Bressler v. Wayne Cnty.

• Decision Date: 04 January 1889
• Citation: 25 Neb. 468,41 N.W. 356
• Parties: BRESSLER v. WAYNE COUNTY.
• Court: Nebraska Supreme Court

25 Neb. 468

41 N.W. 356

BRESSLER

v.WAYNE COUNTY.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

Jan. 4, 1889.

Syllabus by the Court.

1. Upon questions involving the construction of a law of congress, the decision of the supreme court of the United States is the supreme law, by which the state courts are bound.

2. “In the assessment and taxation of shares of national bank stock, the owners thereof, having no other credits or moneyed capital, are entitled to deduct their bona fide debts from the value of such shares of stock.” Wasson v. Bank, (Ind.) 8 N. E. Rep. 97.¹

Error to district court, Wayne county; NORRIS, Judge.Northrop & Welch, for plaintiff in error.

J D. King and William Leese, Atty. Gen., for defendant in error.

REESE, C. J.

The facts in this case are conceded to be that on the 1st day of April, 1887, and prior thereto, the plaintiff in error was and had been a resident of the precinct of Wayne, Wayne county, Neb., and was on the said date the owner of 229 shares of the capital stock of the First National Bank of Wayne county, Neb., of the par value of $100 each, of the total value of $22,900. Said bank is a corporation duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the United States, under the act known as the “National Bank Act,” (Rev. St. U. S. 1874, tit. 82) On or about the 1st day of April, 1887, the plaintiff in error gave a list of his taxable property to the assessor of Wayne precinct, which list included the number of shares of said stock first mentioned, and at the same time gave to such assessor a list of debts owing by him, duly sworn to, amounting to $14,200, and asked that the last-mentioned amount be deducted from the value of the bank stock owned by plaintiff in error, he having no other credits from which he could deduct such indebtedness, and that he be taxed and assessed only upon the residue of said shares, viz., 87 shares. The assessor refused to allow such deduction, and returned and assessed against plaintiff in error the whole number and amount of said shares, such shares being assessed at $25 each, without deducting the indebtedness referred to. On the 6th day of June, 1887, plaintiff in error appeared before the board of county commissioners of Wayne county, sitting as a board of equalization, and made application to have his assessment corrected by allowing him the deduction for debts owing, as before mentioned, which application and request was by said board refused. On the 16th day of January, 1888, said plaintiff in error filed a petition in error in the district court of Wayne county, and the same question was submitted to the court, and the decision of the county board was by that court affirmed. Plaintiff now assigns the said ruling of the district court as error, and claims that he should be, and by law is, entitled to deduct from the value of his shares of stock in said national bank his bona fide debts, and be taxed only upon the residue. Section 27 of chapter 77 of the Compiled Statutes, entitled “Revenue,” and under which the right to offset plaintiff's indebtedness is claimed, is as follows: “In making up the amount of credits which any person is required to list for himself, or for any other person, company, or corporation, he shall be entitled to deduct from the gross amount of credits the amount of all bona fide debts owing by such person, company, or corporation to any other person, company, or corporation for a consideration received, but no acknowledgment of indebtedness not founded on actual consideration, believed, when received, to have been adequate, and no such acknowledgment made for the purpose of being so deducted, shall be considered a debt within the meaning of this section; and so much only of any liability as surety for others shall be deducted as the person making out the statement believes he is legally and equitably bound and will be compelled to pay on account of the inability or insolvency of the principal debtor; and if there are other sureties, who are able to contribute, then only so much as the surety in whose behalf the statement is made will be bound to contribute: provided, that nothing in this section shall be so construed as to apply to any bank, company, or corporation exercising banking powers or...