Assessors of Boston v. Lamson

• Decision Date: 02 May 1944
• Citation: 55 N.E.2d 215,316 Mass. 166
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court
• Parties: ASSESSORS OF BOSTON v. FRED M. LAMSON & others, trustees.

316 Mass. 166

55 N.E.2d 215

ASSESSORS OF BOSTON v. FRED M. LAMSON & others, trustees.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk.

May 2, 1944

December 1, 1941.

Present: FIELD, C.

J., LUMMUS, QUA DOLAN, RONAN, & WILKINS, JJ.

Taxation, Personal property tax: exemption; Appellate Tax Board. Religious Organization. Christian Science. Words, "Used or appropriated."

The meaning of clause Tenth of G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 59, Section 5, must be determined by reading it in connection with the other provisions of

Section 5 and decisions of this court in cases arising thereunder particularly under clause Third.

Agreed facts warranted conclusions by the Appellate Tax Board that the dominant purpose in publishing The Christian Science Monitor an international daily newspaper of wide circulation having each day a religious article based on the teachings of Christian Science, was to promote that religious faith; and that personal property held by the trustees of a publishing society and used in publishing the Monitor, and various religious periodicals and publications dealing with Christian

Science was "used or appropriated for religious . . . purposes" within

G. L. (Ter.

Ed.) c. 59, Section 5, Tenth. The words "used or appropriated" in G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 59, Section 5,

Tenth, refer to a dominant, not an exclusive, use.

Agreed facts respecting the earning of profits by trustees of a society in publishing religious publications in furtherance of Christian Science and the payment of the profits into the "general fund" of a church of that faith, and the use of such profits by the directors of the church to defray expenses in connection with the real estate on which the publishing was conducted and for the activities of various departments of the church, did not show error of law in a conclusion by the

Appellate Tax Board that "the income from" the personal property used in the publishing "is used or appropriated for religious purposes" within

G. L. (Ter.

Ed.) c. 59, Section 5, Tenth.

Whether conclusions and a general finding by the Appellate Tax Board were warranted on agreed facts was a question of law reviewable by this court on appeal under G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 58A, Section 13, as amended.

A decision by the Appellate Tax Board, that personal property held by the trustees of the Christian Science Publishing Society and used in the publication of a newspaper, periodicals and other literature in furtherance of Christian Science was exempt from taxation under G. L.

(Ter. Ed.) c. 59, Section 5, Tenth, because both the property and the income resulting from such use of it were "used or appropriated for religious . . . purposes," was warranted on agreed facts.

APPEAL from a decision by the Appellate Tax Board. The board ruled that "the trustees have adhered to the declared religious purposes of the trust in the use of its property. The . . . [trustees] are, therefore, entitled to an exemption on the ground that the principal of the trust is used or appropriated for religious purposes within the meaning of the statute. The property is exempt from taxation on the further ground that the income from the property is used or appropriated for religious purposes."

The case was argued at the bar in December, 1941, before Field, C.J., Donahue, Dolan, & Cox, JJ., and, after the retirement of Donahue & Cox, JJ., was submitted on briefs to Lummus, Qua, Ronan, & Wilkins, JJ.

K. Hern, Assistant Corporation Counsel, (J.

W. Kelleher, Special Assistant Corporation Counsel, with him,) for the assessors.

W. A. Dane, (G.

W. Howe & J.

T. Phelps with him,) for the taxpayers.

DOLAN, J. This is an appeal by the board of assessors of the city of Boston, hereinafter referred to as the assessors, from the decision of the Appellate Tax Board, hereinafter referred to as the board, ordering an abatement of the tax assessed in 1935 on certain personal property to the succeeding trustees under a deed of trust of The Christian Science Publishing Society. The property upon which the tax was assessed consisted of machinery, furniture and fixtures, materials and supplies for printing, office libraries and finished books and pamphlets located in a building at Massachusetts Avenue and Norway Street in the city of Boston. The property involved was valued by the assessors at $1,000,000, which was its fair value. The tax assessed thereon was $37,000 and was paid by the trustees of The Christian Science Publishing Society, hereinafter referred to as the trustees, together with interest thereon of $4,268.05 and costs of thirty-five cents, making the total payment $41,268.40. The application of the trustees for abatement of the tax was refused by the assessors and the trustees appealed seasonably to the board.

