Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-10-20
rhe Tax DecI.ie,..

tssgrenIe Court, awaited with un-
.r,sasi interest, upon the Constellation
s-sity Of an Act Of the last General
.a-s.mbly ITO enable townships, In
corporafcd towns and cities 70 aid In
the construction OF railroads. The
title OF the csuse ~ y. B. Stewart -,
-gsss Issaara Il Supervisors u Folk
{ saunsy-
The csu-s snpna~ rnws-sn.sy sya>
saresS~a with shc Ennncnsrarsacss ssf
sss cnrstsan presented, and unnss-
s@sSs4isss sho~ sssofcupd Investigation
psna rass@faa Analysis is She ss-y ac-
eessssas Assrn~a al n. Ny rsrssoaaanS
fsssAssl4
gasler inrin ar rafarraasc 80 fhe
ssss9pUrrnrs ssssssiinstses~- 4Eissir.
..sssisis1He TIRE Ar IN fsrs.;iiian fren
~.ass arr al 1Sss aserc1siarr sssesar~a
s-srnrsssusinai, 1ftns xsSrfisstfc isl
alarsnlresali .dsaSl,t an 10 tar 4resssissi-
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. In ttasis rasr.
rIM m,iSs1m nrx ysss'rs ut sssstrne-
s,e,i sss~sac 81 2eral aialisarstits.s ns,t
am. III lewu arsst s1f rsaus of esr
ssstnf States, mnd or Tine Federal
staurfs, tremendously establishing
fi,owfil lrertrniz-a riiie ef Judicial
construction, flint while courts have.
tneAnsinuilted f,ower soalunul l5egi y
.;gffvc Acss sspDn tine rrsnfiG of tin ir
uiniatius tin Constitution, State SIR
lsetiernl, this power ~ fo ta. careiadiy
eyercisea and nntv wifer fhe iianm-
,n.tiSslasy N .sciear, s,alpable and
,,iaiuvs<lr.9y presumption always being
sin-AfrDr CT the Act.
a;isas 10 ihe application OF the
..,gxg rule al construction, itself not
in dispute, that the Court had to
deriae. the opponents of the Act
--s-ipy upon that provision in our
Constitution which declares that
property shall not be taken for
.,dtiiir rise without just compensation
firsi aseing made or secured TO nc
.asaels 80 the owner" and claiming,
s.hff ia The ease a. lar, the county
ssftsuItdsa 10 Lake private property
essr prawats Ese. wiiies, h implicitly
grsitiatIases Dry she ABOVE constitution
al grrsalissstr and hers We get 10 the
,..s..ii ed uits Ssss sssy. that h., the rnean-
lriE ef Tine wcs'4. .-pa',Eic nse," the
Gisnu'a exp cesray admitting, which Is
s.nldsvn1ss3y slnst tine Legislature is
wti~ssn,rs constitutional warrant to
assss Srivsts psvrerty for private use.
yAss opimisa Esen shows, that both
hy bong, umdfsputed practice, AS well
IN i'm asrureEance with laws for years
mpom the statute book, "whose vail
eeEsg Aas becn too often md too uni>
assarGy recognized to be now disput-
81. 'nworksof public utility, although
-ns private profit, arc within the
constitutional provisions--such as
railroads, canals, plank roads. bridges,
Snc.-This position is nbundnntly
sr'nintaincd in the light OF legal pre-
'cs.ients enumerated; we content our.
acives by citing part of the quoted
0pinion Ia Beckmnn vs. The Saratoga
a s. Il. Co., . Paige -, involving
the precise point, which Is the lead.
ing American case upon this subject:
III the public interest con he Ia any
way prom0sed by the taking Of pri-
.afe IssYperty, It must rest IN the
Hisdog VI the Legislature 10 de-
<crrufne whether the benefit to the
public will be OF sufficient iinp0r-
Sisice" to warrant tho step. In nil
rprh cases, the object Of tho Il gisln.
tive power is the public ',eneiit
derived from tho conten,pia' ell i'm
t5foseipcnt, whether such Improve.
s;sent Ii 10 he effected direct y by the
agents ~ tisxsoyerhinent.o, through
F.;e medium a ccrporated odies, or
'~f Observation-Disclosures.
The'other rdint made by the OPP
ixiaieAt OF the Act was, that the
Legislature has no Con aitutional
power to levy n tax on tta property
'ofcitizens In aid OF q raili ,ad corpor-
.at3sn, because II n a ine re private
enterprise. Thee re ply Stint
|. the Stnte can, fvr ANY pur pose, take
the land 0f citizen, it ma. tax him
for like purpose, and thai II the
uLjcct he OF pnbl1ciStcrest for the one
1,aspose. it's for the Utl,er.n Nay
moro. "for white tlIc. legislative
pt,~ers to take private property for
public use Is constitati1tsaiiy co, di-
tioned upon making cvnapensatf n,
the power to tax ~ not thus limitd.
The Act in question - therefor .
dsslared to be within the cppststu-
:4iOn0l cOinp0tence Of the General