The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1883-06-12

| proper FORM, IN inc form oi specifications.
then an opportunity may after all be af-
forded for bringing to light the part the
complainant himself took IN the very mat
ter which he unjustly charges as a reproach
upon certain member of the present
force. The council and mayor cannot act
upon rumors aud reports, and the commit
tee yesterday very properly refused to take
any action in the matter.
THE HARPER BILL UNCONSTITU-
TIONAL.
The following is an editorial from the
Chicago Legal Adviser concerning the Har-
per High license bill, referred to in Satur-
days BULLETIN
DISREGARD OF THE CONSTITUTION"
"A reference TO the reports of adudca-
tions by the supreme court of this state
shows that our legislature has not been
very fortunate, to say the least in it's CON
struction of the constitution since the re-
vision of 1870 in the exercise of its power in
the passage Of acts Members of the gener
al assembly 8 en- at times to forget that
there IS any such thing as limitation upon
their official action as lawmakers.
"a bill is now before the house of repro
sentatiyes called the "high license" or
Harper bill,' the provisions of which are
beginning to attract considerable attention
with reference TO the constitution. The
Chicago Times of May 18th, IN ellwrt
ten editorial on the subject of this bill,
shows it 70 be unconstitutional 10 two i'm
portant respects I. That it contains two
subjects, while the constitution provides
that no act shall contain more than one
subject 9 That it is not uniform as to the
class upon which the license provided by
the bill operates; in this it separates malt
liquor dealers from liq1or dealers in gener-
al asa class and provides different rate
for license.
"To the foregoing objections may be add
ed third, equally if not mole serious in
its nature than those pointed out by the
Chicago Times. The bill amends two Sec
tons Of the present dram shop law, which
sections are not set out In the bill as the
constitution requires. The constitution in
this regard, Art II, Sec, 10, provides in
such cases that the section amended
shall be inserted at length in the new act.
"The sections of the present dram-shop
law which this bill seeks to amend are sec
tons Q and 3, and which are materially
amended by the provisions Of this bill.
"The provision OF the constitution last
referred to is an important one and was in
serted TO remedy the evil from the confu-
sion caused in our statutes under the con-
sntution Of ls4S, which contained no such
restriction The intention Of our present
constitution is that when the legislature
shall proceed 10 pass an act on any given
subject upon which there is an existing
law, they shall, instead Of proceeding by
an act entirely independent OF the existing
law, engralt the new provision desired upon
such existing law. If it relates TO matter
contained in sections Of the existing law,
then by revising such sections, inserting
therein the new matter, and by setting out
the scctious amended in full,
"The Harper bill so-called, was in its
original form but an amendment to Section
3 Of the dram.shop law, AMI instead Of be-
ing in the form Of an independent bill, as
il was, it should, in obedience to the con-
stituton, have set out the sections amend
ed
1.-THE bill was afterwards materially
amended, leaving therein little or nothing
Of the original, by substituting new matter
strictly amcndatory of Sections 2 and 3 OF
the present dram shop law, without setting
ont the same.
"Our courts are too frequently called
upon TO excuse Legislative stupidity in
invssions Of the constitution; and while
there has been much complaint Of the
leniency of the courts in this regard, il
would seem even to the ordinary mind that
they can find no grounds whatever upon
which to rest an excuse Tor so paIpable an
infraction Of the constitution as proposed
by this bill"
A bali player out at La Crosse,