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OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Hoaomblo Ctmrlef Loalrbrt
sate Treuumr
Awtfa, Tox88
Dew 8&J:
A* T8PP, a8 qeat
. b. &ua~, Bor-
purohwod f9om you
, aot p~oteating
Nero intended to be
trumaat) roaurfag
t that tfme the
to 8a op5nfa&
er8l Uflllam
Zhat the stamps purchased by
Bank vzre, houever, attached fs another
& th8 arms lndebtsdness.
ltonorable chuley Lookhart, Page 2
A portian of the 8-8 thu8 9uFche8ed by Mr. Tepp
.heve been ured on other inlltF'UWnt8 8tiee that time, but the
remalader are nav la the h8nd8 of H. Ii. Welnert of Seg~ln,
rho derlre8 to embag them for rtam98 OS rnaller deaomlna-
tiai. Ia th8t letter JOU IWqU8Sted OUI' 09iniQ U to vhether
Or not LOU 8hould rrk8 tb0 eXChange FSqW8tsd br HI'. Weinert.
Slnoe writing ue the above letter pu have lad
further correepondenae with Mr. It. A. Welnert, 8ttorney at
Seguln, aad It 8eem8 that the lnformatian regeivcrd and given
U8 -8 not COPlWCt. YOU hAVe FeqUe8t8d thrt V8 UW’VW PUP
qUb8thl, 888u the hat8 t0 be as 8t4t8d in &. R. A.
bbiaeFt’8 letter t0 YOU Of ~OVC%llbe~ 14th, a8 fO11oV8:
In the month of July, 1937, ‘&e follovlag lnstru-
mat8 V8P8 U8OUt8d in C~eotiM Vith th8 8818 Of OOFtaiTl
(1) A88&llDlIJiatfiOZll BO8teX oil COl'9OF8tian
to w8~t"Vir&ui* Qas Oorporatiaa ~overlng aa utulivlded ane-
hair lntereet la the Rage Loen Campsng 1e88e. A VBadOl”8
lien wa8 retaiaod to 8ecure th8 paymsdat of two note8 in the
amouat8 OS $27,700 and ~13,000 respectively. (2) An rsri&k-
lBIlt tl'OlU H. H. ~3in3rt t0 West Virginia @%8 COr9OMtiCUl CoV-
orlag the Lackey-Weldan tventy end 8lxty 8Cre tract8 and an
upldlVld8d one-fourth interest in the R\mse Loan Co@eny lend.
A Vendar’8 lien ~88 retained tc 8ecure the psplusnt of two
note8 In the amalsts of )105,000 8nd $77,000 rerpeatlvely.
(3) A bill ai 8ale from H. E. iielnsrt aad A. b. Bauahwn to
Yeclt vlrginir cm Corporatllxl 4aslgnlng the cepitrl rtaok or
sane Oil commny. The purchawr exeauted e oolleterel pledge
of the 8tOak to 8ecure the payment Of tvo note8 ln the WWt8
of ~~0,000 and $205,000. The notes motioned in rubdlvlsians
1 ma 2 above vere also 8eCUr3d by Deeds of True ooverlng the
race property aad securing the 8eme notes. All of these ln-
8trment8, including the Deeds of Trust, vere recorded end
lll ot them vtrc s&med ln lco?dfmce with the provlslons of
Articla 7047e, Velaon’s Civil Statutes. The total ateups usea
amcuntec? to $SlS.!!C. Hovevep, ti%wyh joy confusion tvo sets
of rfaanps had -;ecn r;racred, one for ,$S.Scr by H. H. WeInert
end assoclatax nna the other baing for $697.1,: by the Alamo
Rs.t.1onal Bank. Since that flme a part of the surplus stamy
heve been used on other documenta, but the interested 9w%ies
8t.111 have an hand $448.20 vorth of thO83 8tamp8, being nine
8tampo of the denomination of $49.80 each. rt IS 24ollght to
exchange those staup for other stamps of nmaller danomlnatlon.
.
.
