State v. Curators State Univ.

• Decision Date: 31 July 1874
• Citation: 57 Mo. 178
• Parties: STATE OF MISSOURI, Appellant, v. CURATORS STATE UNIVERSITY, Respondents.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

57 Mo. 178

STATE OF MISSOURI, Appellant,

v.CURATORS STATE UNIVERSITY, Respondents.

Supreme Court of Missouri.

July Term, 1874.

Appeal from Boone Circuit Court.

Thomas Shackleford, for Appellant.

I. The suit was properly brought in the name of the State. (State vs. Saline County, 51 Mo., 350.)

II. The defendants are proper parties defendants. (State vs. Sanderson, 51 Mo., 203.)

III. The bonds were issued by the County Court of Phelps, without the assent of the qualified voters of the county, and void. (See State Const., Art. XI, § 14.)

James Taussig, for Respondents.

I. The curators of the University of Missouri are a “public corporation”; an agency of the State, and part of the machinery of the State government. (Head vs. Curators, 47 Mo., 222.) Section 14, Art. XI, of the Constitution refers only to private corporations. (State vs. Wilcox, 45 Mo., 465.)

NAPTON, Judge, delivered the opinion of the court.

This action is brought by the State against the curators of the University, the County Court of Phelps county, and the Treasurer of the School of Mines. The petition sets out in detail various provisions of the act of the legislature of February 24, 1870, entitled “an act to locate and dispose of the congressional land grant of July 2, 1862, to endow, support and maintain schools of agriculture and the mechanic arts and a school of mines and metallurgy, and to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of life.”

This act, as the petition alleges, provides among other things for the establishment of a school of mines and metallurgy, as a branch or part of the University of the State, and is to be located in the mineral district of south-east Missouri, and in a county having mines therein, which shall donate to the Board of Curators of the University for building and other purposes of said school, the greatest available amount of money and bonds, not less than twenty thousand dollars in cash and twenty acres of land, the county to be selected and the school located therein by a committee of the Board of Curators selected for that purpose.

It is then recited that said act further provides, that the County Court of any county in said district is authorized and empowered to issue bonds of the county, in such sums as they may agree upon, to run not longer than twenty years, and bear interest, not exceeding ten per cent. per annum, payable semi-annually, which bonds shall be delivered to the Board of Curators, to be by them sold and converted into cash, to be used in the erection of the necessary buildings, buying stock and making improvements, as set forth in § 9 of the act, and buying the land required to be donated therein.

The 12th section of the act is then recited in the petition, which provides, “that in order to raise the amount of money, and to purchase the quantity of land specified in the preceding section, voluntary individual subscriptions may be made and received by the Board of Curators, and the corporate authorities of any city or town and the County Court of any county in the district mentioned in the foregoing section, are hereby authorized and empowered to issue bonds of such city, town or county, in such sums as they may agree upon, to run not longer than twenty years, and bearing interest, not exceeding ten per cent. per annum, payable semi-annually, which bonds shall be delivered to the Board of Curators, to be by them sold and converted into cash, to be used in the erection of the necessary buildings, buying stock and making improvements, as set forth in § 9 of this act, and of the land required to be donated therein, and any such city, town or county shall have power to levy such tax under the constitution and laws of the State, as may be needed to meet, according to the terms of the bonds, the payment regularly of the interest and principal when due.”

The 11th section provides that the School of Mines and Metallurgy therein provided for, shall be located in the mineral district of south-east Missouri, but in consideration therefor, any county having mines therein, within such district, shall donate to the Board of Curators for building or other purposes of said school not less than $20,000 in cash, nor less than 20 acres in land, on which to erect buildings for the use of said school, and lots of mineral land in such quantity, quality, and kind as may be deemed necessary for said school for practical and experimental mining; the title of said land to be clear and indisputable, to be bought without charge to the State or to said agricultural college fund, and to be conveyed to the State of Missouri by general warranty deed, etc.

The 12th section of the act provides, that in order to raise the amount of money to purchase the quantity of land specified in the 11th section, voluntary subscriptions may be made, etc., as stated heretofore.

And by the 13th section of said act, the curators were authorized to receive such subscriptions.

On the 13th of June, 1870, the County Court of Phelps county in the State, during the session of said court, made an order donating the bonds of that county to the amount of $50,000, and the necessary lands for the purpose of securing the location and establishment of said School of Mines within said county.

On the 7th of November, 1870, the county court made a further order to subscribe the further sum of $25,000 in addition to the amount before donated. The last sum was also to be in county bonds, making the entire subscription of Phelps county $75,000.

On the 19th day of December, 1870, the curators having before this, by a committee appointed by them, located the School of Mines in Phelps county, the County Court made an order ratifying the subscription of $75,000,...