St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-04-02
How the House and Senate
Bueked the Constitution
Saturday.
Measures With Titles but
Sans Bodies Are Open to
Legal Taint.
The Davis Civil Service Re-
form Bill Recommended
to Pass.
Petitions Against Meat In
speetion Said to Cost Per
Diem.

BY the constitution of the state Satur-
day was the last day on which the MEM
bers of the legislature could introduce
bills, except by special request of the
governor and concurrence of two
thirds of either branch in the request.
Notwithstanding this constitutional
limitation. the final day came with a
number of members DESTROYS for further
time to present bills yet unprepared.
This could not be granted them, and
in consequence tactics were adopted in
the senate and house by which pos
sible way out of the difficulty
was found. Bills with only their
titles attached were introduced, the
members presenting them intending
at future time to have them amended
so that the body OF the bill might be
attached. That this method of pro-
cedure is dangerous trifiing with the
constitution, the writer's Oh constitu-
tional law have always held, leaving
law so enacted open to serious question
as to its validity. and paving the way to
costly and intricate litigation.
Cooley, one of the first authorities on
constitutional limitations to the legis-
latiVe power. discusses this method of
Introducing bills in the following inter-
eSting way
"A practice has sprung up Of evading
these provisions by introducing a new
bill after the time has expired when it
may constitutiOnally be done, as an
amendment to some pending bill, the
whole of which, except the enacting
clause is struck out to make way for it.
Thus the member who thinks that he
may possibly have occasion for the in
PRODUCTION of new bill after the con-
Stitutional period has expired takes
care to introduce sham bills in due
season which he can use as stocks to
graft upon, and which he uses, ire
Spective of their character or contents.
The sham bill is perhaps bill to in
corporate the city of Siam. One of the
members constituents applies to him
for legislative permission to construct
dam across the Wild Cat river. Forth
with,
BY AMENDMENT,
the bill entitled bill to incorporate
the city of Siam, has all after the ell
acting clause stricken out, and it is
made to provide, as its sole object, that
John Doe may construct dam across
the Wild Cat With this title and in
this form it is passed: but the house
then considerably amends the title to
and the law is passed, and the constitu-
ton at the same time saved. This
dodge is so transparent, and so clearly
i'll violation of the constitution, and the
evidence at the same time so fully
spread upon the record, that it is matter
of surprise to find it SO often resorted
to-" Cooley on Constitutional Limita-
tons, pages 13S-139.
In decision of Judge Cooley's in the
Eleventh Northwestern Reporter he
shows but one way in which bills so in
troduced may be amended. The case
before him was one in which bill was
introduced after the fifty days consti-
tutiOnal limitation for the introduction
of bills in certain state legislature had
expired. In this case the bill and the
title were in harmony with each other.
He held:
Cooley, Page S6S, Eleventh North
western Reporter-No one disputes that
whatever is within the proper scope of
amendment is as much admissible after
the fifty days as before, and this must
embrace whatever is germane to the
purpose which the bill had in view
1t would seem to follow from this that
members who, OH Saturday, introduced
merely titles and intend later to follow
with the body of the bill, which is to be
in harmony with the title, have done
nothing unconstitutional. Those others
who did introduce in the house and
senate bills with titles to which the
body will be entirely foreign are clearly
doing an unconstitutional act. In either
case the experiment is held by the
authorities to be one fraught with dan
ger to the validity of the measures in
question. This legislature can only
save litigation and imperfect legislation
Inv N tn Gil nr ;oI,
on Saturday, were introduced in this
NaV