Hawkins v. Mitchell

Decision Date24 October 1894
Citation34 Fla. 405,16 So. 311
PartiesHAWKINS v. MITCHELL et al.
CourtFlorida Supreme Court

Appeal from circuit court, Leon county; John W. Malone, Judge.

Suit by A. B. Hawkins against Henry L. Mitchell and others, as trustees of the internal improvement fund of Florida to compel defendants to pay interest on five bonds issued by the Florida, Atlantic & Gulf Central Railroad Company. From a decree dismissing the bill, plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.

Syllabus by the Court

SYLLABUS

1. The trustees of the internal improvement fund of the state of Florida, created by the act of January 6, 1855 (chapter 610) known as the 'Internal Improvement Act,' were the agents of the state with respect to said fund, dealing with property of the state devoted to specified purposes under a grant of authority from the legislature.

2. The relation sustained by the internal improvement fund to the bonded indebtedness of railroads created in accordance with the provisions of the internal improvement act, in so far as interest on said indebtedness is concerned, was that of guarantor to the extent and in the manner authorized by said act.

3. The obligation of the state to pay interest, whether as interest or damages, on debts overdue, cannot arise unless by the consent and express contract of the state, manifested by statute, or in the form authorized by statute.

4. A railroad company coming within the provisions of the internal improvement act, and entitled to the benefits thereof issued, in September, 1857, bonds payable at a limited and fixed time, and bearing interest, evidenced by coupons with fixed amounts and stated times and places for payment to date of maturity, as authorized by said act, and said bonds were also registered and certified by the trustees of the internal improvement fund, as directed by the said act. Held, that the said fund was bound as guarantor to pay the interest accruing on the bonds to maturity, as evidenced by the coupons attached, but that said fund was not liable to pay interest on said bonds accruing after their maturity.

COUNSEL

R. W. Williams, for appellant.

Geo. P Raney and Fred. T. Myers, for appellees. The bill in this case was filed by A. B. Hawkins against Henry L. Mitchell, governor, William D. Bloxham, comptroller, C. B. Collins, treasurer, William B. Lamar, attorney general, and L. B. Wombwell, commissioner of agriculture, and successor in office of the register of state lands, as trustees of the internal improvement fund, for the purpose of compelling said trustees to pay interest on five bonds issued by the Florida, Atlantic & Gulf Central Railroad Company, and accruing after their maturity.

The bill sets out the provisions of the act of January 6, 1855 c. 610, known as the 'Internal Improvement Act,' in reference to the issuance of certain bonds by railroads as therein provided, and alleges that the Florida, Atlantic & Gulf Central Railroad Company, a corporation chartered by the legislature of Florida, came within the provisions of the act, and, after signifying its acceptance of the provisions thereof, issued a large number of bonds, which were recorded by the comptroller, and the record certified on each bond, and also countersigned by the state treasurer. Further, that complainant became the holder and owner before maturity of five of the said bonds, specified by numbers, issued by said railroad, bearing date the 1st day of September, 1857, and payable the 1st day of September, 1892, in the city of New York, with interest at the rate of 7 per cent., payable semiannually on the 1st days of March and September in each year. Each bond, it is alleged, contains a certificate by the trustees of the internal improvement fund, dated April 26, 1859, that it was issued in accordance with the provisions of the act of the legislature of the state of Florida passed January 6, 1855, creating the internal improvement fund, and that said fund was specially pledged to pay the interest on said bonds; and also each of said bonds bears at the head the inscription, 'Interest guaranteed by special pledge of the internal improvement fund of the state of Florida,' and an indorsement, 'Interest, 7 per cent., guaranteed by the internal improvement fund of the state of Florida.' It is further alleged that the interest on said bonds from the 1st day of September, 1892, the date of their maturity,--specifying the amount of interest,--was due, and that complainant had applied to the said trustees for payment, and they had refused to pay the same. Also that by the provisions of the act of 1855 the internal improvement fund was specially charged with the payment of interest on the bonds mentioned, and that the trustees, by virtue of said act, had received from time to time large sums of money from the sales of lands, and that said money was specially set apart to pay the interest on said bonds, and went into the hands of the trustees as a special trust fund to be used in paying the interest on said bonds.

The further allegation is made that the Florida, Atlantic & Gulf Central Railroad Company failed to provide for the interest on the bonds issued by it, and failed otherwise to comply with the provisions of the internal improvement act, and that the trustees took possession of said railroad and all of its property, and sold the same.

The respondents answered by plea averring that by the provision of the internal improvement act the bonds authorized to be issued thereunder should be coupon bonds, having not more than 35 years to run, and drawing not more than 7 per cent. annual interest, payable semiannually in the city of New York, or Tallahassee, and that the bonds issued by the Florida, Atlantic & Gulf Central Railroad Company upon which interest was claimed by complainant were coupon bonds, each providing on its face that interest at the rate of 7 per cent. per annum on the amounts thereof would be paid semiannually on the 1st days of March and September in each year on the presentation and delivery of the proper coupons thereto attached. It is further averred that the last of the coupons representing the interest on said bonds, as provided for in the act, became due and payable on the 1st of September, 1892, and that the several coupons representing the semiannual interest on the said bonds from date to maturity had been presented, delivered, and paid.

