Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-12-02
Mo s1.aG .ay December 2, 1909
Gates County is Valid.

down a decision Friday dec1ar-
ing the act, creating the new
county of Gates, valid, and offer
ing the decision of Judge Vinje.
The maih ground on which the
act was claimed to be invalid
was that it violated Sec. 4, Arti-
Gle 4 of the state constitution, in
thai county lines are broken in
the formation of Assembly dis
'tricts, Gates county being includ-
ed in the Second District of Chip
'pewa county.
The opinion was by Justice
Bardeen, formerly circuit Judge
of this circuit, who concludes as
follows:
: 1.-The cases cited sustains the
proposition that although the
constitution provides that cleo
"+ion districts shall remain unal-
tered, still territory may be law
fully taken from one district and
attached to another, or new
municipalities may be formed,
provided that for political pur
poses the original district shal
remain intact. -"
IF the position assumed by the
yelators is correct then either the
legislature has no power to
create a new county intermediate
the apport1onment years or, if it
creates one, it must rearrange
'apportionment so as not to in
tract the constitution.
COUNTY MAY BE CREATED.
"No doubt one of the objects of
the constitutional provision was
to prevent Juggling with appor-
tionrnent. If new counties may
be created and the appo1tion-
1nent rearranged and legislated
to suit legislative whims, the
power might be subject to abuse
and the real purposes of the re-
striction defeated. Under the
construction we feel compelled to
adopt tie legislature may meet
the growing demands of the in
crease of population, may create
new counties and e1ldow them
with life and vitality as to mat
tiers of local administration, pro-
vided the original legislative dis
tricts are not disturbed. In otner
words it is no evasion of thereal
spirit and purpose of the cohsti-
tuition to permit new counties to
be created, even though the desig-
mated boundary may cross the
lines of an assembly district, pro-
vided that for the purpose of cleo
ting the assemblyman the origi-
nal district is preserved. For
those purposes the new county
may be treated as non-existing.
The argument as to destroying
county representation would be
Of greater weight if the unit Of
representation was limited to
counties, but it is not"
The case was of more than
passing interest to the people of
Eagle River and the decision is
very gratifying to many of our
citizens. That portion of the
act which the REALTORS contended
was a violation of the state con-
stitution was offered as an
amendment in the senate by SEN
ator D. E. Riordap. Hon: l.. E..
McGill who has many friends in
Villas county and formerly resid-
ed in Eagle River, took the lead
ing part in the Assembly when
the Gates county bill was pend
ing in the legislature last winter
and when the bill passed was ap-
pointed District Attorney Of the
new county by Governor La
Toilette.
Mr.. McGill, assisted by Attor-
ney John Barnes of Rhinelander,
tepresented the county in the lit
igation' while the state was rep
resented by Sanborn, Luce &
Powellof Madison and T.J. Con-
nor of Chippewa Falls.
Advertised Letters.
Unclaimed letters remaining in the