Baltimore & Eastern Shore Railroad v. Spring

Citations

• 80 Md. 510
• 27 L.R.A. 72
• 31 A. 208
• 1895 Md. LEXIS 4

Syllabus

<p>Taxation for a Private Purpose — Constitutional Law — Injunction by Taxpayer.</p> <p>An Act of the Legislature, the effect of which is simply to levy a tax on the citizens of a certain county to pay certain residents of that county the debts due them by an insolvent railroad company, is unconstitutional, because it involves taxation for a private purpose.</p> <p>Counties have no inherent power of taxation, and the Legislature can only delegate to them the power to tax for public purposes.</p> <p>The Act of 1892, ch. 295, authorized the Commissioners of Talbot County to issue bonds to the amount of $25,000, “to pay a subscription” of the county to the B. & E. S. R. Co.; and provided that the proceeds of the sale of the bonds should be first applied to the payment of the claims of the citizens of Talbot County against said company. This Act was confirmed by the Act of 1894, ch. 152. At the time of the passage of the Act of 1892, Talbot County had not in fact made any subscription, either to the stock or to the bonds of the company, and the railroad had then been completed, but was insolvent and in the hands of a receiver. Held, that the Act was unconstitutional, and that an injunction should be issued restraining the County Commissioners from issuing the bonds.</p>