Iowa Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Selby
| Decision Date | 15 May 1900 |
| Parties | IOWA SAVINGS & LOAN ASS'N v. SELBY ET AL. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from district court, Madison county; J. H. Applegate, Judge.
Action in equity to foreclose a mortgage executed by M. A. Selby and Emma A. Selby. There was a decree of foreclosure for the plaintiff. Defendants M. A. and Emma A. Selby appeal. Affirmed.Clark & McLaughlin, for appellants.
Bailey, Ballreich & Preston, for appellee.
The appellee is a mutual building and loan association, originally organized in 1889, and alleges that on July 2, 1896, it so amended its articles of incorporation as to comply with the provisions of chapter 85, Acts 26th Gen. Assem. M. A. Selby is a member of the association, and the holder of 10 shares of its stock. In 1894 he borrowed $1,000 of the association, and executed his note therefor, and a mortgage to secure the same. The note and mortgage provide for the payment of certain sums monthly, as dues, premium, and interest. This action is to foreclose the mortgage. The defendant Selby pleads usury, breach of warranty as to the maturity of his stock, and that chapter 85, Acts 26th Gen. Assem., and chapter 48, Acts 27th Gen. Assem., are unconstitutional and void, as to the note and mortgage in suit. The original loan was tainted with usury.
1. The constitutionality of chapter 85, Acts 26th Gen. Assem., and of chapter 48, Acts 27th Gen. Assem., was expressly determined and sustained in Association v. Heidt, 107 Iowa, 297, 77 N. W. 1050, 43 L. R. A. 689;Association v. Curtis, 107 Iowa, 504, 78 N. W. 208. In this case, however, the appellant attacks the latter section on the additional ground that it violates section 29 of article 3 of the constitution of Iowa, which provides that “every act shall embrace but one subject and matters connected therewith, which subject shall be expressed in the title; but if any subject shall be embraced in an act which shall not be expressed in the title, such act shall be void only as to so much thereof as shall not be expressed in the title.” The title to chapter 48, Acts 27th Gen. Assem., is in the language following: “An act to amend section 1898 of the Code relating to building and loan associations.” The appellant contends that this title does not indicate the subject involved therein. It certainly indicates the general subject involved therein, because it says in plain and explicit words that it is an act to amend the law relating to building and loan associations, and, further, gives the section it is proposed to amend. The legislature had the power to pass a curative act relating to these associations, and this legalizing act was germane to the subject expressed in the title. If the title had pointed out the precise amendment that was sought, and the act itself had provided for something foreign thereto, then appellants' position would be well taken. Nobody could have been misled by this title. It was plain and broad, and directed the attention to the general subject of building and loan associations, and, in our judgment, was sufficient. Morford v. Unger, 8 Iowa, 82;Insurance Co. v. Highsmith, 44 Iowa, 330;Association v. Aschermann (Iowa) 78 N. W. 823. Again, the appellants claim that the enactment is expository legislation, and for that reason is unconstitutional....
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