Page:Henry Osborn Taylor, A Treatise on the Law of Private Corporations (5th ed, 1905).djvu/325

 PART III. J ACTS BEYOND THE CORPORATE POWERS. [§ 333. visions of chap. 98 of acts 12th general assembly of the state of Iowa." The constitution of Iowa declares that no munic- ipal corporation "shall be allowed to become indebted in any manner, or for any purpose, to an amount in the aggregate exceeding five per centum of the value of the taxable property within such county or corporation, to be ascertained by the last state and county tax lists, previous to the increasing of such indebtedness." The court held that the recital above men- tioned " necessarily implied nothing more than that the bonds were issued by authority of the electors, and that the election was held in conformity with the statute. The statute may have been pursued as to the notice required to be given of the time and place of the election, and as to the manner in which the will of the voters was to be ascertained, and yet it may have been disregarded in respect to the limit it imposes upon dis- trict indebtedness. The declaration, therefore, that the election was held in conformity with the statute, does not with suffi- cient distinctness imply that the indebtedness voted was less than five per cent, on the value of the taxable property of the district, as shown by the state and county tax lists." Accord- ingly, the bonds, having been issued in excess of the constitu- tional limit, were held void. The court concluded with saying, that " where the holder relies for protection upon mere recitals, they should, at least, be clear and unambiguous, in order to estop a municipal corporation, in whose name such bonds have been made, from showing that they were issued in violation, or without authority of law." * § 333. If not restrained by some valid special limitation upon the exercise of its taxing power, a county authorized p to contract an extraordinary indebtedness by the municipal issue of negotiable securities, may levy a tax to meet to tax. principal and interest as they accrue. 2 And when a Mandamus - state has authorized a municipal corporation to contract, and to exercise the power of local taxation to the extent necessary UOe U. S. 187. Compare with this decision Marcy o. Township of Oswego, 92 U. S. 637, and see § 321. The municipality may set up non- performance of condition on which the bonds were voted to be issued, when recitals do not cover that point. Citizens, etc., Asso'n v. Perry Co., 156 U. S. 693. - Ralls County Court r. United States, 105 U. S. 733; Quincy v. Jackson, 113 U. S. 332. 20 305