Amos Kent Lumber & Brick Co., Ltd. v. Tax Assessor of Parish of St. Helena

• Decision Date: 22 May 1905
• Docket Number: 15,532
• Citation: 38 So. 587,114 La. 862
• Parties: AMOS KENT LUMBER & BRICK CO., Limited, v. TAX ASSESSOR OF PARISH OF ST. HELENA et al
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

38 So. 587

114 La. 862

AMOS KENT LUMBER & BRICK CO., Limited, v. TAX ASSESSOR OF PARISH OF ST. HELENA et al

No. 15,532

Supreme Court of Louisiana

May 22, 1905

MONROE, J., NICHOLLS, J., dissents.

OPINION

MONROE J.

On Rehearing.

A rehearing was granted in this case at the instance of the Attorney General, who desired to be heard on behalf of the state, and who had not been apprised of the pendency of the suit until after it had been decided.

It is said that "it is only railroad companies or corporations proper that are entitled to the exemption provided by article 230 of the Constitution of 1898"; that the plaintiff corporation, having been established under Act No. 36, p. 27 of 1888, has no authority to operate and maintain a railroad; and hence that it is not entitled to the exemption.

The answer to this, as we think, is that the purpose of the framers of the Constitution was to encourage the building of railroads, rather than the multiplication of corporations, and they accordingly declared that:

"There shall be exempt from taxation, for a period of ten years from the date of its completion, any railroad or part of such railroad that may hereafter be constructed and completed prior to January 1st, 1904."

This exemption has been extended by the amendment adopted in 1904 "to any railroad, or part of a railroad, that shall have been constructed and completed subsequently to January 1st, 1905, and prior to January 1st, 1909," and has been made to include and apply to all the rights of way, roadbed, sidings, rails, and other superstructures upon such rights of way, roadbed, or sidings, and to all depots, station houses, buildings, erections, and structures appurtenant to such railroads and the operation of the same. Act No. 15, p. 19, of 1904. For the purposes of the exemption, we are therefore of the opinion that it is wholly immaterial whether the railroad is built and operated by a corporation, a private society, or an individual.

It is true that in the same article of the Constitution (230) the word "railroad" is used to express the idea of an artificial or juridical personage, with a capacity for intelligent action, it being provided that the exemption shall not apply to improvements, etc., "which may be constructed by railroads now in operation," etc.; but the fact remains that the exemption was intended to encourage the building of actual roads, and that the language used applies to...