Morrison v. State ex rel. Indianapolis Free Kindergarten & Childrens Aid Society
| Citation | 105 N.E. 113,181 Ind. 544 |
| Decision Date | 30 April 1914 |
| Docket Number | 22,327 |
| Parties | Morrison et al. v. State of Indiana, ex rel. Indianapolis Free Kindergarten and Childrens Aid Society |
| Court | Supreme Court of Indiana |
From Marion Circuit Court (20,821); Charles Remster, Judge.
Action for mandate by the State of Indiana, on the relation of the Indianapolis Free Kindergarten and Childrens Aid Society against Frank A. Morrison and others, as members of the Board of School Commissioners of the School City of Indianapolis. From a judgment for relator, the defendants appeal.
Affirmed.
Albert Baker, for appellants.
A. C Ayres and John B. Elam, for appellee.
Action for mandate by appellee, against appellants, as members of the Board of School Commissioners of the School City of Indianapolis. The complaint was filed in December, 1911, and alleges that relator is a corporation organized under the laws of Indiana, with its place of business in the city of Indianapolis; that it is, and has been, for more than ten years, engaged in maintaining and conducting more than twelve free kindergarten schools in Indianapolis which schools have been and are designated and approved by the superintendent of schools of said city; that by virtue of the provisions of the act of 1901, as amended in 1911 (Acts 1901 p. 123; Acts 1911 p. 112, §§ 6484, 6485 Burns 1914), it became the duty of appellants, not later than the first Monday in October, 1911, to levy a tax of two cents on each $ 100 of taxable property in Indianapolis, for the support and maintenance of free kindergarten schools in said city; that appellants failed and refused to levy such tax, and instead thereof levied a tax of one cent only on such property; the plaintiff prays for an order mandating appellants, in making the levy of 1912, to levy a tax of two cents on each $ 100 of the city's taxable property. Appellants filed an answer to the complaint, in which they set out the history of the act of 1901, and aver that the statute, as amended in 1911, is authorizing and empowering, but not mandatory, as respects the amount of any levy that may be made by appellants in 1912. A reply was filed to the answer, to which appellants demurred. This demurrer was carried back and sustained to appellants' answer, and, appellants declining to plead further, judgment was rendered for appellee.
It is conceded by the parties that if the kindergarten act is mandatory in regard to the levy of a two cent tax in school cities having a population of more than 100,000, the judgment should be affirmed, and otherwise, it should be reversed. The act of 1901 (Acts 1901 p. 123), together with its title, reads as follows: (Italics, brackets, and capitals, ours).
In 1911, § 1, of the foregoing act, was amended. Acts 1911 p. 112. The only change made was by increasing the amount of levy from one cent to two cents, and by eliminating the clause we have enclosed in brackets. The original bill for the act of 1901, known as "House Bill No. 295," including title, and excluding emergency clause, read as follows: Later, in the House, the number 100,000, in the title and first section, was changed to 8,000. Up to this point, appellants concede that the language was mandatory in regard to the levy. So amended, the bill was adopted by the House. In the Senate, an amendment was adopted, inserting in § 1, after the word "commissioners" the words "or school trustees." Later, the section was further amended by striking out the phrase "it shall be the duty of," and inserting the word "may" after the word "trustees," and by striking out the word "to," occurring after the word "purposes." At this point it is manifest that it was the purpose of the Senate to make the levy permissive rather than mandatory. Still later, Senator Matson of Marion County offered the following amendment, to be added at the end of § 2: "Provided that in cities having a population of more than 100,000 according to the last preceding United States census, such association shall not receive such funds, unless for more than two years next preceding it shall have maintained at least twelve such free kindergarten schools." This amendment was adopted. The bill and title were further changed by substituting 6,000 for 8,000, as the minimum population. Subsequently, on March 1, 1901, Senator...
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