Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-03-18
THE CITY CHARTER DEFECTIVE,
In That It Provides for the Creation Of
Several New Municipal Offices
by City Councils.
POLICE MAGISTRATES ARE ALL RIGHT
Differences Of Opinion on the Constitutionsy Of Curative
Legislation.

provements, there are other equally seriou
results of the Supreme Court decision, tn
remedy of which is not vet apparent t
them. The full text of Justice Williams
opinion in the appeal Of George j. Whitne
was received at 9 o'clock yesterday morn
ing at the Office of the Prothonotary OF tn
Supreme Court. The case is based largel
on the unconstitutionality of the cit,
charter. The opinion deals at length Will
the various sections of the charter who's
legality were questioned.
One OF the most important positions o
the opinion is in reference to the illega
manner in which Councils have created new
departments of the city government. Con
cerning this, Justice Williams says:
Must Be the Same for Each Glass.
The eighteenth section authorizes the Coun
ellis to create new departments in the city gov
ernment and define their powers. This cannot
be sustained. The Legislature must settle the
| question Of government for each class of cities
| and it must be the same for each and every
member of each class. No city in any class
| can change the number of, or the distribution
of powers among the departments into which
| its government IL cast by the Legislature. II
this was not so, no two cities IN the same class
| would long retain the same form of municipal
government and general legislation, for the
| class would, on many subjects, become i'm.
possible.
1t is generally conceded that this knocks
out both the Department of Awards and
the Department OF Law. The act Of Legis.
1o+ for ait Of fhac
Controller Morrow was asked last night
whether this would not be the case.
THAT is the only construction L can put
on the decision" he answered. "The act of
Assembly for cities of the second class pro-
vides for three departments-Public Works,
Public Safety, and Charities. The De-
partment of Awards and the De-
partment of Law were both created
by Councils. This decison shows
that Councils had no power TO do this. and
hence the two departments have no legal
standing and no longer exist. Of course we
will have to have City Attorney, but he
will no longer be the head OF the legal de-
partment, and the three assistants will prob
ably have to 60"
Things Badly Mixed U? at Present.
"What will be done about the work of the
Department of Awards
81 cannot say as to that Some provision
will have to be made for tn. awarding of
contracts, but things are too badly mixed up as
yet to say just how it will be done. The Su-
preme Court is certainly wedding out our gov
ernment in rapid style. We have scarcely got
ten over the effect of the sudden stoppage of
the Board of Viewers when here comes the
death-blow to two of our departments"
The rumor that the decision had knocked out
the police magistrates was not given much cred
ence about City Hall. After the decision had
been carefully read, it was seen that the system
of police magistrates in this city is in accordance
with the law. In commenting on the seventh
section of the charter relative to these magis-
trates, the opinion says:
1T processes to confer upon five magistrates
the right to exercise for certain purposes the
same police powers as are possessed by the
Mayor. Police power of the Mayor is not d.
miniShed. That remains as before, but for GER
tain purposes five magistrates have the right to
exercise the same police powers. The LegIsa-
Iure may properly confer it upon newly
created office by general words for that reason.
But If the Mayor exercises powers created and
conferred hy statute in addition to the general
police power of which we have spoken. such
statutory bowers could not be conferred on the
magistrates by such general words as are en-
ployed in this section. 1t may be that the May
Ors police powers are only such as fall properly
within the general or common law meaning of
the words. If so, we do not see why this section
may not stand.
Only Possessed of Police Power.
"Our police magistrates are only possessed
of common police power" said Mayor Gourley
sand therefore perfectly legal, as the Justice
says"
Justice Williams sets the minds Of the Chiefs
of the Departments of Public Works, Public
Safety and Charities at rest by saying that
their departments are safe. although their
powers are not complete. The sections Great
ing these departments are treated rs follows:
"These sections do undertake to center pow
ers previously exercised by number of officers
whose offices are discontinued. upon the heads
of departments created bv the act. 1t under
takes to extend to these few officers 1.-THE acts
of Assembly relating to the duties and powers
of all these unnamed and abolished Offices
without even a reference to their dates. their
titles or their subject matter. To understand
what was, and what was not within their con-
troll it would be necessary to digest all the local
laws relating to all the officers whose functions
are thus gathered uD and dropped into the
hands of the heads of departments This
mode of defining the power of newly created
officer is in violation of the letter and the spirit
of the Constitutional provision and cannot be
sustained.
s'The heads of departments are not wholly
stripped of official functions and authority by
this holding, for in the fifteenth, sixteenth and
seventeenth sections certain general powers in
their respective departments are conferred
upon them within which they may properly act
and bind the city. 1t is nevertheless true that
supplementary legislation is needed in order
that these officers may be able to assume the
importance in the management of municipal
affairs which the system of government. for
cities of the second class plainly contemplates."
Confident of Getting Curative Laws.
The question of securing curstive legislation
is one that will probably be uppermost in the
minds of city officials for some time While
the latter are confident of securing it. great
many others have grave doubts as to whether
the Legislature can lawfully pass such an act
Among those who feel these doubts are some
of the better legal authorities.
NJ. A, Woodward still refuses to express an
opinion as to the scope of the decision, as he
says he hasn't read 1t in its entirety, and could
not talk Intelligently. The query, however,
had the effect TO start a discussion in which |
number of prominent attorneys took part, and |
from the talk it was learned that the prevailing
impression was that no curative legislation |
would stand, so that streets improved already |
are in the same muddle as they were when the |
Mt. Washington street cases were decided and |
to- c"esa viii be Tesssd any was a
also developed that they do not stand |
as did the streets improved under |
the Penn avenue act. Ip those the liens fled |
will follow the properties to the end of our
government and may become a puzzle for |
Macaulay's New Zealander of the future, but |
in the present case no liens will lie, and any at
expected that abutters' sense of justice is suffi.
ciently developed to make them pay claims |
that cannot be enforced. These ATTORNEYS |
agreed that the city cannot fall !
back on any previous laws
Finance Committee Not Yet Met.
Chief Bigelow has made an estimate Of the |
improvements yet unpaid for and finds they
amount to 81, 100000. Should the effort az se-
curing curative legislation fail. this will all
have to be paid with the city's money
It is stated that by raising the miIage and |
paying S400, 900 year the debt could be cleared