Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1899-02-03

OF 1893 Ch. 1871 as amended shy Gen,
Laws 1887, Ch. ~; ~; aud particularly
was Little Falls aeviiiage Il inc.,r-
porated under the provisions OF eli.
l45 Gen. Laws sl!ss85-witliI,Stl,e mean
ing of the act e,f 1893 above cited. -:
:. .Whilesthe initiative oct towards
the iucOrpOra tion and organization
OF the village "f Little Falls was sSp.
Laws 1879 Ch. +. instead of the &C.
tion Of the inba t,itants in saccor,ia nee
with the provisions of the general
Ia " then in force, {Gen. Laws 1878
Ch. 1897 yet the special act expressly,
enacted that the territory was set
apart and Incorporated as village
under the provisions of the general
law. except as hereinafter lin the
special Ia W, otherwise provided, and
Ythat when organized in accorda nee
with the general law it should there
after he endowed with all the rights.
powers and duties therein (the
general law delegated and pre-
scribed. The exceptions were m err-
IL as to- the matters Of the constitu-
tion tf the village council. and the
appointment of A Village Marshal
instead Of electing a village Con
stable. The important thing was
not by what particular agency the
village was brought into existence,
but what statute governed it after it
was brought into beiDg~
We think. therefore. that the
village when first created was a
village incorporated under the
general law of 1873. The SO called
General Village Act Of 1873 (Gen.
Laws 1854 Oh. ~ may he omitted
from considera ton as, it was de-
clared unconstitutional in State vs..
Sim onds, 80 MINI $40.
The next general village act was
La ws 1885, Ch. 145. This superseded
the act OF 1875 and is still In force. -.
The second section of this act pro-
| vided that "any village which has
been or shalt be organized or tncor.
porated under the general statutes
shall be hereafter governed according
to the provisions OF this chapter to
the end that uniformity of village
government and equal privileges to
all be may secured"
In view of the expressed object OF
this section the words "orgaaized or
incorporated' should be literally
construed so AZ to include all villages
governed by the provisions of the
general law, without regard to tio "
they We're first chntcally incor-
pera vtt,rouxh xht into being
We are therefore Of. opinion that
the village Of Little Fails became q
village Incorporated under the pro-
visions OF Ch. 14i, La VS. 1885, with in
the meaning of Gen. Laws, 1893,
Ch. 1911.
| This latter act is assaiied as a
special legislation regulating the af-
fairs of a village in violation of Art.
IL. Sec. 81. of the constitution. The
ground of attack il that the classiti-
cation adoped by the act is ar
bitrary. We think that counsel for
the plaintiff nave overlooked the
fact that this is merely a curative
act intended to- provide for the
Temporary object, tO-wit. the legaliz-
Ing of a certain class of existing vii.
lage Ordina nces and contracts. For
such Il purpose a really distinctive
class may, and often must be based
upon existing temporary circum'
stances. Cobb. vs.: Bond, ~ MINI
479. Iowa 4. R. Land Co. va. Soper
80 la. ll2; hence the act is not sub.
jet to the objection Of being special
,legtsla tfon it it in fact includes all ex.
listing village ordinances and con.
tracts similarly situated as respects
the subject and object of the act.
The act is clearly applicable to- all
villages Incorporated under the gen
eral sta tutes prior to Jan. l. 1891
The only villages organized prior to
that date which are excluded from
lfts operation are those Incorporated
land governed by special charters
The fact that these were governed
by existing special laws was 4 good
legal reason for excluding them from
the class: In passing general Law
the legislature is not required t., re
3peat existing speciai legislation 90 a,
to include within the Operations .
fthe general la " objects governed BY
such special leKisla tion. Moreove,
villages goyerned by special: legtsla
ton granting them powers not Onl,
different from: each other. but alst
different from those granted by th,
! general law might Of itself be gpot
ground for excluding them from ID
Ioperattc q Of the general ID asF on til,
ground that they we're not sinlilarl,
situated. @ Val s5=:.S| RS. s2
5, SuDstantinlly the same REASONS an