State ex rel. Moore v. Perkins

Citations

• 114 La. 301
• 38 So. 196
• 1905 La. LEXIS 458

Syllabus

<p>TAXATION — DEFAULTING TAX COLLECTOR — BOND —SUBROGATION—BIGHTS OF SURETIES.</p> <p>1. Though the surety of a defaulting tax collector may be willing, without suit, to pay the amount called for by the bond which he has signed, he is not entitled to deduct a commission from such amount where it is less than that required for a full settlement.</p> <p>2. The purpose of the bond required of a tax collector is to secure the faithful performance of all the duties of his office, including the payment into the treasury of all taxes collected by him, and, though the bond given may be insufficient in amount to meet the requirements of a particular occasion, the spirit and purpose of the contract (i. e., that the obligee shall be held harmless, at least up to the amount of the bond) are unaffected by that circumstance; and, as subrogation is essentially an equity, it follows that the surety who pays the amount called for by such bond does not thereby become subrogated to the right of the creditor, to the prejudice of the balance due to the latter, and to such effect that he (the surety) may recoup himself entirely and sustain no loss, whilst the creditor remains the loser in a matter with respect to which the bond was intended to protect him.</p> <p>Provosty, X, dissenting.</p> <p>(Syllabus by the Court.)</p>