Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/750

SUBROGATION. 650 SUBSTANCE. tions, particularly in England, when one paving money to a corporation under an ultra vires contract cannot recover in quasi contract, although it is used by a corporation in paying its corporate indebted- ness, in which case the person so advancing money is subrogated to the rights of the original creditor. (4) In the case of insurance contracts and contracts of indemnity generally vheneer the insurer or indemnitor pays the indemnity due under his contract, when he is entitled to be sub- rogated to the rights of the person indemnified against third parties which may in any numner reduce the loss or obligation indemnified against. See Insurance; Indemnity; also Chancery; Equity. SUBSCKIPTION (Lat. ^uhscriptio, from subscribere, to subscribe, write under, from sub, under -f scribere, to write). A popular rather than a technical term in law signifying a writ- ten contract hj- which a person agrees to con- tribute a sum of mone}' for a specified purpose. The subscription may be made either as a gift, or it may be made as an oiler to pay the money subscribed in exchange for property to be de- livered to the subscriber. Whenever the person or corporation in whose favor the subscriptions are made has performed work or incurred ex- pense or liability, relying upon such subscrip- tions, the courts have generally held that such expense or liability is a sufficient consideration for the subscription to make it a legally en- forceable contract, entitling such persons or cor- poration to sue ujion it. it has also been held that when there are several subscribers and each subscriber has fair notice that others are ex- pected to subscribe to the same object or pur- pose, the promise of each subscriber is considera- tion for the promises of all the others. The soundness of such a doctrine may well be doubted and the authorities upon this point are in conflict. A subscription for stock of an existing corporation is generally deemed to be a mere offer which may be withdrawn at any time before acceptance, but which may be accepted at any time before withdrawal of the subscription bj' an allotment of the stock to the subscriber. Upon such acceptance the subscription becomes a valid contract which may be enforced by the corporation. See Contract; Consideration. SUBSIDIES (Lat. subsidium, relief, aid, auxiliary force, from subsidere, to sit down, re- main, subside, from sub, under -|- scdere, to sit). A term in English history having reference to special tax assessments upon persons and not directly upon real property ; in general European politics it has reference to grants of monej' to an ally to aid in the prosecution of Avar; while as a current economic term it applies to grants of money made by the State in aid of individual enterprises. Subsidy as a Tax. The subsidy was an income tax of 4s. in the pound upon the annual value of lands and a property tax of 2s. 8d. in the pound upon the actual value of goods. In this sense it was first used in the later part of the fifteenth century, but did not come into promi- nence until the reign of Henry VIII. From then TUitil the Commonwealth it was the most impor- tant of the Parliamentary levies. The amount of the subsidy varied. In the eighth year of Elizabeth it brought £120,000; in the fortieth it was not above fT.S.OOO; it afterwards fell to £70,000. The subsidy finally became so unequal and uncertain that Parliament changed it into a land tax. This was first done under the Com- monwealth, and, owing to its popularity, Charles II. continued it, though he did get one or two grants of subsidy. Subsidies to Allies. Examples of subsidies of this kind are luimerous in English history. Thus during the Seven Years' War England granted large sums to Prussia, one of her allies, as a means of enabling Frederick the Great to cope with his enemies, which included France. Again during the Napoleonic wars Eng- land furnished subsidies to several foreign powers. Grants to Individuals. With regard to this class of subsidies, which is >y far the most important at present, it may be said that almost the only enterprises that are the direct benefi- ciaries from Government aid are transportation companies, although it sometimes happens that other enterprises receive indirect benefit on ac- count of Government patronage. Certain boun- ties, too, very nearly appioaeh the idea of a subsidy. This is especially true of those on beet sugar, which, beginning in the days of Na- poleon, have steadily increased in amount, until to-day the question of bounties on sugar has become one of great international importance. Railway Subsidies. In most of the States of Continental Europe a large part of the original cost of railwaj' construction was defrayed by Government aid. In Great Britain no railroads were subsidized, though some in Ireland were. In Canada the Canadian Pacific received large subsidies in the form of land grants from the Government. In the United States it has been a common practice to encourage and aid railway consti'uction by State and municipal grants, chiefly in the form of subscriptions to their stock. The national Government has also contributed considerable toward the construction of certain railroads, and with one exception this has been in the form of land grants. (See Lands, Public.) During the Civil 'ar the importance of attach- ing the Far West to the Union by means of more direct railroads was seen, and in 1802 Congress passed an act granting to the Union and Central Pacific railroads a subsidy of more than $25,000 per mile in the form of a loan, which it was praeticallv understood would never be repaid, together with 30,000,000 acres of land. Steamship Subsidies. See the article Ship- ping Subsidies. SUBSOILING. See Plow, Plowing. SUBSTANCE (OF. substance, substaunce, Fr. substance, from Lat. substiintia, being, essence, material, from substare, to stand under or among, from sub, under -|- stare, to stand). A term frequently used in logic and metaphysics. Substance is correlative with quality or at- tribute. Every substance must have attributes, and every attribute must be the attribute of some substance. The substance gold has the attributes weight, color, etc. But as every power or property of a thing, even' w-ay that the thing affects us, may be called an attribute or quality, if all the attributes are counted off, there is nothing left except the relations in which they stand to each other. But popular thought and popular philosophy assume that