The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-04-24


scribing the limits within which they may b.
established entirely separate and dis
tinct, and are dependent upon separate and
distinct provisions, and the one may be exer-
cised Independently of the other. To m AXE
this clear we transcribe the two sections OF
the act, which read as follows:
SEC. 2. Be it enacted, etc, That the City
Council Of the city Of New Orleans be and
they are hereby authorized and empowered
to make such arrangements and pass such
ordinances for the government and regua-
ton Of private markets In the city Of New Or
leans as they in their discretion may deem
proper, and that they be vested with full
power to provide for the enforcement Of their
shall not have the power to prohibit the
existence of private markets under proper
regulations
Sec. 3. Be 1t further enacted, etc., That the
the manner in which such private markets
shall be kept, the portion of che city In which
they shall be located, and the distance they
shall be removed from the public markets.
and shall have power to provide for the en-
forcement of said ordinance; prouided, no pri-
vate market shall be established within
radius OF six squares of any public market
From this it appears that the citys right to
pass ordinances for the government and reg
lished, is granted on the proviso that it does
not prohibit their existence. It may exercise
this power or not, as it chooses. 1t may also
exercise the other power OF prescribing the
limits within which these markets may be
kept, upon the proviso that none be estab-
lished within radius of six squares of pub
lie market; but the two powers are separate
and distinct, and are granted on provisOs that
bear no natural or necessary relation to each
other, and may be exercised separately or not
at all, as the city sees fit.
No one questions the propriety of the exer-
else by the city of those powers granted in
the first section quoted; they are purely of a
sanitary character. and the private market
men have never resisted the exercise of them
on the part of the city They depend simply
on the proviso that private markets shall not
be prohibited, and any regulations the city
may establish under this proviso will be SUBJ
mitted to. But when the city undertakes to
say that private markets shall not exist with
In certain radius Of the public
markets. an entirely different proposition is
presented, and one which the city can well let
alone. Practically, the city government has
no interest in saying in what localities private
markets shall be established It NAV pre- |
scribe the limits within which they may be
prorided none are established
within certain radius of the public markets
but its refusal to exercise this power does not
affect its right to establish regulations for
such as do exist, which depends on another
distinct proviso. The right to regulate |
private markets comes from the DOW
ers OF sanitary police which no one
disputes; but the right to say within
what radius of a public market they
shall be established has nothing to do with
such powers and is purely an arbitrary regll-
ation, based upon considerations Of com
merce 1t is simply meant as protection to
The traffic of the public markets, and for this
reason, and no other, is resisted by the pri-
vate market men. 1t involves question of
constitutional law In which the city has no
business to Interfere, and which it can we'll
ifford to allow the public and private market
men to settle in the courts all to themselves
These are precisely the points upon which
,he private market men have obtained their
but that they have been forced to
'esort to iniunctions is due to the unjustifi-
lble interference of the city, an interference
hat looks to us very like persecution. Let
he city pass and enforce whatever sanitary
equations for the control of private mar
,ets 1t may deem necessary, and relegate all
'ther questions to the courts.