Montana Attorney General Opinion 15-449

Opinion No. 449. Veterans-l''uneraJ Expenses--.county Commissioners. HELD: It is the intent of Section 4536, R. C. 1\:1., 1921, as amended by Chapter 181, Laws of 1931, to provide for the decent burial of veterans only when the deceased's estate, or relatives or friends cannot provide for such de- cent burial. February 6, 1934. 'Ve acknowledge receipt of yours of the 29th of January, which is as fol- lows: "I have a question that I would like to submit to you as to the interpreta- tion of Section 4536, of the Reyised Codes of 1921, as amended by Chapter 181, page 486, Session Laws of the 23rd Session of Montana, said section being in relation to the burial of de- ceased soldiers, sailors and marines, etc. "It appears this law was first en- acted in 1903, carried forward into the Reyised Codes of 1907, then re- enacted in the Revised Codes of 1921 and subsequently amended by Chapter 181, Session Laws of the 23rd session. "'Ve have a Spanish War Veteran who died in the Federal Hospital at Helena, Montana, about the 14th day of January, 1!)34. The veteran was huried at the expense of his own es- tate and I understand an application is to be made to the board of county commissioners for an allowance of $150.00 funeral expenses as provided in said Section 4536. "In the Codes of 1907 there is a provision to the effect that any honor- ably discharged soldier who died \vithout leaving sufficient means to defray funeral expenses should be huried at the expense of the county, such expense not to exceed the sum of $50.00. When that section was re- enacted in the Revised Codes of 1921, the clause relating to the soldier dy- ing without sufficient means for buri- al service is left out and the amount increased for the soldier to $150.00. The amendment enacted by the Ses- "iOIl Laws in the 23rd Session left the Section 4536 the same with the excep- tion that the burial fees allowed to nurses should not exceed the sum of $100.00, which is practically the only change made by the last amendment to Section 4536. "The question is, if a deceased sol- dier had sufficient means to defray the expenses of his burial, would the board of county commissioners be compelled to allow, on proper appli- cation, the sum of $150.00 for burial expenses," 314 OPI~IO:NS OF THE ATTOR~EY GE);ERAL Chapter 181 to which you refer was enacted by the Twenty-second Legis- lative Assembly, not the Twenty-third. From a careful reading of the said chapter and the prior acts which that chapter amended, we are of the opin- ion that it was the intent of the legis- lature to provide for the "decent buri- al" of all such persons as those named in the Act when deceased's estate, or relatives or friends could not provide such decent burial. The injunction that when the county pays for such hurial service such burial shall not be made in any pauper burial ground or ceme- tery, we think, furnishes the key to this interpretation. Certainly, the stat- ute does not mean that all persons named in the Act shall be buried at public expense regardless of their fi- nancial condition or that of their rela- tives at the time of death. We think it of particular significance that Section 4536 R. C. M. 1921 is in- cluded in the Chapter entitled "Care of County Poor." We think this fact further supports the construction we have placed on the statute as indicated above. . Opinion No. 451. Co-Operative AssociatiollS--;Corpora- tions-Fees-Secretary of State. HELD: The general laws governing corporations must control when ques- tions concerning the incorporation of or the government of co-operative asso- ciations are not covered by the Co-op- erative Associations Act, Sections 6375- 6396, R. C_ M., 1921_ Where the question of fees for serv- ices performed by the office of the Secretary of State is not covered by the Co-operative Associations Act, the gen- eral laws governing corporations will control. February 7, 1934. You submit the following matter and request an opinion thereon: "Your predecessor in office, under date of January 14, 1927 (Vol. 12, page 22, Opinions of the Attorney General, 1926-28), gave this office an opinion to the effect that a coopera- tive association organized under Chap- ter 25 of Part III of the Civil Code of Montana, 1921, is not governed by the reneral corporation act and no filing fee should be charged by the Secretal'y of Stat.e and that amend- ments to articles of incorporation should be filed in the same manner as the original articles. May I ask for a re\-iew of this opinion by your of- fice a t this time? "It appears to me that Section 145 of the Redsed Codes of 1921 is in- tended to set up a schedule of fees which may be charged whenever sel'Y- ice is performed by the office of the Secretary of State and it would ap- pear to me that where the fee for such service, either in a change of name, increase of capital stock, or other amendment to articles, is not provided by the special act, the pro- visions of Section 145 would apply." From the letter of the attorney for the Pondera Producers Co-Operative. Inc., which is attached to your letter, we quote the following: "The Pondera Producers Co-Opera- tive, Inc., a co-operative association, desires to change its name to The Pon- dera Poultry Growers, Inc. I have advised them that it is necessary to follow the procedure outlined in the statute, to-wit: Section 5918 of the Revised Codes as amended by Chapter 38 of the Laws of 1931 in reference to the changing of names by corpora- tion. I find no provision in the stat- utes of this state for the change of name of a co-operative association and assume that the statute above men- tioned applies. "However, under the law in refer- ence to the organization of an ordin- ary corporation the original articles of the corporation are filed with the County Clerk and Recorder and a cer- tified copy filed with the Secretary of State while in the cases of a co-opera- ti ve association the filing is just re- versed and before proceeding on be- half of the association I desire to know that your office will issue the certificate of change of name if the proceedings as outlined in the above mentioned are followed. We find very little in the statutes and court decisions bearing on your questions. In Section 6379 of the Act it is provided that such corporations shall be "subject to all duties, restric- tions and liabilities set forth in the general laws in relation to simliar cor- porations, except so far as the same may be limited or enlarged by this