The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-03-18


those to he possessed by subsequent incumbents
Of the office. BY them the appointcc Of the
governor may remove at will all heals OF de-
partmcnts and appoint others of his own seloc'
ton in their stead; while recorders chosen by
the people only appoint aud remove with
tho consent and approval OF councils.
This provision, Il Is further urged, is not made
to apply TO any city which by advance of popu.
laiion may subsequently come under the act,
but Is mere temporary cNpcdicnt applying
only to existing cities ot the class. This makes
the act, as IL is said a piece Uf special lcgisla
ton under the guiSc OF a general law aud Nio
iates the constitution in consequence. We re-
gard this, however, as an attack rather upon the
expcdiency Of the provision that an argument
against its conStitutionality.
The legitimate purpose OF a schedule is 20
regulate the application OF a constitution or
statute TO provide for the transition from the
old law TO the new. We have well known eN.
| ample OF il in the existing constitution Of the
state. and others would not he difficult TO find
II j. true that it is not always necessary 70
provide in this way for a transition from ono act
Of assembly TO another, and IL may not, indeed
be usual; but it cannot he said TO I've irregular
or invalid, and whatever may he said IN thr
present instance with regard to its cNredlenoN'
i. is entirely within the power Of the legislature
| to do 50. and that is all that wa need TO know.
Being within their power, tho only question open
| to us is whether that power has been exceeded
| and as to this there can be but ono answer
CITY \ MERE AGENCY
| Municipal government. except that it shall be
regulated hy general and not by local or special
! lavs-and classified legislation is not open to
| this obiccion--is wholly within the control OF
| thc legislature. That body is made up OF tho
| representatives. OF tho people, and except as the
| people in the fundamental law have undertaken
| to put checks upon its action the whole power
| Of the people is lodged in IT,
| Municipalities are mere agencies OF government
established locally and their character and extent
| and the laws by which they shall he controlled
| must of necessity be determined by legislative
| action. Bearing this ia mind. in what respect,
| then. can it be urged that the legislature has
| exceeded the powers committed 10 them III tIc
framing Of this billi Il is said that they have
| made the chief executive an appointi,c o'hcc
| for two years. and thereafter elective. But what
| oi thaty They might have made it wholly ar'
| pointivc had il seemed best to them, and the
| greater power includes the less.
| Nor is any question really made, or indeed
| can there be. a. to the righ; 10 make the hrst
| incumbent OF the record"lship appontirc. The
| ONLY ihng claimed is that there is an undue
extension Of the appointment Tor the term OF
| two wears. passing over an intervening municipal
| election. IN other words, had the election "
| tho recorder hcen provided Tor IN fcbih'E'
| 1907 the appointment OF the governor mean
| while would not be gliusiid. II is only because
the election is deferred Tor another year and
| the term OF the apponcc oo1espondingIy en-
| larged that objection is made
| This concession, howcvcr, cheCtuallr disposcs
| OF the objection that part Of the office cannot
! be made appoinLivc and part elective. That 1t
| may appropriately be so until the people have
| had an opportunity 10 make a choic" is ~
| doubted, and it follows that tor how long the
office shall be under the power OF appointment
II. - af = ~ IA
| which the legislature alone can deal. In deter
| mining that question in the present instance We
| may assume that our Lawmakers decided sim
| Gle years experience OF the working OF Inc
ucW system before q choice by the people Of
their chief executive was not sufficient, and they
therefore deem il proper to continue it for two.
The changes nauguratcd by the act it must
bc confessed are somewhat radical; we arc 10
pass from a government by councils, which, to
saw the least of it in this and other cities, has
not been satisfactory, to highly centralized
government under q chief executive and sundry
cvccutory departments with large powers and cor
rcspdng responsibility. Two years time in which
10 to,t such a system is certainly none too long
Ne .b,ll hc better able to Judge Of il in ten; and
until il has been somewhat tried and tested how
can thc people properly determine just the man
+, whom they are prepared 10 commit the con-
duct of the office. These are nsdcrltlons
| which may or may not have been in the minds
| OF tho legislature in introducing this provision;
| they certainly exist and il cannot he said III the
lace ot them that there was any abuse or excess
| ot power in extending the Term OF inc governor
| appointee accordingly
FOR PRESENT CONDITIONS.
Nor is there ANYTHING in the point that the a'
| il special. bcc,nS, the schedule only provide
ior present condil ions, and docs not apply I
cities which may subsequently come under tin
| hill OF necessity this is tho case for the whol'
p,rposc of Il schedule as NC have already pointe'
| out, ia To cover lhc period of transition al"
make the changes indugnIted by the new Law
less abrupt than they otherwise would bc. bn
| in the case OF a city advancing IN population "N
slow degrees 10 the poIt where If passes iion
one class to the other there is no need tor any
thing Of that kind and its omission therefor in
troduccs nothing special OF unusual to ahe't I'
general character OF tho measure.
Of even less moment is the Circumstance thj
the powers entrusted to The appointee OF Tia
governor are somewhat different from those SireT
to the recorders who shall come after him NJ"
only in the nature oi the case has the ht>t IN
cumbcut in organizing the new government soht
! what different duties TO perform, but even
there were no such reason iuStnytng the dlhct
cm,e, no argument against the con,titnlonallt,
Of the act can he consistently mddc on accoun
Of the distinction, bcrauSc tho provision applt,
t. al the cities Of the class affecting all alike
and when that is the case and the matter tall
lcgiimatcly then the subjects which may b
lcgisatcd upou-as il certainly does here, becau'
I il relates 10 u municipal iuncton-the poNi'ioh
however, peculiar ate general aud not spccid
within the meaning OF the constitution an'
, cannot he questioned.
p The second suggestion is that the act is IN
I constitutional because il has more than on
, srhicct. The sequence j, not very logical, hG
. he will follow il. The repeating clause at th
end OF the schedule seems to ahold the gIoun
tor this alignment That clause reads aS tol
lows: section 4. 1hc act entitled An act II
relation to the government Of cities of the sCcon
class approved the 18th day of June, \. ID. 1857
, is hereby repealed, except the inst aud ,econ
. sections thereof. And al other laws ior H.
government OF cities oI the second class, unlcs
, preserved 10y the terms Of This az, aS well .
4. laws inconsistent with or applied by thi
act are hereby repealed"
The special repeal of independent acts it
| coutcndcd cannot he Joined together in on
bin because each constitutes different subicc
and II Joined rs they arc here the bill is mad
/ 10 cover more than one subject and Is therefor
| dcr'bc and invalid. II We do not do Justice I
t the argument in this statement it is bccau,
VIC fail to fully comprehend it.. and in ord,
l. | t. make 10 mistake we will quote from the brio
| OF counsel with regard TO il. "Ihc usual n
pclng clause at the end OF an act" it is thcr
said, that all acts or parts Of acts inconsstcr
herewith lrc hereby repealed, does little MOI
than state the legal effect OF the act itself
Hut it /, quite different when the repealin
I, clause attempts to repeal other and indcpendct
= acts which in no way conflict with the act hein
, pissed, Acts repealed are separate and indr
I pendent legislation and the passage oi one az
. aud the repeal Of another two dihereT
, subjects and cannot be Joined in one bill. TIL
. question was passed upon in Commonwealth v