The case was submitted to the board upon a statement of agreed facts. The specifications of error set forth in the assessors' appeal relate to the denial of certain of their requests for rulings, and to the granting of the trustees' requests for rulings. See G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 58A, Section 13, as amended. The specifications of error in the refusal of the board to make particular findings of fact have no standing. Summed up, the specifications of error of the assessors properly raise but one question for determination, namely, whether as matter of law the agreed facts warrant the conclusions of the board and the general finding for the trustees. Assessors of Boston v. Garland School of Home Making, 296 Mass. 378, 383-384, and cases cited.

The relevant facts are these: The trustees derive their title to the property involved under a deed of trust executed on January 25, 1898 by Mary Baker G. Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science religion. (See Eustace v. Dickey, 240 Mass. 55 .) By that deed title to certain goods and chattels connected with a publishing business conducted for the promotion of the interests of Christian Science was transferred to the trustees named therein. The declared purpose of the trust is "for . . . more effectually promoting and extending the religion of Christian Science as taught by me" (Mrs. Eddy). Under the terms of the trust, it is provided that the principal place of business of the publishing society should be in Boston, and that the net earnings of the business be paid over in their entirety to The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts. The trustees use the personal property involved for the purpose of publishing four periodicals, The Christian Science Journal, a monthly publication, the Christian Science Quarterly, the Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly publication, and The Herald of Christian Science, which is published monthly in German and French with alternate pages of English. A Scandinavian edition is also published quarterly, containing an equal number of articles in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish; and a quarterly edition in Dutch and a quarterly edition in braille are also published. All editions of The Herald of Christian Science are devoted entirely to the religion of Christian Science. They contain no matter concerned with any subject other than the religion of Christian Science. Many books, pamphlets and leaflets, pictures and postcards, leather cases and covers for books, and reading room and Sunday school supplies are likewise published or prepared under the supervision of the trustees. The board found that all of these general publications were religious publications. The agreed facts warrant that conclusion and the assessors do not dispute that finding. The trustees also publish a newspaper called The Christian Science Monitor which is an organ of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston. It had an average daily circulation in 1935 of one hundred forty-seven thousand two hundred eighty-one copies. This paper was founded by Mrs. Eddy in 1908. She gave the paper its name and chose its motto. Its editorial board is appointed by the directors of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston. She insisted that "Christian Science" be a part of the name of the Monitor. The Monitor is an international daily newspaper with correspondents located all over the world. It is published in three editions known respectively as the Atlantic, the Central, and the Pacific edition. It carries a religious article daily, based on the teachings of Christian Science, and this article is translated into fifteen different languages. These religious articles are the only ones that are translated into foreign languages. The trustees decline at least fifty per cent of advertising which other newspapers in general accept. Its policy and practice are against emphasis being laid upon matters involving crime, scandal and sensation. And in its editorial matter emphasis is laid upon the moral values of temperance, peace and social justice. The circulation of the Monitor is promoted and extended principally by members of Christian Science churches throughout the world. There were no paid solicitors of subscriptions in 1935. And in that year four hundred twenty-one thousand sixty-three free copies were distributed. "The Trustees maintained during 1935 a fund known as the Donation Fund and placed therein all money received from individuals who wished to donate Christian Science Periodicals for those who could not at the time afford to subscribe. During 1935 subscriptions were entered and paid for from this fund" to the Monitor in the amount of $21,092.66. The gross income from all the publications of the society for the year 1935 was $5,108,332.19. Operating expenses amounted to $4,360,587.56. The net income amounted to $747,744.63. The Monitor was published at a loss in that year of $186,845.01. No part of the earnings was distributed or paid out to individuals or members or...