Gonzales v. Sullivan

Citations

• 16 Fla. 791

Syllabus

<p>1. The Constitution, operative in this State in 1855, made it the duty of the Legislature to designate objects of improvement which shall constitute a State system. The Legislature in that year (January 6, 1855,) designated certain improvements as proper objects to be aided from a trust fund created by it and thus establish a system. The primary purpose of this legislation was the construction of the works belonging to the system, not the extension of aid or bounty to the corporations having the right to construct the works so designated. The aid extended by the act was the consideration to the companies, having or to have the right to construct the works, to accept the provisions of the law, thus bringing themselves within the system, subject to its control and regulations. The designation of a road “as a proper improvement to be aided from the fund ” created by the act made it an improvement belonging to the system, and the acceptance of the provisions of the law by the company having the right to construct it gave the company the rights granted. Each road was, under the terms of the law, exempt from taxation during its construction and for thirty-five years from its completion. This exemption, rested in contract, was attached to the property and could not be subsequently divested by the State.</p> <p>2. During the year 1855 the Legislature designated another line of railroad as a proper improvement to be aided from the Internal Improvement Eund in the manner provided for in the act establishing the system. This constituted the road a part of the system, and upon the company’s acceptance of the provisions of the internal improvement act, the right of exemption from taxation attached to the road. These acts, relating to the same subject-matter, must be construed together as one act.</p> <p>3. The power of one Legislature is not limited by the act of an antecedent one, unless the act of the first is of such character as to call into operation a constitutional lim