Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1900-02-26
UNCONSTITUTIONALLAW
JUDGE WOODWARD so DECLARES
NEW TOWNSHIP ACT,
Bill Which Divided Townships Into Two
Glasses Is Held by Luzerne Jurist to
Constitute Special Legislation-The
Opinion Rendered in a Test Case.


Judge Woodward handed down an
| important opinion at Wilkesbarre on
FRIDAY morning, in which he declares
that the act classifying townships into
two classes, passed by the last legisla-
ture, is unconstitutional
The new law affects twenty townships
in the state and five in Luzerne county.
1t provided for first-class townships and
the election of five township commits
sioners, who were to be vested with cor
porate power and authority. The law
provided for the employment of men by
the board of township commissioners
and gave the same rights to the board
as are enjoyed by councils in boroughs.
Under the new law the supervisors
of Plains township, one of the We af-
fected, refused to allow George w.
Mitchell and Michael Calvin to work
out corporation taxes on the roads of
the township. They contracted for the
work and the case which eliminated in
the opinion was commenced
Judge Woodward, in the opinion rem
dered, says:
"We are inclined to the opinion that
the object attained by the act itself is
local and special in its nature, and,
therefore, ofends article III, section 7,
OF the constitution of Pennsylvania.
"Classifcation cannot justify the pas
sage of law unless such classification
is necessary in the nature of the case.
Ii classification is unnecessary and re-
suit in gross injustice or palpable wrong,
then the act will be unconstitutional,
although based upon cassifications of
the subject involved-in this case, of
municipal corporations, viz, townships.
And in such cases as this no cassifi-
cation Is proper which is not founded
upon population. When geographical
differences are made the basis of the
classes named, it is impossible to avoid
the inhibition of special legislation, for
the reason that classification founded
upon geography must operate upon some
geographical divisions to the exclusion
of others. In references to cities and
counties this has been adjudicated.
The act question intending to avoid
this difficulty processes to base its classi-
1cation upon population, but in point of
TACT bases 1t upon population to the
square mile. This, in effect, is classifi-
cation not upon the population of town
ships, but not the population to the
square mile.
"Townships having population of at
least 300 to the square mile are in one
class and all others are in the other
class. BY way of illustration. Wilkes
barre township, with a population, by
the census, of 2,917 is a township of the
first class and must submit to the mode
of government provided by the act,
while Halle township, with population
OF 12,494, is not affected by it.
1.-THE act therefore fails to include in
its classification of townships of the first
class the more populous or residential
ones, while for geographical reasons the
smaller townships get into the first class.
There are 1922 townships in the
state, and less than twenty of these are
now affected by the act. In other
words, the method of classification ex-
cludes 1,5oo townships from the provi-
sions of the act. Such classification is
deficient, and the act must therefore be
unconstitutional.
Again, the Trainer of the act intend
ed, evidently, to evade the constitution,
not to comply with it. While the town
ships of the state are divided into two
classes, the legislation is for only one of
them, viz: the first, embracing Lower
Merton and like residential townships
near large cities"