Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-25
THE SNOW AND ICE LAW
DECLARED BY COURT OF APPEALS
TO BE UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
Appeal Of Frederick B. Mcclure From
the Police Court-opinions
In Other Cases.

The act Of Congress providing for the
removal of snow and ice from the SIDE
walks in this city was declared void by
| the Court of Appeals in a decision rem
dered late yesterday afternoon by Justice
Morris. The case came up on appeal py
Frederick B. MCGUIRE from the Police
Court where he had been adjudged guilty
and subjected to fine for failure to re-
move snow and ice from in front of prop
erty owned by him.
In setting aside the Judgment OF the
Police Court and remanding the case.
with directions to vacate the judgment
and discharge Mr.. MCGUIRE, the court
said:
THE purpose of this legislation Is In
the highest degree humane and benef-
cent-that of saving life and limb from
untoward accident resulting from slip
perry sidewalks. But there is another as
pect of these enactmentS which, In the
interest of individual liberty and equal
right before the law, cannot be ignored
This class of legislation is undoubtedly
an attempt on the part of the municipal
ity to shift to the shoulders of the indf-
vidual citizens the burden which is pri-
marily incumbent itself to bear;
| namely that of keeping the streets and
thoroughfares in proper condition for the
purpose for which they are intended
That this duty is primarily upon the mu-
nicipality cannot be questioned.
Effect of the Decision.
Since the District Court of Appeals de-
cided that the recent snow and ice law is
invalid, with the exception of the repeating
clause, the District is now left without any
law to govern the subject, the act of 1897
being repealed by the act of February, 1904.
1t is stated that the District will now be
obliged to cancel all assessments made
against property under the invalid law and
to refund all penalty assessments paid I'M
der the act 1t is also presumed that the
fines imposed in the Police Court on persons
convicted of violating the provisions of the
snow and ice law will have to be refunded.
Officials of the District government, in
discussing the decision of Justice Morris,
today stated that the law passed by Con-
gress in February was drawn on lines SIM
liar to laws In operation in other cities in
the United States. and that the law pre-
pared for the District was drafted so as to
embrace the best features of the laws of
other cities. The bill submitted to Con-
gress, it Is learned, was never submitted to
the District assessor for report prior to it's
enactment.
In the event the District is Obliged to
clean the sidewalks of snow and ice, 1t Is
estimated that the cost of the work will
be an immense charge upon the District.
To remove snowfall of six inches 1t is es-
timated that about $4,000 will have to be
expended. Difficulty is also anticipated In
securing sufficient number Of laborers to
perform the work
Petition Dismissed.
The Appellate Court also dismissed the
petition of Powhattan w. Robertson for a
writ Of mandamus to compel Justice Job
Barnard of the District Supreme Court to
approve bond on an appeal from a judy
ment of Justice of the peace dissolving a
writ of attachment.
Justice Shepard, who delivered the opin-
ion of the court in this case, said:
Orders dissolving attachments, though
possessing some of the elements of finality,
as has been conceded, have always been re-
garded as introductory, and not final
Whatever hardships there may be in
denying the right of appeal from order
of the kind under consideration from the
Justices court to the Supreme Court in
special term, we constrained to hold
that 1t be remedied only by additional
legislation"
Other cases decided in the Court of APP
peals yesterday, besides the two noted
above and the case of the marine, Harry
F. Harris, which was reported in The Star
yesterday, were the cases of Consaul
against Cummings. in which a decree OF
the lower court was reversed with instruc-
tons to refer the case to the auditor; Clark
against Roller, Harvey against Miller,
Warner against Grayson and Talbot
against Grayson, which were all affirmed.