Page:North Dakota Reports (vol. 48).pdf/841

 owners thereof, and would constitute a lien upon the said stock itself, and any dividends due the owners thereof, and upon all the assets of the plaintiff, under provisions of § 2117, C. L. 1913, which said tax so spread and made a charge was in the aggregate, at the time it became due, $699.01.

It further appears from the petition that the taxing officers of Cass county have treated the taxes so assessed, levied, and spread as a valid and existing tax charge, and as collectible; that the treasurer, as provided by law, has given notice to the plaintiff of the delinquency of the personal property tax, and has notified plaintiff that, if said taxes are not paid by October 15, 1921, he will deliver a statement of the taxes to the sheriff of Cass county as a part of the delinquent personal property tax list to be collected by distraint of plaintiff's property, and that in this the treasurer and sheriff are counseled and advised by George E. Wallace, as tax commissioner, and, unless restrained by the order of the court, will continue to do so; that the total amount of the tax, including penalty and interest, aggregates $782.89, which appears as a lien against plaintiff, though assessed against its individual stockholders. This, we think, is a sufficient statement in substance of the matter set forth in plaintiff's petition. The proceeding is brought by plaintiff for himself, and on behalf of all other banking corporations similarly situated.

To the petition the defendants interposed a demurrer, on the ground and for the reason that it does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action.

There are several questions for decision presented in this proceeding; one of them is: Is the bank stock of state bank associations of this state, under the provisions of chap. 62 of the Laws of the Special Session of 1919, exempt from taxation as against either the bank as a corporate entity or the individual owners of the bank stock? Chap. 62 so far as material here provides:

Section 1. “Money and credits, as the same are defined in § 2074 of the Compiled Laws of North Dakota for the year 1913, including bonds and stocks, are hereby exempted from taxation; provided, however, that the income therefrom except as to income derived from loans on North Dakota real property shall be taxable under the provisions of chap. 224 of the Laws of North Dakota, for the year 1919 except as therein exempted; provided, further, that stocks and bonds shall be