The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-06-10
RIFT THROWN OUT
SUPREME COURT DECLARES THE
1890 LAW INVALID AND RE-
STORES SENG
MANY OTHER LAWS In DANGER
COURT SCORES THE LEGISLATURE
FOR RECENT EVASIONS OF
THE 1891 AMENDMENT
JUSTICE MITCHELL's OPINION

1t Deals Hard Blow at the Mime
apOIis Primary Election Law and
Number of Other Acts OF Es-
peciaI Interest In st. Paul, Min
neapOIis and DuIuth-GOv. Lind's
OpinlOn-Seng and Ritt Talk.
Not only is Robert H Seng reinstated
as city and county assessor by a decision
handed down by Justice Mitchell, of the
supreme court, yesterday, but a serious
cloud is thrown on the legality of half
the legislation affecting municipalities
passed by recent legislatures, and so
sweeping in its terms is the opinion hand
ed down by the supreme court yesterday
that there seems. no way out of the
dilemma but through the coils of endless
litigation. -
The trouble comes chiefly through the
assumption by the legislature that a
proper classification of cities, according
to population, under former decision of
the court, was sufficient to bring law
for a conceded special purpose within
the terms and form of general law, and
net in conflict with the constitutional
amendment of 1891 prohibiting special
legislation.
In numerous laws passed by the last
legislature especially, this presumption
was acted upon, and the bill under the
terms of which Assessor Seng was ousted
was one of these. The decision is very
pointed in its reference to this matter of
classification according to population, and
not less than twenty bills which became
laws at the session Of 1899, recently clos.
ed. promise to be held invalid if the su-
preme court sticks to the sweeping dec
larations Of the opinion of the Seng case.
The syllabus Of this decision is as fol-
lows:
WHAT THE COURT SAYS.
State, ex rel. w. B. Douglas and r. HI.
Seng, relators, VS.. Gregory P Ritt, re-
spondent.
sylla bus-Laws 1899 Oh. 14o provides:
Section L. There shall be elected In
each county in this state having popula-
ton of not less than 100000 and not over
IS5,0Vo inhabitants a county assessor who
shall hold his Office for two years from
and after the first Monday in January
next succeeding his election, etc.
Sec. 8. The board of county commits
sioners in such counties shall at their
first meeting after the passage of this act
nominate and appoint county assessor
VINO shall NIL such office until the next
general election to be held in the month
of November, 1900, and until his successor
is elected and qualified. "a
The primary and essential provision of
the act, and that which differentfates
counties falling within it's operation is
that it provides for one county assessor
for the whole county instead of an asses
sor for each municipal division of the
county, as provided by the then existing
general laws.
Held that the entire act Is invalid as
being special legislation regulating the af-
fairs of counties in violation of section 80.
article 4, of the constitution; the at
tempted classification by population, as
applied to the subject of the act, being
incomplete, arbitrary, and evasive' of the
provisions of the constitution.
Also that section is invalid for the
further reason that it will not operate
uniformly upon all the counties Of the
class; not being applicable to counties
which may come within the subsequently
to the annual election in November, 1896.
Judgment of custer ordered
In the opinion accompanying, which,