City of St. Louis v. Life Ass'n of America

Citation53 Mo. 466
PartiesTHE CITY OF ST. LOUIS, Respondent, v. THE LIFE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, Appellant.
Decision Date31 October 1873
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Missouri

Appeal from St. Louis Criminal Court.

Irwin Z. Smith, for Appellant.

I. The general laws of the State exempt defendant from any liability to pay this license tax. (W. S., 752, § 40.)

II. The amended charter of the city (Sess. Acts, 1870, 464) gives the city power to license, tax and regulate insurance companies, but it does not repeal W. S., 752, § 40, and therefore, if both acts can stand, they will be construed so that both shall stand. While the law of 1869 stands in its application to this class of insurance companies, the law of 1870 will stand and apply to all classes of insurance companies, that are not exempt from this tax and license.

The law does not favor repeals by implication, when two statutes can both stand together; nor does a statute general in its application repeal a statute referring to a special matter, unless by direct words. (47 Mo., 149.)

E. P. McCarty, for Respondent.

I. Section 40, W. S., 752, was an exemption from taxation and therefore unconstitutional and void. (Life Ass'n Am. vs. Bd. of Assessors, etc., 49 Mo., 512.)

II. If otherwise valid, this section of the General Law is limited by the subsequent special provisions of the city charter subjecting these companies to the police and taxing power of the city.

WAGNER, Judge, delivered the opinion of the court.

We think there was no merit in the motion filed by the defendant to dismiss the proceeding on account of the insufficiency of the complaint, and that it was properly overruled.

The complaint was substantially good; technical accuracy was not required; it set out the title of the ordinance alleged to be violated, and referred to the section, article and chapter relied on; stated in what the supposed violation consisted, and sufficiently informed the defendant what it was called upon to answer.

The action was to recover a penalty for violating a city ordinance in doing business without taking out a city license, and the only question is, whether the defendant is exempt from the operation of that ordinance. The defendant is an insurance company, organized on the mutual plan, without any paid up capital stock, and claims, that under the statutory laws of this State, it is exempt from the license imposed by the city.

This claim of exemption is founded on section 40 of the act in regard to the incorporation and regulation of Life Insurance Companies, approved March 10, 1869, (W. S., Ed. 1870, 752.) That section provides, that the Life Insurance Companies referred to shall pay certain fees, which shall go to the support of the insurance department, and shall be in lieu of all taxes, fees and license whatsoever collected for the benefit of ...

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10 cases
  • Coleman v. Kansas City
    • United States
    • Missouri Supreme Court
    • July 3, 1944
    ... ... affair. Murnane v. St. Louis, 123 Mo. 479, 27 S.W ... 711; West Coast Adv. Co. v. City, 95 P.2d ... passed in 1901. St. Louis v. Life Assn. of America, ... 53 Mo. 466; Brunn v. Kansas City, 216 Mo. l.c ... ...
  • Donnell v. Lee
    • United States
    • Missouri Court of Appeals
    • December 23, 1902
    ... ... LEE, Contestee Court of Appeals of Missouri, St. Louis December 23, 1902 ...           Appeal ... from ... OF THE CASE ...          The ... city of Springfield is a city of the third class and is ... Ins. Co., 47 Mo ... 146; City of St. Louis v. The Life Ass'n. of ... America, 53 Mo. 466; The St. Joseph & Iowa ... ...
  • City of St. Louis v. Sternberg
    • United States
    • Missouri Supreme Court
    • April 30, 1879
    ...City v. Weber, 44 Mo. 547; City v. Laughlin, 49 Mo. 559; City v. Sanguinet, 49 Mo. 581; City v. Manf. Sav. Bank, 49 Mo. 574; City v. Life Association, 53 Mo. 466; Cincinnati v. Buckingham, 10 Ohio 257; White v. Kent, 11 Ohio St. 550; Vandine, petitioner, 6 Pick. 187; Nightingale, petitioner......
  • State ex rel. Attorney General v. Dolan
    • United States
    • Missouri Supreme Court
    • December 19, 1887
    ... ... 590; 1 Greenl. Evid., ... sec. 56. (2) Kansas City having a population of more than one ... hundred thousand ... Mo. 529; State v. Fiala, 47 Mo. 310; St. Louis ... v. Ins. Co., 47 Mo. 146; Finney v. Brant, 19 ... Mo ... ...
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