Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

Honorable Geo. R. Sheppard Comptroller-of Public Accounts Austin, Texas Dear Sir: Opinion NO; o-2036-, -. -. -, Re: Furchasti'ofpostage%stamp3 by the Texas Agricultural ExperIl ment Station at A. & M. College. .~ -owehave your~lettersof March 1, 1940;and March.14, '-" 1940; also‘~twoletters froinMr.-A. B. Conner, Director, Texas Ag?lcultural~Expi+Nmeiit'Stat~on,~A;& M; College, aded Feb;~~ ruarg 28, 1940, and March 13, 1940, which you forwarded -. to us. 'Thes‘e~lette?$ reveal that the Texas 'AgrlcultutialEti-‘. ljeeliuent StatF6Khas purchased ~posttige'stamps-by executing a vbticherm@de.payable to & UnlteKStates Postmaster. Th$~ Station h&'-then ~lssued'~'c~h~ckagainst the Pure Feea Wc%king FuiiaUXpaykient tif~thestatipps%ihait'ha3 been eriaorsedUbgthe P&%tm&st&E from whom ~th6 putidhtise was made:'~A'?eImbursemtint tibtibh&r h&s beeii'submittedto you by the Stirltloti antilistea~-'~ th&i?eoii.is-'the Cimoilnt ~expendedin the piirchase'of'thesestamps. They have also attached the orlglnal Stamp voucher, "~ ~With these facts In mind, you~request our opinion--a~-'~~ tb whether your department would,be auth&lzeKto Issue -a'war- rafitpayable to the Director-'df'theAgriciilturalExperiment Station for refund of the stamps so purchased. We have sfudied.the history of Article '3875,Vernbn's Revised Civil--Statutes;1925, in an effort to ascertain from what' sources anKby what authority the funds used by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in purchasing these -~. stamps were derived. Being unable'to find tinslegally created ?evolvlng br lnstltutional fund from which suchipurchases could be made, we wrote you on March 8, 1940, asktng for ln- formatlon~'regardingthe source or sources from which the fund might be authorized. In response to-this request, we have Mr. A. B. Conner'sletter of March 13, 1940, and in connection with this matter he says: . "The Pure'Feed working fund Is a fund of $lO;OOO advanced to-'theDirector of the Agriciil- ttiralExperiment Station by the Board of Dlrec- - . Honorable Geo. H. Sheppard, page 2 0-2036 tors of the College many years ago. The original source of this fund, I understand, was from the net surplus accrued in the administration of the Pure Feed Law ana the wojrklngfund was set up irifter'an amend- m6nt mad&~ln.the 315t Legislature, Third Calld Sessioti;wtilbh.amefiament, shown'ln the General I;avSof Texas;-Thlra Callea'Sesslon, 3lst~Le~islature;lglO, page.16, tiectititi 2! fir&id&-'that' .~ I;~. . Said 'fiti& (StirplUs) ~ . . . sh&ll be us.edby the.b6ard'of directors OT the AgrlcultW~l'aid‘Mechahlcal 'College for" iilak1ng'aI.l ritices3aryrepair&at 'the AgrlctiItiiral %indMech~nlc%l~Col'leg~;Wectron'~bf buildlngs~' ana otliierImprovemefits,-~a& for such oth@‘pur-~ 'pose5&s'mag be'aeemed advlstibleby'the board ~of directbrs, ana'said funas shall be~paia outsby the.State Treasutier6n warrants 13sued~bg the pr@sid&nt and secr~etary'ofthe boarKof'&l; rt%toPs.' ItIs my‘und~~standihg that 'this tibrkingfund V&s from rn6fii.63ttiansmltted'by the'State Trhasurer on warrants to the College under this . Act." _ . . A'sfar &s'w&'have been abl'eto ascertain, the~A6t‘bf.. the-Ltiglslaturedeferred to by'Mr.~Coiixieris~'the~'bliI~~sou~d~~ ~~ from which.the~ "working fund'"cd.iSdhaii&b&n'~deri@&.'--~ S-&ate BrlS'No~.10, Third Called Session, .TtiWtyLfii"stL@l%lattir&~~~'; r&fijrredto-'inl@?*Coniier~'%lettZ5, w~a* tinapprbprlatSon.blIT. It &ppropri.