The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1900-01-08
MAY BUY SITE.
Purchase Of High School
Land and Building Con-
tract to Depend On
Legislation.
CORPORATION CoUNsEL'S OPINION
Mr.. Nc cDermott Will Introduce
Bill In Conformity With
Courts Decision.
CORPORATION COUNSEL'S OPINION

Corporation Counsel Allan l.. McDer-
mott this morning sent to the Board ,of
Finance an opinion respecting the pur-
chase of lands for new High School.
This opinion was requested of Mr.. Nc
Dermott in view of the recent decision
against similar project in Trenton, and
before taking any action in relation TO a
new High School the Finance Board want
ed to know where it was at" The opin-
ion is as follows
January s, 1890,
To the Honorable the Board of Finance:
Gentlemen-At the present term of the
Court of Errors and Appeals, an opinion
was read, affirming the judgment of the
March 5, 1886, entitled An act concerning
cities OF the second class in this state,
and providing for the purchase OF lands
and the construction and the repair OF
buildings for high school purposes in such
citieS,'' is unconstitutional The ground
of invalidation of this act, in both courts,
is that it is obnoxious to the following
provisions of our amended State constitu-
tom
Section Z, Article II: 1.-THE Legislature
shall not pass private, local or special
cases. that is to say: Regulating
the internal affairs of towns or counties
providing for the management and
support of free public schools.
point, the Court follows the rule laid down
in Wanser v. Hoos, 60 N. ]. Law Reports,
4&2, but the second ground goes further
and establishes the proposition that, in
legislation concerning our public schools
there cannot be a classification of cities
On a basis of population, unless other
municipalities are included. The Court
says:-"Although legislation affecting the
cities of the State. to the exclusion OF
other classes of municipalities, when en-
acted for the purpose of regulating their
internal affairs, is deemed to be general,
and although cities themselves may be
sub-divided into classes for that purpose,
and only those classes whose conditions
and wants render the legislation necessary
or appropriate need be embraced therein,
such classification is not permissible when
the legislation relates to the management
and support of our free public schools.
That is a subject matter which concerns
not merely some or all of the cities of the
State, but the State at large from one end
to the other. Classification for the pur-
pose Of legislation with relation to this
subject Gf allowable at alD must, in or
der to be valid, include in the Class TO be
affected by the legislation, every political
division of the State, no matter what It's
condition and wants render the legislation
appropriate. > A number of our
towns and iboroughs and some of our
townships are, both in population and in
taxable valuation equal to or greater than
some of our cities of the second class; and
a legislative scheme looking to the estab-
lishment and maintenance of high schoo $
is at least as appropriate to those towns,
boroughs and townships as it is to cities
having no greater population or taxable
valuation
It would be very difficult to reconcile
the decision on this second point with
some previous utterances of the Court of
Errors and Appeals. It may. appear
ridiculous to say that the words THE
Legislature shall not pass private, local
or special laws regulating the internal
affairs of towns or Counties does not
prohibit legislation regulating the affairs
of cities of certain population when
population bears a reasonable relation to
the proposed governmental machinery, al
though otherwise named municipalities of
equal population are not included in the
statute while the words THE Legislature
shall not pass private, local or special
laws providing for the management and
support of free public schools" prohibit
the giving of authority to erect high
schools in cities unless similar, authority
is conferred upon all political subdivisions
of the State, but this seems to be what
the Constitution says up to date. The
only statute allowing the erection of a
high school in Jersey City is, by it's title
and text Omitted to cities, and | have to
utterance of our highest court, this lmi-
tation renders the act void. I do not,
however, think that this fact need inter
fere with progress upon the part OF the
city in obtaining a high school, | shall
take pleasure in introducing in the Senate.
next week, an act in conformity with the
decision of the Court of Errors and APP
pealS. and there is not any legal object on
site and the making of a contract for the
erection of a building, each step being
conditioned upon authority being here
after obtained from the Legislature.
ALLAN L. McDERMoTT.
Corrjoratinn Counsel