State Ex Rel. City of Jefferson v. Smith

Original action in mandamus. The City of Jefferson seeks to compel the State Auditor to register certain bonds. The' case is submitted on the pleadings. The Auditor contends that the bonds are invalid under Sec. 3, Art. X of the Constitution, which provides that “taxes may be levied and collected for (municipal) public purposes only. ’ ’ The rule is stated as follows:

“If the dominating motive for the erection of the hall is a strictly public use, then the expenditure for it is legal, although incidentally it may be devoted occasionally to uses that are not public. If, however, the project of…