Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1873-03-27
Substitute the following as Section 8:

ing IN any way or manner " whatsoever the pur-
ported bonds clairaed 10 have been issued by
the toBn OF Mineral Point under and by viz
tue Of an act entitled, An act 10 authorize
the counties and towns through which the
Mineral Point Railroad passes to aid in lis
construction; approved March 23d, 1888 -
and the said town OF Mineral Point shall not
BY reason OF any settlement or compromise,
and hv virtue OF the provisions OF this ACT
had and made, be estopped or barred from in
terposins any and every defense OF deien-cs
in any court, either III law or in equity, il
may have in any suit that may be brought
upon such bonds
Amend Sect 5 by striking ont the figure So
and inserting the figure %, so that il shall
read section SO instead OF IS"
Now the charge against me, relative TO
this bill, may be considered under the
$40 following heads:
/. That was opposed to the bill
,. That my amendments were unnecessary
and would rum.
As regards the first, am free to admit
that ! am, and was, opposed to the whole
Till. My reasons therefor being: Is
takes nUav from the people ct the
toaa Of Mineral Point all right 10 he
heard o. "a act ia questions Of the set
tiag Of their bond debt 1t virtually
paeee the whcle mn;ter aa2 ell power n
lie hands Of the ak principal tax pay
erS OF tie city of Mineral Point; and "a
;lis7 say the people must do
fsow 20 net think that because SIX
men happen 10 pay more taxes than any
othe. six men in toe city. that, therefore,
,hey should be able to bind a whole cons
mnnity by their lat, especially waea the
/ people never ~ any act q theirs TX
/ pressed themselves az con iding in their
| honor or integrity.
AGaia was opposed and an opposed
| 70 all cla5a legislation thar looks or tends
! 10 discriminate In fnyor Of one class OF
! men over another, because they happen
! 10 haze q little more property and pay
/ u little more taxes. | say that If such Il
J committee was necessary u should have
been lief, to the people to sag whom they
would haze. and not make !, compulsory
/ utoa the Common Council OF Board to
! appoin. al Individual because OF his
wealth
Again, vas opposed to the BIZ be-
/ cause Il was unconstitutional, and IA:
| been 80 decided BY the Senate judiciary
/ Com, being in violation of subdivision
/ :. Art ", which provides that The
/ Legislature j. prohibited from enactin4
any special or private law granting co.
operate powers or privileges except to
| cities" and being also in conflict with
| Sect , Of art ri, inasmuch IL il does
/ not restrict or limic the amount OF in
! dehtedness that the town NAV incur
is pnc0nstltutiOna3iEy eng admitted,
| ask, is any one stupid enough 20 sup
pose that Judgment creditors or bond
/ holders OF toe town Of Mineral Pgint
are going to give up their judgments or
bonds. ESPECIALLY IA they stand ratified
aud legaiized by this act'0 and take
| others in their stead ;ssued under la y
that j. unconstitutional or whose corsti
nationality is questionable? Does it look
reasonable 0 suppose that men are goin1
to surrender up chat Iaoy notv he con-
/ siIered {eg0iize9 bonds and take. other
! bonds or writings obligatory in tneiF
| stead, which may at any moment tie de-
| ciared VOID. for the reason that the law
under which they were issued is void
But nv main objection and principal
reason Tor opposing this bin wac: Tina,
/ il legalizbd and ratified the town bond
! Indebtedness Supreme Court Of the
! [. : in the case OF Campheil rs the
/ City OF kenosha. ) Wallace which was
a case where the Legislature Of this
/ State passed two aci,s, one which by the
] Constitution Of this State 1t had power
/ TO pass, Authorizing. the city Of kenUsnH
j 10 subscribe &iJOu0O TO the kenosha q
/ Beloi5 t. L: another which by the Con =
] at:tution Of this State 1t had no power To
! rass. authorizing the city to subscribe
an unlimited amount, and the city pro.
/ Tossing to act under the unconstitutional
/ law subscribed $4,000 The [. :
! Circuit Court for Wisconsin decided
| against the validity Of the honds The
! supreme Court, in page 2D3 inter GLG
/ says: :" In 1897, after the scrip h I'd
! been issued to the railroad company un-
/ der the proceedings of the Common
/ Council, the LEGISLATURE passed a revised
| charter for the city. Among other things
IA provision was made for the election of
/ "A railroad commissioner annually ~ a
city officer There had been previous
/ legislation in relation to this ofjcer. but
his duties and powers 10y the revised
/ charter were much ENLARGED He was
i constituted er oBicjO q member Of tie
/ GARD OF directors Of the knosha d
/ Beioit Il. L. with power of voting. as an
/ individual stakeholder. aud in addition
was required to receive from the City
/ Treasurer all moneys which were paid
| on account Of the tax for the road. and
! commanded to redeem all scrip which
| had been issued to the company as the
! same became due; making such provi,
/ sons for it, or recommending such meas
urcs to the Common Council as he should
deem necessary for the benefit of the
tx payers of the city.
/ '1h3s IS not q ctiT0tire act. but IT hes
! thai effect by .faj' impiicatoin II IS nat
/ tioujtsd the legislature coHid By a direct
/ act Of confirmation iegaize tie issue Of
/ THIS scrip Notwithstanding the submis,
| sion OF the question to the vote Of the
/ people was undo: the wrong law. If nv
q direct act equally in any other wav.
1.-THE intention Of tbe legislature to
/ legalize-clearly appears"
Further, on page e04. the Court
after discussing the act Of 1857. says !:
30 redeem all scrip which had been
issued to said K. r. Co as the same be,
came due. The very words of the law
can mean nothing else than that such
issue of scrip had received legislative
sanction, and in the opinion Of the law
makers ought to be paid. If this is so
the ratification of the disputed proceed
ines of the Common Council is as com
plete as if they had been pan ,icularIy
named, and their issue of scrip is re-
leased from al taiut of illegality."