State ex rel. Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance v. Tomlinson

Citations

• 99 Ohio St. (N.S.) 233

Syllabus

<p>Statutory construction — Meaning of words and phrases — Prior definition by legislature — Presumption as to use in later legislation— Section 5432, General Code (100 O. L., 66) — Foreign insurance ' companies — Statement to superintendent of insurance— Gross amount of premiums — Taxation.</p> <p>1. Where the language of an existing statute is ambiguous, and the legislature by a previous enactment upon the same subject has in express language, or by clear and indubitable inference, 'defined the meaning of the ambiguous word or phrase used in such statute, it will be presumed, in the absence of a later expression to the contrary, to have used the word or phrase in subsequent legislation in the same sense.</p> <p>2. The words “gross amount of premiums received * * * without * * * any deductions whatever,” in Section 5432, General Code (100 O. L., 66), when read in the light of previous legislation on the same subject, clearly contemplate the gross amount of premiums stipulated on the face of the policies in force in Ohio for the period in that section specified,</p>