The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1870-11-24

tain act is prohibited, the doing of the
same is an unconstitutional act, which no
subsequent proceedings by the 1egisla.
ture, much less its creature, the corpora
tion can make lawful ~
What then becomes of the pretended
authorization to the City of Kenosha, to
"borrow money for any length of time
at any rate Of interest payable at any
place, and to issue bonds or scrip there
fnr,p-and where. in such authorization
| does the restriction commanded by the
constitution, and made imperative On the
/ Legislature tappear?li Oh 3 as ,s8il4ls boo
| And if ithet true intent and meaning OF
this provision IS to be, FILTERED away by
the assun ptian that the simple act of
legislating,hpon the snbjecs ofrborrowing
by citiesy ahd towas, n2is arestriction--'
pof what use is is it foF tbs geople to make
constitntior- FEom plH stand d point it
seems fa.inersdiBle fhauiyudges can be
| found tt yh0fd tAG1 doctrine that what
| SUI "a on1u I3W OIL. JTG3u fBI.3.l
the Legislature has enacted in violation of
thefconstitation is w;,oif only some
one has innocently accepted it as such,
and bought city bond, .rs9 ~ 80. :
insist that the minority Of citizens
absent, and notivoting;5 those, who voted
Fin the minority the large number,
| | - j.
not allowed to vote, not owning real
estate. which was the qualifcationjn this
instance, the women and children, who
had no voice il the making Of the as-
sumed Indebtedness (and these classes,
were always a majority are innocent.
holders of property, entitled to the pro-
lection of the constitution equally with
the non resident innocent holders of the
securities in question, and that it, from
lthe imperfect machinery of the law, sor
the obtuseness of its expounders. their
rights are ignored, they nevertheless con-
stitnte by their. simple statement q full
Justification Of the grounds of opposition
to enforcement of these unlawful claims
No hollow pretense ofideclaring these
securities CORD because issued, and now
in the hands of innocent (maybe) parties
for value, can justly the ignoring of the
rights OF that large class of citizens
whose claims to notice are overlook ed -
whose property interests have for years
been compromised, and are now
jeoparded, by such issuance. 19oa
AS understand 1t, the decisions of the
United States Court assume the legisla-
ton in questioneCto be IN conformity to
the constitution Of our State;--and have
thus led many good people outside OF
Wisconsin, ignorant of the grounds of our
resistance, to claim that we are repudia
tors, and dishonest, because we appeal to
the fundamental law. for the very pro
lection it was designed to give. .9ma
There is a peculiar hardship in the
attempt to enforce the collection OF these
claims; and at the risk Of being subject
to the charge ofseraking old sores" i will
here say: e,half iH3 70 lif1'1oa pig
1st. That the citizens of Kencsha have
paid on account of the enterprise for
which these bonds are issued q very
large sum of money in cash-not less
than hundred thousand dollars.
Cd They have not Il single advantage,
or benefit, now in possession, resulting
from the Legislation in question, and
never had /; the rail road would not now
be within the city limits, il it were not
necessary to make connections with the
Milwaukee and Chicago road and it
was reported at one time that the Com
pany would have taken up the entire
tract, if the law would have allowed it.
Sd. No sooner had the n. w. Company
obtained possession OF the road then they
proceeded to make a discrimina ting
tariff or scale Of prices against the city
thus diyerting trade from, instead oil
bringing it to, tie city. ua ~
4th. Even the use of the r5ad for theI
accommodation Of the Agricultural Society
fair is denied. o
In short, every possible or conceiveablel
advantage, which the small portion of
those active in securing the legislation,
on which these claims are based, might
have supposed to be consideration for
their action, has been diverted or taken
away land today, the city has absolute
ly nothing to shcw as the quid-pro qa0,in