Cahoon v. Iron Gate Land & Improvement Co

• Decision Date: 12 December 1895
• Court: Virginia Supreme Court
• Parties: CAHOON, Treasurer, v. IRON GATE LAND & IMPROVEMENT CO. et al.

23 S.E. 767

92 Va. 367

CAHOON, Treasurer,

v.IRON GATE LAND & IMPROVEMENT CO. et al.

Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia.

Dec. 12, 1895.

Statutes—Expression op Subject in Title.

Acts Assem. 1889-90, p. 194, entitled merely "An act to incorporate the town of Iron Gate, Virginia, " incorporating the town of Iron Gate, and providing that the portion of the town which lies in Botetourt county shall be a portion of Alleghany county, is unconstitutional, in so far as it changes the boundaries of the counties, for failure to express in the title the subject of the act.

Appeal from circuit court, Alleghany county.

Suit by the Iron Gate Land & improvement Company and another against M. S. Cahoon, treasurer, etc. There was a decree for plaintiffs, and defendant appeals. Reversed.

Benjamin Haden, for appellant

R. L. Parrish, for appellees.

CARDWELL, J. In the petition for an appeal in this case several grounds are assigned upon which it is claimed that the act of the legislature incorporating the town of Iron Gate, in this state (Acts Assem. 1889-90, p. 194), should be held to be unconstitutional, but we need only consider whether the act is in conflict with section 15, art. 5, of the constitution of the state of Virginia, which section provides that "no law shall embrace more than one object, which shall be expressed in its title." Prior to the passage of this act of incorporation, the land on which the town of Iron Gate is laid out and divided into town lots formed one tract of land, all of which, except a small portion, lay in the county of Alleghany, the smaller portion being in the county of Botetourt; and the entire tract, containing less than 2, 000 acres, was taxable under section 470 of the Code in the county of Alleghany. After the town of Iron Gate was laid out into lots by the Iron Gate Land & Improvement Company, the treasurer of Botetourt county sought to collect taxes on the lots within the county of Botetourt, and to prevent this the Iron Gate Land & Improvement Company, and a purchaser of a lot from it, filed a bill in the circuit court of Alleghany county praying an injunction to restrain the collection of these taxes, alleging that by the act of incorporation all of the property within the limits of the town of Iron Gate was in the county of Alleghany, and liable only to taxes therein; and further, that the taxes sought to be collected by the treasurer of Botetourt county had already been collected by the treasurer of Alleghany county. The injunction was awarded, and afterwards, by the decree appealed from, perpetuated. The title of the act incorporating the town of Iron Gate is as follows: "An act to incorporate the town of Iron Gate, Virginia." The preamble of the act is: "Whereas the town of Iron Gate, as laid out, is situated almost entirely in the county of Alleghany, and a small portion thereof is probably in the county of Botetourt; and whereas it is desired to incorporate the said town and to have the whole of said town located in one county;" then follows the usual provisions of an act incorporating a town, which need not be noticed. But the fourth section of the act, out of which this controversy arises, is as follows: "That the whole of the town of Iron Gate be deemed to be within the county of Alleghany, and the courts and the officers of said county of Alleghany shall have exclusive jurisdiction for the trial of all controversies of every kind and description, both civil and criminal, that may arise within said town, and for the collection of taxes, levies, and assessments of all kinds, and for all other purposes, as fully and completely as such courts and officers have jurisdiction in other parts of said county: provided that nothing contained in this section shall modify, abridge, or in any manner alter the powers, rights, and duties allowed or imposed by law On any of the officers of said town of Iron Gate." Section 4, when read in connection with the preamble of the act, plainly changes the boundary line between the counties of Alleghany and Botetourt, putting a...