Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1895-04-19
COURT OF APPEALS DECISION.
synopsis of the Opinion in the City Con-
tested Election Cases.

tesCeu ElectiOn CabeB.
Constitutional law Election of Of
ficers for towns and cities.-Brown
ETC., vs., Holland, etc.-Campbell VS..
Dabney.-(To be reported.) Filed
April ID, 1895. Appeal from Chris
tan circuit court. Opinion of the
court by Judge Hazelrigg, affirming,
Judge Guffy dissenting, and Judge
Grace not sitting.
First-Under section 100 of the
constitution, which provides that
members of legislative boards or
councils of towns and cities shall be
elected by the qualified voters there
off, with certain provisions as to cit
les of the first, second and third class
es, the general assembly has power
to provide as to cities of the fourth
class, as it has done, that councilmen
"shall be elected by majority of the
votes cast by the qualified voters of
the wards for which they respectively
stand" 1t is not being necessary that
they should be elected by the voters
at large before it can be said they
are elected by the qualified voters of
the city"
Second-The charter for cities of
the fourth-class recognizes the exist
ence of wards in such cities and in
effect continues the ward divisions
existing under old charters.
Third-While the general rule is
that the legislature cannot deputize
others to perform its governing func-
tons, yet it may delegate to munich
pal and other public corporations
some portion of its own powers for
local purposes. Therefore under sec
ton $50 of the constitution, which
provides that mayors of towns of the
fourth, fifth and sixth-classes "may
be elected or appointed, as provided
by law" the Legislature has power to
provide, as it has done as to cities of
the fourth class, that the mayor may
be elected by the people or appointed
by the council, as may be provided
by ordinance" Nor is this provision
in violation of section 156 of the con-
stitution, requiring the organization
and powers of each class of cities ''to
be defined and provided by general
laws so that all municipal corpora
tons of the same class shall possess
the same powers and be subject to
the same restrictions"
Fourth-As the constitution per-
mitted and the act for the govern
ment for cities of the fourth-class re-
quired the election of councilmen by
the voters of each ward, and the city
council, in the absence of any speci-
fic directions by the general assembly
as to how these ward elections were to
be held, did all in its power to COM
ply with the constitution and its act,
both the council and the county
judge appointing the officers to hold
the elections in the respective wards
as required by the charter, and the
city clerk furnishing the ballots under
authority of the council, upon refusal
of the county clerk to do so, these ir-
Irregularities did not invalidate the
election.
Fifth-In these actions to prevent
the usurpation of offices of mayor and
councilmen, in which the plaintiffs
ask judgment, placing them in pos
session of the offices which they re-
spectively claim, plaintiffs must re-
cover upon the strength of their own
titles, and have no interest in the set
Element of any question which mere
ly affects the titles of the defendants
without giving validity to their own
titles.