HWOlSblO char187 &O-t, Pl;g8 3
Article 70470, Veraca’8 Civil Statute8, a8 It read
at the time the rtAst98 In questIon Vera proha v18 a8 fol-
lo*81
“.(a) Except a8 herein otheruire provided, there
i8 hereby 18Visd a a dA88e88ed l tU Of tan amt8 (lo/)
on eaoh Ohs Hundred I&l&~8 ($100 or ?ractloa there-
of, .over the first TV0 Euadred DoLr 8 ((200), 0 lll
note8 and otlIgatIcm8 recured by ohattel mortgage8,
deed et trust, mechanIctc iieh OOntNCt, veador’8 lien,
COditiOWl -188 OQltmt and all iXl8tlUlltXlt8 Of a
rimllar nature uhIoh are filed or recorded In the o?-
tics a? the County Clerk ueder the ReEIstratIan I&v8
of this State; providing that no tax 8hall be levied
m instruments for an cmotmt of Tuo Hundred Dollars
($200) or 1088. After the effeotlvo date of thi8
Aot, exoept a8 hereIaa?ter provided, no lnnrtrummt
oreatlng a llea a? shy charaoter to 8eoure the 9ay-
ment a? money, or resorvlng title to any property un-
til the purahsre price thereof shall have bean p&Id,
r&l1 be rihd or reaarded by auy County Clerk In
ttds State until there ha8 beea afflsed to ruch la-
8tIWlW3llt 8tXUt98 in aCOOrdanC0 VIth the JJFOV~~~CQIS Of
thl8 Sectloh: 8nd prOVlding ?urther that the prool-
81ollSOf thi8 8eCtiCUl S&11 IiOt amij t0 rIXXiV~8 Or
extenalcam of any notes or obllgatlons, 8nd 89ecI?l-
tally 8hall not apply to refunding o? exL6ting bends
or abllgation8, And PI’OYiding ?UPthBr ehi8 8’3’3tiOll
8hrl1 not apply to notes aad Obli~ti~8 or in8tru-
meat8 reour3ag 8m8 taken by or oh behalf OS the
WIted State8 or any oorparats agenog or lnstrumental-
Ity of the UhIted ztat3s Scveenmeht In carrying out
a governmental 9urpca3 a3 ?xpessed In any Act of the
Coagrers of the Dnlted States."
"(b) Payzimt of t!ze t8.x hereby levied shall be
evidenced by affixing tile stamps herein provided for
to all in3trumiits l3citi x? vithln the provlslnns of
suMlvlsion (a) of this Section, and It shall be the
duty of tt %a',2 Treeertror to hava orqzaved or Trlnted
the stamps cacessarg to co3qQ.g vlth thic Snctlon, ma
to seil tiiti sam to all perzmo upon 63-a and pay-
mont therefor. The stamps shall be of suah design ead
denaminat.lan a8 to the Treasurer rhall seem proper, a!Ki
hall shw the auomt of the tax, tk:a patents of vhich
is evidenced thereby, &xl shall contain the vorda Vote
.
Hamrable Charlm Lockhart, Page 4
StUllp.’ The State Treasurer shall be responsible
for the oustody and 8818 OS suoh du!q~s tad for
the prweedr therefran under this ofilclal bad.”
It ns reoent.17held by the Emtlmd Court of
Civil Appeale in the aaee o? City of Abbilene v. Frier, (not
7et reported) that the tu levied b7 this atrtute is, in ef-
feat, a prlvllege tax laid spoolthe prlvllege of using the
tzc$ reoords, not (L t8x upon the note or obllgatlca Be-
Benoe a atamp has not been used until it has been
at&d to an lnntrment for recording. Consequmtly, lt
oamot be Bald that the rtamps now held by Nr. Yeinert had
ever been rllocated or assigned to any particular lnstru-
malt. A stamp may be purchased vlth the intention of pIa:-
lng th@ same upaa me dooument, rhereur the .ume may be used
on an entirely dlffermt instrument, There 16 nothing to
prevent 8 perron’s no doing.
While the statute, neither ia its original form
nor aa unended, oaotains no provielap1relating to the ex-
change OS rtamps, JOU advise ua that it hba been the prac-
tice of your Department to exchange such stamps when those
&dn:z;ome person are of denomlnatlons not suitable to
We see no objection to such pmbctloe. Uader the
iacts aa kbmltted ln Mr. Weinert’s letter of November 14,
1940, there oan be no questlm but that the exchange map be
made.
Yours very tFu1g
ATTORlVEY
GEZEXALOPTFJLAS
Glezm R. Lewis
Asslstmi
Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion
Combined Opinion