The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1877-12-04

Justi0o Bradley's DISSENTING opin.
ion-6o 00stains the Decision IN
the Bates County Case.


the Bates County Case.
wAsHISeroN, November 22-The opin.
ion Of the Chief Justice and majority Of
the Bench. in the Cas- county bond Case.
h,s already been Published. The flowing
Is the dice ,,ng opinion of Justice Bradley
The County III Ca~s, plainsi6 in err'r. ~
William A. Johrson. In errur of tie Cir
cult 'urt the United States for the West.
ern District oi Missouri. Mr.. Justice Brad
lev Dissenting.
/ feel obliged to adhere to the opinion
given in Har.hman Va B.tea county. ~ U.
>, 569 IL the Missouri Convention which
framed the Constitution Of 1855 desired To
prevent municipal sub-csip,iona To railroad
and other enterprises except BY the cnns. nj
ri msjority Of the people qIsli6ed To vote
N the district to Be affected, ! do not zee
what lsngu &c could have been adopted
more apt for The purpose than that which 10
which is actually used in the fourteenth
section Of Article XII: 1.-The General A.
rrmbly shall not authorize any county. city
or town to becUme q stakeholder in, or loan
iis credit to, any company, association or
corporation, unless two-thirds Of the quail
6ed voters of such county, city or town, 1t
q regular or special election tn be held there
in, shall ascent thereto" The literal mean
ing Of this clause seems to me Enthusiastically
" require two thirds of the qualified voters
whether they vote or not. The language in
Just ~ strong n thar Of the twenty fourth
section Of article four. which declares that
mo bill shall be psssed unless by the assent
of maj,rity OF all the members elected to
each branch Of the General Assembly"
This clause has always been construed to
mean that no Law can be passed unless q
INA j0rity Of the members vote for il, wheth.
er all are present OF not And the reason
Of the requirement in the former Case il IN
strong ~ in the latter. The people who are
tn pay the taxes for raising q subscription to
= railroad ought not to be subjec'ed to that
burden. un:ess the requisite majority OF
the class named that Is, the qualified voters
can Re induced to give their assent To it.
In the one case, a. in the other, absence
md failure to vote ~ equivalents to dis
cent. eoncede that il the Supreme court
III Missouri have given contrary construc-
ton to the clause, which has become the
settled Law Of the State, We should be GOV.
erned BY il But do not understand that
has been done. In the Gaze Of the State W.
t35 Mo-. lO3,. which was de-
cided Just before the adoption Of the Con-
the question ar~e upon the at Of
1857, which declared that the corporate
authorities in the different cities in the
county Of St. Louis shall have the power,
shenever majority OF the legal voters OF
The respective cities in said county author.
ixe them to do 40, to grant permission for
The opening Of any establishment within
The corporate limits Of said city for the
,aIe oil refreshments on any day in the
seek" At an election in 81. Louis. $500
persons voted in favor Of giving to the city
authority to grant permission to open es-
for the sale Of refreshments
On sunday, and 1900 voted against il. The
.ourt held that in order to confer the requi- |
lite authority under the act, il required 90
majority Of the legal votes, that IL, Of all
he legal voters in the city, and not merely
II all those who might, at = particular
lime, choo-e to vote upon the question"
This Was the express language Of the court
snd, ~ at at election, more than 1900
rOters participated IN voting for the officers
10 be elected, il vas apparent from the
election returns Themselves, without look |
ing further, that . majority OF the legal
rosers III the city had not voted for the au- |
horitv. And hence, il Was decided. that
no authority wac given. l. il evident that
he court would have come to the same con-
.:usion had il been shown in any other
saw that less than q majority of the legal
roier voted for the authority. The mode
Il sscertaining the whole number Of legal
rioters was not prescribed By the Law. In that
,sse il sufficiently appeared ircm the cleo
lion returns themselves. There n no valid
reason Why the same conclusion should not
be deduced from . resistry ri the legal
'otera. TIE objection that some penons
No, entitled to vote may he registered has
NJ force to my mind. II my one chocse to
'sise that issue il might be open for him to
10 40. But the registry would certsinly
furnish prima fscie evidence Of the number
,f legal or qualified voters.
After the Constitution wse adopted case
,rnae on thst clause ii the onsiilution
shich declares (Art. Nv. &C. 30) shat the
General Assembly shall have no p"wer 10
remove the county seat Of votess OF any
county, unleaa tvo-thirds Of the qualified
soters Of the county. at general election,
hall vote in favor Of such . removal"
This was the case of the State ~. Suffer-
ield "a No., 1911, and the Court, in ~
elaborate argument, again held that these
erms requires psaitive vote in the afirma-
I've. Of two-thirds Of the qualified voters Of
he county; and the Court expressly says
There il M difficulty in aacertsinine what
hat number IN. since the same Constitution
provides Tor registration, and points out
who the ouali6e6 voseea arN0
In the caaes relied on BY the defendant
in error, the precise question nov under
Was not presented to the Su-
peeme Court Of Missouri. They mostly
related TO forms Of phraaeology different
IRON thst under consideration, and are dis
therefrom in several particu-
lara which IL IL Unnecessary nov Tn examine.
The leading case, Of Linn county, was cur
sorily examined in Hartman ~. Bates
county. But not desiring to prolone this
npinion, BY entering into critical exam
nation Of those Gases, will simply remark
that the weight Of authority in Missouri,
taking all the eases together. in, in my
Judgment, On the side Of the Interpretation
which still feel constrained to give to the
clause in question.
Nj. Justice Miller concuS in this dissent
On not stupefy your Baby With Opium
or Morphia mixtures. bot use Dr.. Bulls
Baby Syrup which in always safe and re-
liable and never disappoints. Is cents.
Distreooing Accident.
Mr.. Scott GilhaT, employed in the Josr-
nal iob-rooma yesterday received dispasch
from Arnold station, on the n. & st. Joe r
r., making the sad encouragement that his
brnsher William, carpenter By trade. but
at present employed BY the railroad COM
Pany company % lsborer, had met sud-
den death By falling under the cars q NOV
ing train. II seems, from the messer word
ing Of the dispatch, that Gillian, With 9th
err, vas standing on pile Of food. ready