State ex rel. Wilson v. State Board of Education of Montana

• Decision Date: 08 April 1936
• Docket Number: 7546.
• Citation: 56 P.2d 1079,102 Mont. 165
• Parties: STATE ex rel. WILSON v. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF MONTANA et al.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

56 P.2d 1079

102 Mont. 165

STATE ex rel. WILSON v. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF MONTANA et al.

No. 7546.

Supreme Court of Montana

April 8, 1936

Original injunction proceeding by the State of Montana, on the relation of F. W. Wilson, against the State Board of Education of Montana and others.

Application for writ of injunction denied.

J. C Garlington, of Missoula, for relator.

Raymond T. Nagle, Atty. Gen., and Walter L. Pope, of Missoula, for respondents.

STEWART Justice.

This is an original proceeding brought by relator, a student at Montana State University, in his capacity as a student and as a taxpayer, for the purpose of enjoining the proceedings of the respondent State Board of Education and the other named respondents, under chapter 133, Laws 1935. The chapter authorized and empowered the State Board of Education to procure the erection of a journalism building at the State University in Missoula. It further authorized the board to apply to the United States government for assistance under the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works.

The petition alleged that the State Board of Education adopted certain resolutions, which are attached thereto, and pursuant to which the respondents, on behalf of the State University have made application to the Public Works Administration for a loan and grant of $180,000, to be expended in the erection of a journalism building, the outright grant to be in the amount of $81,000 and the loan in the sum of $99,000. For the purpose of securing the loan, the respondents propose to pledge the income and interest from the fund created by the federal land grant to the state of Montana for the use of the State University, in accordance with the provisions of section 14 of the Enabling Act. It is alleged that the respondents propose to issue negotiable bonds to be secured by the pledge of the income and interest from the land grant fund, the bonded indebtedness to be retired over a period of thirty years on an amortization plan.

It is first important to understand the provisions of chapter 133 supra. It is not necessary, however, to reproduce the chapter in its entirety. It is sufficient to say that, in substance, it provides as follows:

Section 1 of the act gives to the State Board of Education the power to erect a journalism building at the university at a cost of not to exceed $200,000.

Section 2 provides (a) that the board may enter into such contract or contracts or other arrangement as the laws of Congress hereafter enacted or regulations adopted pursuant thereto may require for the purpose of procuring federal funds for the erection of the building; (b) that the State Board of Education is given power to make such contracts in such form as may satisfy the requirements of the United States in respect thereto; (c) that the purpose and intent of the act are declared to be to give the State Board of Education full power to take advantage of such benefits and advantages as may be obtainable under the act of Congress now contemplated; and (d) that there is conferred upon the State Board of Education full power to make such contracts and do such things as may be required to procure the erection of the building from funds provided by Congress under any public works program that may hereafter be enacted by Congress.

Section 3 provides a specific means of raising the funds for the erection of the building, but contains a statement that the expression of the one means shall not limit or qualify the other means available to the State Board of Education.

Section 4 provides that no contract or obligation shall become a charge against the state of Montana, and that all obligations for the payment of money shall be payable solely from such funds as may be available from time to time to the State Board of Education for the operation and maintenance of the Montana State University.

Section 5 provides that it is the purpose to confer upon the State Board of Education full power to do all things and acts not in conflict with the Constitution of the United States or of the Constitution of the State of Montana, which the State Board of Education may find necessary or reasonably adapted to accomplish the object specified, viz., the erection of the journalism building.

Respondents' answer admits all allegations of fact contained in the petition, and in addition pleads the rules and regulations of the Public Works Administration enacted pursuant to the Federal Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, 49 Statutes at Large, p. 115 (15 U.S.C.A. § 728 note), and alleges that the board has caused plans and specifications to be prepared for the construction of the building, and that it has entered into negotiations with the government for the granting of a loan from the Public Works Administration, and that it intends to enter into the contract provided for in the application for the grant and loan as set forth in the resolution of the board. It affirmatively alleges that the board has made the application because the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works of the government is the sole agency authorized by the United States to make loans or to provide funds for the purposes set forth in chapter 133, supra, for the purpose of procuring funds and entering into contracts as provided in the chapter, and that all things done in connection therewith are pursuant to the authority of Congress applicable thereto, and have been and are required for the purpose of obtaining the benefits and advantages obtainable under the act; that it is necessary to do such things, and that they are required by the United States and the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works; and that in fact the resolution adopted by the board to effectuate the purpose was prepared by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works and adopted by the board as the only means of securing the benefits mentioned in the chapter.

The answer, responding to the charge that all of the income of the land grant is to be pledged, sets forth that the average income from the university land grant fund for a period of thirteen years last past has been $27,819, and that the maximum that will ever be required to be paid under the plan during the life of the contemplated bonds will not exceed the sum of $7,240 in any given year. A table showing the income for the years mentioned is appended to the answer, showing that the greatest income for any of the years included was $33,648.72, and the lowest $20,900.

In the brief of relator the contentions and differences submitted to the court are summarized in three propositions:

1. That chapter 133 gives to the State Board of Education no authority to borrow money, or expend money, for the erection of a journalism building, or to use negotiable bonds or other evidences of indebtedness in connection therewith.

2. That chapter 133, or no other law or constitutional provision, gives the State Board of Education any authority to appropriate and pledge the income and interest from the university land grant fund.

3. That the proposed indebtedness, pledge of income, and interest from the land grant fund, and repayment of the contemplated loan to the Public Works Administration over a period of thirty years, constitute a violation of the provisions of our State Constitution limiting and defining the manner in which appropriations may be made, indebtedness incurred, and state moneys expended.

These propositions are argued at length in the briefs of relator and respondents.

It is obvious from the case made by the pleadings that the legislative enactment under consideration is very broad and comprehensive. It is true that it does not give the exact details to be observed in carrying out the purpose contemplated, but it does give the board abundant and liberal authority. The resolution adopted by the board under authority of the act and under the acts of Congress necessarily contains more details and more specific provisions to be observed in the actual execution of the purposes behind the enactment of the law. It is manifest that the plan contemplates a contract under the Montana act and such federal laws as were then in effect and as might later be enacted by Congress and the regulations to be adopted in pursuance thereof.

No one can read the legislative act, the resolution of the board, the federal act, and the federal rules and regulations without arriving at the conclusion that all were directed to the main purpose of accomplishing just exactly what is sought in this instance--that is, the erection of a journalism building, with the resultant benefits of employment of labor and general relief of depression conditions. It is plain that the purpose of all of the steps taken and contemplated by both state and federal authorities from the beginning was the erection of a building and the making of improvements to be paid for from money and means not then within the possession of or within the power of the state to expend under the existing conditions without aid from the federal government. That aid, it is apparent, was designed to come partly in the nature of a specific grant, the repayment of which was not required and which was extended for the purpose of aiding and encouraging the state in the financing of the improvement. It is true that the Montana legislative act does not specifically say in so many words just what things are necessary to accomplish such purpose, but the broad language employed certainly justifies the belief that authority was given the board to do the lesser things required in the accomplishment of the major result.

The act does not say in so many words that the Board of Education may borrow money or issue its negotiable bonds, but those two...