16 FEDERAL REPORTER.
The city of St. Charles was incorporated as a municipal corpora-
tion by the general assembly of the state by an act approved March
10, 1864, which act, and the several acts amendatory thereof, were re-
duced into one act by an act of the general assembly approved March
1, 1869. Said last-named act provided that (article 6, §§ 1, 2) "the
mayor and councilmen shall have power, by ordinance, to levy and col-
lect a general tax upon all real and personal estate taxable by the laws
of the state "within the city, not exceeding one per cent. upon the as-
sessed value thereof," and, in addition thereto, "to levy a tax not ex-
ceeding one-half of one per cent. upon all taxable property within
the city, to provide for a sinking fund."
The mayor and aldermen of the city passed an ordinance, approved
November 1, 1,877, which provided (section 1) that--
“For. the support of the city government, the payment of the city debts,
and improvement of the city, a tax shall be levied upon the following objects
owned or employed within the city: First. Lands and lots, including the
houses and all improvements thereon, whether completed or not. Second.
Leasehold interests in houses, lands, or lots, for a term of ten years or more,
as lands. * * * "
· “Sec. 4. That a general tax of one-half of one per cent. of the assessed value
thereof shall be levied and collected on all property subject to taxation by the
laws of the city, real, personal, and mixed.
"Sec. 5. That a special sinking-fund tax of one-half of one per cent. shall
be levied and collected on all property subject to taxation under the laws of
the cit ."
"Sec5i 21. That real estate shall be assessed at the assessment which com-
menced on the first day of August, 1876, and shall only be required to be as-
sessed every two years thereafter. "
"Sec. 69. That this ordinance is intended to be in compliance with, and in
conformity to, the act of the general assembly of the state of Missouri en—
titled •An act concerning the assessment and collection of the revenue,’ and
all the sections, and parts of sections, of the said act, so far as applicable, are
hereby incorporated into, and made a part of, this ordinance, and the same
shall be recognized and considered as controlling authority by the city col-
lector, as far as practicable."
The mayor and aldermen of the city of St. Charles, on July 31,
1880, passed an ordinance entitled "An ordinance to amend ‘An or-
. dinance in relation to revenue,"’ approved November 1, 1877, repealing
all ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict therewith, provid-
ing (section 3) that "there shall be annually levied and collected on
all property in the city, real, personal, and mixed, subject to taxation,
a tax of fifty cents on the hundred dollars of valuation, for general
purposes, and a sinking-fund tax in addition thereto for the payment
of interest on the bonded indebtedness of the city," etc.
The first section of this ordinance was as follows: "For the sup-
port of the city of St. Charles, the payment of the city debts, and
interest thereon, and for the improvement of the city, a tax shall be
levied annually upon all the property within the city, real and per-
sonal, taxable as hereinafter provided;" and by an ordinance of May
28, 1881, this section was amended so as to read: "For the support