Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1885-03-11
THE SUPREME COURT VS.. GOV.
ERNOR PIERCE.

A1Ae-NOAh <
[Communicated.l
Gilbert A. Pierce, governor, attempts |
to shield his action from the odium of |
an unworthy act by contending that the
people Of the territory of Dakota have
entered into contract with the people
of Bismarck and the Northern Pacific
railway company in locating the seat of
government at Bismarck, and that said
contract is binding for all time.
The law used to fortify this most ex.
traordlnary veto was probably furnished
by some interested attorney either at
Bismarck or connected with the railway
company in question, and Governor
Pierce. not being q lawyer
has been most shamefully
imposed upon, and the veto message in
the minds of all reasoning men, will ex.
cite an apprehension that Dakota has
governor who is not complete master OF
his own opinions. Had the governor
been alawyer and known any thing about
the leading decisions of our higher
courts, he would have turned to 10th
Otto, page 54s, Newton vs.. Com
mlssioners, where he would have found
this case decided by the supreme court
of the United States, and against him.
| The opinion of the court was unani-
nous and promulgated by Justice
Swayne. James A. Garfield argued the
case for the plaintiff in error, and of
course it was ably presented. We give
the syllabus which is the gist of the
whole matter:
l. By an act Of the Legislature of Ohio,
i passed February 16, ls46, it was pro.
vided that upon the ful6llment of
certain. terms and conditions by the
proprietors or citizens of the town OF
Garfield, in Mahoning county, the
county seat should be permanently
established" at that town. Those terms
and conditions having been complied
with. the county seat was established
accordingly. On April 9, 1874, the
for the removal Raos Of Of I'll the p'Vsluts countg
seat to Youngstown. Certain
citizens OF Garfield thereupon filed
their bill setting forth that the act Of
: 1846, and the proceedings thereunder
constituted, within the meaning of the
constitution, an executed contract, the
, obligation of which was impaired by
, the later act, and praying )for per.
+ petual injunction against the contem-
plated removal. Held. !. That no
such contract existed. 2. That
the act of 1916 was public law re.
| lating to public subject, with respect
to which the legislature which enacted
it had no power to bind subsequent
one. 8. That If that act and the pro.
ceedings under it constituted con.
tract, it was satisfied on the part oi
+ the state by establishing the county
seat at Garfield with the intent that it
should remain there. 4. That there
was no stipulation that the
3 county seat should remain there
in perpetuity. 5. That the
. practical Interpretation of the phrase
permanently established" which has
been in long and frequent use in the
statutes of Ohio with respect to county
, seats established otherwise than TEN.
porarily, is BY no means conclusive
, entitled to consideration.
2. In the Interpretation of statutes like
:. that of 1876 (supra) the rule is that, as
against the state, nothing is to be
taken as conceded but what is given
in express and explicit terms or by ar
implication equally clear.
In this case it was conceded that til.
8 citizens Of Garfield donated land, fur
nished building for the court, and die
8 all that was required by the act OF 1876
9 and the county commissioners accepted
the property and used it; but afterward
in 1874, another legislature removed tn
: county seat to Youngstown, and tn
matter being appealed as above, the re
:. moval was sustained by the whole court
el What pity for the name and fame o
q our gover6or that his legal adviser di,
o not go little further in his researches
i and bring this decision to his attention
d that he might have been saved fror
9 making himself q laughing stock for tn
g legal profession throughout the land.
K And to chow that this decision apple
g equally to state capitals, the opinion q
j. the court proceeds:
p "The same reasoning pushed ste
9 farther in the same direction, woull
involve the same result