%tedand transfer&d all moneys colle~ted.under'.tFi~-' bf the pure feed laws (Including Article 3875; stii5I;a) pr+ovltiiofis to the'use and beiiefltof the A. &M. College bf.Texas-8na pro- vFde6 that 'the Stat% Treasurer should'keep an account on~his-.-- bboks t&be known as the Pure Feed~Fund 6f the'Agricultura1 and Mechanical College. Section 2 of said . Act provided: "Section 2, Said funds so appi+opriatedana collect-d shall be used by the bdara of directors of the Bgrlculturtiland MechaiilcalCollege for‘~ itiakingall necessary repairs at the Agrlculturfil and Mechanical College, erection of builalngs ana oCher improvemZW.s,"and for such bther purpdses Xs iriayb5 deemed'aavisable bjithe board of di?ectors-; and s&id fun& shall be pafd outby the SFate'~Trea,s- uPer on warrants issued by the presldeiitand"secre- tary of the board of director‘s;.Th5 said boara.of dliiectorsshall'on the 315t day of August of~each jiearfile a swijrfireport Uith'ttieGoVePrior,giving a-n itemize8 statement of all Feceipts aliadIsbur3e- ments of said fund for the year ending on said date." Honorable Gee, R. Sheppard, page 3 Q-2036 "The doctrine of ejusdem generls (of the same kina) Imports that general words following an enumeratfon of partlcu- lar or specific things will be confLned to things of the same kind. In brief, the general words so used are not to be con- strued in the widest sense, but are to be held as applying only to-'personsor things of the same 'kindand class-.asthose enum- erated.;' 39 Tex, Jur:202. See also Farmers' and.MechanPcs' National Bank v. Hanks, 104~'Tex.320, ~137 S;W. 1120:. In view of'thls rule, we are constrained to hold that the Board of Dir'ectorsof the Agricultural and Mechanical Collegewere not authori~sedunder Senate Bill~No. 10, supra, to set up a "work- ing fuiid"for the Agricultural Experiment Statfon. The~piir- of Senate Bill No. 10, supra, was to appropriate the fun&s" therein referred to for the purpose of'erectlng buildings ana other improvem'ents,and making repairs-;under the doctrlne‘~of ejusdem generis, the directors 00uia hiifelisea said funas only forpurposes similar to, or p of the same class as, those ex- pressed in the statute. . ~-" Since the moneys appropriated under Senate~Bill~‘No;~10, supra, could not have-been us~edfor the purpose of.establFsh- ing the "working fund," themoneysthereinproperly belong in the State Treasury to.~~theaccountof the PiireFeed-.FunS[‘of‘Xhe Kgricultural analMechanical College of Texas: -'Asa-practical matter;-we~riializethat there 1s not ten thousand‘dollars ($~O,OOO) standing-to the credit of the "working fund' at'thls~ timedue to the fact that the ExperIment Station bfficlals have ls~suedchecks against sala'fund~inaccordance with the-pro-'. cedure followed forthe past severa years, In view of this-. fact, we suggest that the moneys standing to the'credit ofsaid 'working fund", together with the-vouchers and cancelled checks issued by the officials of the Station, be returned to the State Treasury. . . ,.~ .~ If there'are any legally created revolvfng or Fnstitu- tibnal funds against which the Texas Agricultural ExperTment- Station may legally issue checks, they may proceed to make their purchases out of such funds and your department-,' under A~rtrticle 3875~,SUPP~.9 would be authorized to issue warrants reimbursing them for the amounts so expended. Yours very truly ATTORNEYGENERAL OF TEXAS HAS:RS:wc By s/Walter R. Koch Walter R, Koch Approved Sun II, 1940 s/Gerald C. Mann By s/Harry A. Shuford ATTORNEYGENERAL OF TEXAS Harry-A. Shuford Approved Opinion Committee by s/BWB Chairman