, 1860-01-09
WISCONSIN T6WN AND COUNTY BONDS.
TIE Spurfu.t Casrri jj<.idts that they ars
Eonstftuffonaf.

trrem lie Madison Slate tourn.l .6,b.l
The opinion Of the Supreme Court in the case
Of bushnell. rs. the Town Of Beloit, announced
yesterday By Judge Cole; and eoneurred IN b7
the otlef Judges, settles the question Of the
couslitutioualty Of legislative acts authorizing
counties, towns and municipal corporations, to
Issue bonds in aid Of railways und similar im-
provemeuts. ',
The town ol-Bsldit, III conformity wilt IN act
Of the Legislature, BY the consent Of u majority
OF its legal yoters, issued bonds in aid Of the
Racine and Mississippi Railroad. These bonds
The town Of Be1oit resisted the payment Of the
interest due uron them, mainly upon the ground
that the Legislature had no power, uuder dur
Constitution, to pass the act authorizing {he
Issue Of bonds for such purposes. BUSHNELL,
the respondent, q holder Of sou,e Of the bo1ds
in question, brought suit against the town Tor
the payment Of tic interest.
Judge Cole. in his opinion, sustains the &C.
cisiou Of the Court bcloEi affirming the power
Of tie Legislature, under our Constitution, ito
authorize such issues Of bonds, and very thpr-
ougbly discusses the whole subject in lengthy
and able argument. We hare onlr spaSeito
ncte few of the points which he makes III sup
port Of this position.
The preccdcnts for this kind Of legislation are
SO numerous, he sR5s, tho sanction 1t bus {e-
cei-ed from the executive, Legislative and jua!-
cial departments Of other States 50 uniform
1b4 fiGn1S AQu MlEIESt8 %t9tEA VA IAtA VT ~
so Important; the amount Of capital invested ln
such securities by yinuocenlpeEsopss SO great} that
it is rather late to raise the objection that the
policy has been all wrong from tue beginning
| 1t Is the manifest duty of courts to sanction
| such legislation, unless clearly prohibited BY
the constitution. Considerations as to lis po'i-
| cy and wisdom should be addressed to another
J , ria d,ncn,r 70 .r,. No.. - ~ provisions
Of tbe constitution prohibiting the State from
loaning ITS credit in aid Of Individuals associa.
tions Or corporations: from contracting debss
| for works Of internal Improvements; or from
being party In carrying on, such works, can
apply IL nythiag bat lie State "a It's political
capLci1y. The constitution also provides :l.at
no n,ouey shall be paid ont Of the treasury c1-
cept in pursuance OF An appropriation by Law.
Surely, this does not mean that no monty shall
he paid out Of the county, town and city treasq-
ries without Legislative appropriation! let,
If The prohibitoFy clauses IN regard to tic
Stae's engaging IN works Of internal improve.
1nent, DC, app'y. to coennties and to''ns, ~hr
propriation Of money: With equal propriety
we might say that the indebtedness of Niscon
sin is ihe indebtedness Of the United States. II
tl.ut the indebtedness Of tile town Ut 1eloit i:
the indebtedness Of the State Of Wisconsin. Tt
declare that because the State is prohibitet
ment. therefore the town Of Jseloit is So pruhibi
ted, IL doing violence 10 all language and al
known rules Of Interpretation. =. =
While the State, in its political capacity, i
prohibited from contracting such 'detts, 1t !.
cear that the prohibition does not extehdto til
po1i'icalauldivfson ofthe state. Otherwise how
| could our cities and Villages provide for paving
or grading their streets, and do many othei
things generally recognized as proper and con
s1itutional; for the promotion Of The comfort
wefate and prosperity OF their ct,zensy Til
construction derives a1i'ional force from the ci
cum stances which led the constitutional conyen
tion to insert ,he prohibitory clauses in The con
| stitution. At that time, many neigahorin.
States we're almost lIopelessly involved in con
sequence Of attempting works Of internal i'm
prosement, aud public confluence greatly in.
paired But the evil results Of similar polio,
in towns and counties had not been witnessed
Probably if We had then had the experience o
the last ten years. aud seen the distress an
fluancia! ruin which towns, counties and cite
hare brought upon themselves, by issuiu
bonds ia favor of railroad enterprises, provis
ion would have been inserted 10 prevent til
eril; but, in its absence, we c2nno: conat~ue III
, constitution as though it contained such pro
vision. It has been said that the State canno
| authorize Que Of its political divisions to Il
whit it cannot itself do: but it is wcll settle
political principle that the constitution is to
regarded not US grant Of power, but ruther q
limitation upon the powers oftle Legislature
aud that is competent for the Legislature 10 RI
efcSc All Legislature power n0t IGF0idden by IL
constitution, tlelcga to the general goverl
ment, or prohibited by tie constitution Of tn
United States. And the fact that tue constil
lion makes it the duty Of the Legislature to ri
I strict tue power Of corporations III loaning the
:. credit, borrowing money, aud contracting debt
So as to prevent abuses Of The same, is th
strongest implication that such power wi
: supposed to exist, and would require regul:
tion.
: >uc1, is brief synopsis Of some Of the Leaf
j.. ius points Of the opinion. We particularly il
:. vite the attention Of tue Chicago PMS
Asp TRIBUNE to this decision of cur Supreu
Court. On several occasions 1t has given O,
| that our Court was about to pronounce sue
bonds unconstitutional; and that the people
: Wisconsin were disposed to repudiate their ol
! legations. 1t can nevcr hare Ind any good 4,
thority Tor such statement. The above mel
tioned case was argued last year when Judge
Walton ard Smith were upon the bench. Ill
t I Court, us then constituted, had consulted upu
it, and agreed in holding acts authorizing sue
: issues OF bonds constitutional; but no opinio
} had hecu filed, when the death Of Chief .Iustit
Whi!on and tic accession Of Judges Dixon an
| Paine TO the Supreme Bench rendered y re.a
gsr,nent necessary, and delayed the decision
the case until this time.