Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1899-02-03
Laws 1ss6. Gu 1sh This supersedrd
the act II 1878 and 70 still m force. sJs

Laws 1856, Ch rs This sup~rseded
the act u 1875 and II stiilin force. \ \
/, The second sscth.n. ~ this act pro
vldrd that viiiaes Which mas
bfrn or .hallsb organized ar incOr'
ps,ra'e.i under the general STATUTES
shall be- hereafter governed scc.,rding
~ the provisions ~ this chapter Ia
the emit thar uniiDr,nity IL village
government and equal privileges tu
All be may secured I" +.
In view II the expressed object ri
this section the wnr,is ''OrKa Htspd ar
inc..rpOrn ted" should BE- lt,,rralIy
construed 90 AZ ts,7inclNde Ill villages
governed by the provisions Of the
general law withOnt,rrgard To how
they were first technically incur-
purate,: or brought into being, g.
We are therefore of opinion that
the village u Little Falls became I,
village incnrpn' nj ted under the pro.
visions Of tn 145. La wa 1895. within
the meaning Of Gen. Laws, 1893.
Oh. l9l. -. -,.g;.::is s.,...... !. .>...... .,
This latter act ia assaiied as a
special lpgislnti"n regulating the al
fairs II a village in viola ton Ut Art.
II. See III Of the constitution. The
ground Of attack IL that the, ,classifi.
cation adOp-d bv the act Ia ar.
bitrary. We think that counsel for
the. plaintiff nave overlooked the
fact that this IL merely a curative
act intended to provide for the
temporary object, to-w,it. hrirgaliz.
ing Of = certain class of existing vii
laYe orttina ht'es and contracts: For
such a purpose a really distinctive
class may. and often must be based
upon existing temporary ~circum.
stances. Cobb w. Bond, ~ Mimi.
40. Iowa Il X Land Co vs.. Soper
80 Ia 1l2; hence the act Ii not sub
jet to the objection Of being special
l-gisla ton II it in fact includes all ex:
listing village ordinances and CON
tracts similarly situated as respects
the subject and obj.ct III the: act.
The act is clearly applicable. to all
villages4ncor. .orated under the. gen.
eral statutes prior t. Jan, 1. 1891,
The only villages organized prior tn
that date. " hich are excluded from
its opera ton are those incorporated
and governed by special charters
The fact that, there, were governed
by existing special la Wa wa q good
legal reason for excluding them from
the class. In passing q general law
The legislature ia not required to re.
peal existing special legislation so az
to include within the operation III
the general law objects governed by
such special lrgislattOn. MOre"ver
villages governed by .epeciAl lrgi1la.
too granting them powers not only
different from each other. but also
different from those granted ny the
general la " might Of itself he a good
ground Tor excluding them from i he
,pprat n Of the general law on the
ground that they were not similarly
situated. -.
Subst antially the same reasons ap'
plv to the exclusion from the opera
ton Of tie act Of villages Of owe,
5000 inhabitants which might have
been previously orxa nized under Gen
Laws, 1891, Oh. lag. which are ex
presslv granted very extensive
powers in relation to contracting
with private companies or persont
for supplying their inhabitants witt
water or light.
But the classif1ca ton is iruther as
sailed because the act does not In
clude villages that may have beer
Incorporated under the general law
of 1885 bet Jan: l, 1901, AM
March !, 1888. the date of enactmen
Of the curative act.
! This would not affect the validity o
the act II in fact there were MI vii
lagos Incorporated between thOs
dates which had passed or made an!
invalid ordinances or contracts q
the kinds or under, the circumsta nee
described In the curative art t,
which the act would have applied
or which would have been affect,
with its II its terms had been other
vie broad enough t" include them
This presents a peculiar state q
facts. This il not q ma tier which
npce. "a rily the subject Of proof oI
the trial, for the reason that cOur
will take judicial notice Of all fact
bearing upon the constitutions ALT
Ol a statute But we do not aetna
" know what the facts are and, ca
only find out by examining the re,
, Ortls in the Office Of the register {
deeds in every county In the state t
, ascertain what villages have bee
mgnnizrd under the. general law {
. 1855 bet wepn the dates named an
theu exa mining the records: a nd pr,
ceedings of I'll such villages. II an,
T..