blIT. It &ppropri.%ted and transfer&d all moneys colle~ted.under'.tFi~-' pr+ovltiiofis bf the pure feed laws (Including Article 3875; stii5I;a) to the'use and beiieflt of the A. &M. College bf.Texas-8na pro- vFde6 that 'the Stat% Treasurer should'keep an account on~his-. -- bboks t&be known as the Pure Feed~Fund 6f the'Agricultura1 and Mechanical College. Section 2 of said Act provided:
"Section 2, Said funds so appi+opriated ana collect-d shall be used by the bdara of directors of the Bgrlculturtil and Mechaiilcal College for‘~ itiaking all necessary repairs at the Agrlculturfil and Mechanical College, erection of builalngs ana oCher improvemZW.s, "and for such bther purpdses Xs iriay b5 deemed'aavisable bji the board of di?ectors-; and s&id fun& shall be pafd outby the SFate'~Trea,s- uPer on warrants issued by the presldeiit and"secre- tary of the board of director‘s;. Th5 said boara.of dliiectors shall'on the 315t day of August of~each jiear file a swijrfi report Uith'ttie GoVePrior, giving a-n itemize8 statement of all Feceipts alia dIsbur3e- ments of said fund for the year ending on said date." *3 Honorable Gee, R. Sheppard, page 3 Q-2036
"The doctrine of ejusdem generls (of the same kina) Imports that general words following an enumeratfon of partlcu- lar or specific things will be confLned to things of the same kind. In brief, the general words so used are not to be con- strued in the widest sense, but are to be held as applying only to-'persons or things of the same 'kind and class-.as those enum- erated.;' 39 Tex, Jur:202. See also Farmers' and.MechanPcs' National Bank v. Hanks, 104~'Tex. 320, ~137 S;W. 1120:. In view of'thls rule, we are constrained to hold that the Board of Dir'ectors of the Agricultural and Mechanical Collegewere not authori~sed under Senate Bill~No. 10, supra, to set up a "work- ing fuiid" for the Agricultural Experiment Statfon. The~piir- of Senate Bill No. 10, supra, was to appropriate the fun&s" therein referred to for the purpose of'erectlng buildings ana other improvem'ents, and making repairs-; under the doctrlne‘~of ejusdem generis, the directors 00uia hiife lisea said funas only forpurposes similar to, or p of the same class as, those ex- pressed in the statute.
~-" Since the moneys appropriated under Senate~Bill~‘No;~10, supra, could not have-been us~ed for the purpose of.establFsh- ing the "working fund," themoneysthereinproperly belong in the State Treasury to.~~theaccount of the Piire Feed-.FunS[‘of‘Xhe Kgricultural anal Mechanical College of Texas: -'As a-practical matter;-we~riialize that there 1s not ten thousand‘dollars ($~O,OOO) standing-to the credit of the "working fund' at'thls~ timedue to the fact that the ExperIment Station bfficlals have ls~sued checks against sala' fund~inaccordance with the-pro-'. cedure followed forthe past severa years, In view of this-. fact, we suggest that the moneys standing to the'credit ofsaid 'working fund", together with the-vouchers and cancelled checks issued by the officials of the Station, be returned to the State Treasury. ,.~ If there'are any legally created revolvfng or Fnstitu- tibnal funds against which the Texas Agricultural ExperTment- Station may legally issue checks, they may proceed to make their purchases out of such funds and your department-,' under A~rtrticle 3875~, SUPP~ .9 would be authorized to issue warrants reimbursing them for the amounts so expended.
Yours very truly ATTORNEYGENERAL OF TEXAS HAS:RS:wc By s/Walter R. Koch Walter R, Koch Approved Sun II, 1940
s/Gerald C. Mann By s/Harry A. Shuford Harry- A. Shuford ATTORNEYGENERAL OF TEXAS
Approved Opinion Committee by s/BWB Chairman