Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-11-21
OF THE SAME MIND.
Two County Judges on Street
Paving Jurisdiction.
JUDGE WARDS OPINION RECEIVED.

--' - ~@s>C - - a Rk'AsSDDsC w SoSaA = ~
ceedings and Permits County Court
Juries to Pass Upon the Question of Ben
efits- The Next Step.
County Judge H. c. Ward, of
Whiteside county. has given his
opinion on the Twelfth street paving
assessment in Rock Island. Copies
OF the same were received this morn
ing by c. L. Walker. of the counsel
for the complainants. Judge Ward
takes the same ground that County
Judge Lucian Adams did in the al
ley paving cases. which briefly is to
the effect that when objections are
raised to the improvement, county
court juryis topass upon the benefits
and then comes the application of
the law Of the last legislature, and
which became operative June 81, to
the effect that the property so i'm.
proved must be benefited to the ex-
tent that it is assessed by reason oil
The improvement. Judge Wards
opinion covers IL pages. and goes
into the subject exhaustiyely with
numerous citations and SMILES and
applies the force Of the latest legisla'
tive enactment to the case in ques'
ton.
History Of the Case.
The Twelfth street improvement
provided for the paving of the
street from Fourth avenue to the
city limits. Under the original
ordinance the contract was let and
the work commenced by the Edward.
& Walsh Construction company,
when Judge Adams declared the or.
dinance void on the ground that the
assessment did not conform to the
statutes as to the installments. An.
other ordinance was thereupOu
passed May 20, covering all the
points that had been taken advan.
tage of in the efforts to defeat the
project. and June 20 the petition for
the assessment was filed in the coun.
ty court. The commissioners were
appointed and the assessment roll
filed four days later for confirmation
at the July term. July % the OBJ.
iections were filed, the obstructinp
property holders being represented
by Col. Henry Curtis, Sweeney
Walker and Connolly & Connolly
Sept. "a a change of venue was
taken to the county court of White
side county. The point at issue was
mainly on the confirmation of the
assessment roll. but before the court
could pass upon this. came the dis
position of the question as tc
whether the law passed July q
could operate in this case, this
comforting to the county court the
authority to determine by jury trial
the extent of the benefits as COM
pared with the assessment levied fol
the proposed work. The main con.
tention argued was whether the la v
controlled the proceedings. The ar
guments were heard Oct. 16 at Nor
rison. Messrs. Connolly and Walker
appearing for the complainants and
City Attorney Haas for the city. and
the ruling received today is TO the
effect that the late law is operative
and therefore the benefits must bs
determined by jury trial. The mex
StSP ohVACIOAC VIC W Ldhc The
assessment roll before jury in the
Whiteside county court.
Judge Wards Ruling.
Judge Ward, after reviewing thor.
oughly the entire proceedings of the
case. gives an able digest and Their
rules. first that the law of June p is
applicable, and then that under it all
in proceedings subsequent to July l
the question of benefits and amount oil
special tax must. where an objection
is made. be determined by the county
court and tried in the same manner
as proceedings by special assess
ment.
Tho Alley Paving Case.
AS to the alley paving proceedings
Judge Adams made precisely the
same ruling. The question was
tried by jury which modified the as.
sessment roll somewhat aud then il
was confirmed. The ruling of Judge
Ward has no tendency to interrupt
the Twelfth street improvement. 1t
is now only necessary to proceed un.
der the new law and have a county
court jury determine the bene fits.