The case was heard on bill and plea, and a decree rendered sustaining the plea as a good defense, and dismissing the bill. From this decree an appeal was entered by appellant.

Following is a copy of bond No. 139. The others are similar to it:

'United States of America. No. 139. $1,000. State of Florida. Florida, Atlantic and Gulf Central Railroad Company. Guaranteed by first lien on the entire road. Interest guaranteed by special pledge of the internal improvement fund of the state of Florida. Know all men by these presents that the Florida, Atlantic and Gulf Central Railroad acknowledges itself indebted to J. P. Sanderson or bearer in the sum of one thousand dollars for value received, which sum the said Florida, Atlantic and Gulf Central Railroad Company promises and agrees to pay to J. P. Sanderson or bearer on the first day of September, A. D. eighteen hundred and ninety-two, in the city of New York, with interest thereon at the rate of seven per cent. per annum, payable semiannually on the first days of March and September in each year on the presentation and delivery of the proper coupons hereto attached. This bond is one of a series of like tenor and date limited to ten thousand dollars per mile for the purchase of rails, spikes, plates, chairs and equipments, issued in accordance with the act of the legislature of the state of Florida passed 6th January, eighteen hundred and fifty-five, creating the internal improvement fund of the state of Florida. By the terms of said act these bonds are 'a first lien or mortgage on the roadbed, iron, equipments, workshops, depots and franchises' of the company, and for the prompt payment of the interest on these bonds the said internal improvement fund is specially pledged by the state of Florida. And the said Florida, Atlantic and Gulf Central Railroad Company is obliged by the terms of the act of 6th January, 1855, to pay every six months to the trustees of the internal improvement fund at least one-half of one per cent. on the entire amount of bonds issued, as a sinking fund for the redemption of the present issue of bonds. In witness whereof the said company has caused this bond to be attested in its behalf by its president and secretary, and its common seal affixed, at its office in Jacksonville, this first day of September, in the year 1857. Geo. L. Bryant, Secretary. J. P. Sanderson, President. [Seal.]
'Issued in accordance with the provisions of the act of the legislature of the state of Florida passed 6th January, 1855, creating the internal improvement fund, which fund is specially pledged for the payment of the interest on these bonds.
'Tallahassee, April 26th, 1859. M. S. Perry, Governor, T. W. Brevard, Comptroller, C. H. Austin, Treasurer, M. D. Papy, Attorney-Genl., D. S. Walker, Register of Public Lands, Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund.

'Recorded in the comptroller's office of the state of Florida. T. W. Brevard, Comptroller. C. H. Austin, State Treasurer.'

Indorsed on the back thereof:

'United States of America. State of Florida. Florida, Atlantic and Gulf Central Railroad

Company. First mortgage bond. No. 139. $1,000. Interest 7 per cent. Guaranteed by the internal improvement fund of the state of Florida. Payable in the city of New York, 1st of March and 1st of September. Redeemable in New York, 1st September, 1892.'

OPINION

MABRY J. (after stating the...

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12 cases
  • Olds v. Alvord
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • March 29, 1938
    ...v. Hawkins, 23 Fla. 223, 2 so. 362; section 22, c. 610, Internal Improvement Fund Act of 1855, approved Jan. 6, 1855; Hawkins v. Mitchell, 34 Fla. 405, 16 So. 311; Wilson v. Mitchell, 43 Fla. 107, 30 So. Trustees of Internal Improvement Fund v. Bailey, 10 Fla. 112, 81 Am.Dec. 194. Where cou......
  • Olds v. Alvord
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • June 20, 1939
    ...v. Hawkins, 23 Fla. 223, 2 So. 362; section 22, c. 610, Internal Improvement Fund Act of 1855, approval Jan. 6, 1855; Hawkins v. Mitchell, 34 Fla. 405, 16 So. 311; Wilson v. Mitchell, 43 Fal. 107, 30 So. Trustees Internal Improvement Fund v. Bailey, 10 Fla. 112, 81 Am.Dec. 194. 'Where count......
  • Treadway v. Terrell
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • January 4, 1935
    ...Where an award of interest against the state would be invalid, it may be so adjudged by the trial court or on appeal. See Hawkins v. Mitchell, 34 Fla. 405, 16 So. 311. also, Board of Public Instruction v. Kennedy, 109 Fla. 153, 147 So. 250; 59 C.J. 297. If under the law interest may be adju......
  • National Bank of Jacksonville v. Duval County
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • June 8, 1903
    ... ... 266, 55 P. 967; ... Shipley v. Hacheney, 34 Or. 303, 55 P. 971; ... Seymour v. City of Spokane, [45 Fla. 500] 6 Wash ... 362, 33 P. 832; Hawkins v. Mitchell, 34 Fla. 424, 16 ... It is ... insisted by plaintiff in error that the principle decided in ... the case of Jefferson County ... ...
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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