Hubert v. Vial
Hubert v. Vial
Opinion of the Court
A number of plaintiffs, owners of different tracts of land, have joined in this suit for resisting the payment of a special assessment levied upon their said lands by the subdrainage district No. 4 of the St. Charles municipal drainage district.
“Every law enacted by the General Assembly shall embrace but one object, and that shall be expressed in its title.”
The act is a drainage act; but some lands are so flat and low as not to be susceptible •of drainage by gravity, but only by leveeing
“That whenever a debt has been incurred and bonds ordered to be issued and a forced contribution or acreage tax levied, as provided for in the previous section, any landowner having property situated within the limits of the area proposed to be drained, shall have the right during sixty days next following the date of the publication of the resolution required by the preceding section, to appeal to the courts for the purpose of testing the validity of such proceedings, after which time the right to resort to the courts shall be forever barred.”
This suit was filed after the expiration of the 60 days, and after a debt of $13,300 had been created, and bonds issued ,and negotiated therefor. The trial court therefore sustained this prescription, and properly. Crow v. Board of Com., 141 La. 1017, 76 South. 182; Railroad Co. v. Tax Col., 142 La. 190, 76 South. 606; Ficklin v. New River Drainage Dist., 133 La. 203, 62 South. 632.
However harsh may be this prescription, and whatever injustice to the plaintiffs in this ease it may work, this court has no choice but to enforce it, as has heretofore been done in numerous other cases.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- HUBERT v. VIAL, Sheriff
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- (Syllabus by Editorial Staf.) 1. Statutes &wkey;>l23(5) — “Drainage” statute does not embrace two objects because of provision for reclamation of flat lands. Act No. 227 of 1914, amending Act Nos. 219 of 1912 and 317 of 1910, a drainage act, does not embrace two objects, drainage and reclamation, in violation of Const, art. 31, by reason of the fact that it provides for the reclamation of flat lands, so low as not to be susceptible of drainage by gravity, but only by leveeing and pumping. 2. Drains &wkey;59l — Suit resisting payment of special assessment brought 60 days after publication of resolution dismissed. A suit, resisting the payment of a special assessment levied on lands by a subdrainage district, brought more than 60 days after a debt had been incurred and bonds ordered to be issued and a forced contribution or acreage tax levied and publication of resolution, required by section 27 of Act No. 317 of 1910, will be dismissed on a plea of prescription provided by section 28. 3. Drains &wkey;>75 — Publication in journal supplement of resolution of district for creating debt, etc., sufficient. A publication sf a resolution of a drainage district for creating a debt, issuing bonds, and levying, required by section 27 of Act No. 317 of 1910, was sufficient, although printed on a supplement or additional sheet, which was folded loose with the regular part of the official journal. 4.Drains &wkey;»91 — Presumed that supplement on loose sheet, folded with official journal, containing resolution of district, was received by patrons. In a suit resisting payment of a special assessment levied by subdrainage district, where plaintiffs have not alleged or proved that they did not receive a supplement to the official journal on an additional sheet, folded loose with the regular part of the journal, containing a resolution of the district, the presumption must be that they received such- supplement with the journal.