The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1906-09-28
LOSES Alb IMPORTANT CASE
FIRE LIMIT ACT NO GOOD IN
POLICE COURT.
T. E Townsend, Arrested for Its ViO-
IatiOn, Beats City-Other Ordi-
nanCeS I'm Danger.

nanCeS In Danger.
The validity Of a number OF the
ordinances OF GOodiand city seems to
be hanging in the balance since the
trial on Wednesday OF T. E Town
send for violation OF ordinance No.
14z, which prohibits the piling Of
lumber, Iath, shingles, posts and other
cOmbustible material within the pre-
scribed fire limits OF the city. The com
plant was sworn out on Tuesday by
Mayor George Kelly. and a warrant
placed in the hands Of Policeman
COchrane 70 bring Mr.. Townsend, who
is manager OF the Foster Lumber
cOmpany's yard before Police judge
G. W Sapp to plead to the issue. He
Z Immediately secured the legal services
Of Attorney Z. Z. Murphy, plead not
guilty TO the charge and asked for a
continuance Of the case until 2 O'CLOCK
Wednesday, September Is, which R-sS
granted by the court
When the case was called on We'd
nesday, E S Knight appeared for the
city and Mr.. Murphy for the defend
ant That the Objectionable material
was placed in the FIRE limits there was
no doubt, but two witnesses, Otto
LenhaTt and Thomas DUEL, were in
trOduced to show that the lumber was
put there in part by them as work
men The question brought to Issue
by the lawyers before the court was
as to the real existence Of an ordin-
ances prohibiting the alleged un5lw-
ful act The case was thrashed out
pro and con and the decision given by
Police Judge Sapp that the Ordin-
anCe under which Townsend was ar
rested was invalid, and the defendant
was released and the costs charged up
to the city.
Murphy commended that the ordin-
ance was void, and based his argu-
ment upon sections 945 and 946 Of the
general statutes OF Kansas. Section
Gas reads. All ordinances Of the
city shall be read and considered by
sections at a public meeting Of the
council, and the vote on their final pas
sage shall be taken by yeas and nays,
which shall be entered on the journal
by the clerk. And no ordinance
shall be revised or amended unless the
new ordinance CONAN the entire Ordi-
nance revised, or the section or sec
tons amended
with regard to this section, AttOr-
ney Murphy argued that the Ordi-
nance in question, which was a revis-
ion and amendment Of two previous
ordinances OF like substance, showing
was not constructed according to stat
ute; and that there was no journal
record Of the passage Of this Ordi-
nance, which should show the vote in
yeas and nays
The other nail on which he hung
an argument had to do with section
946- This section says: The city
clerk shall keep an ordinance book, in
which he shall enter at length, in a
plain and distinct handwriting, every
ordinance in force in said city
Immediately after its passage, and he
shall append thereto a note stating the
date of its passage, the page OF the
journal containing the record Of the
I of m
name Of the newspaper in which said
Odinance was published, and the date
OF such publication" The ordinance
book Of GoodIand had not been kept
up to the requirements Of the law, as
was shown in court, and in fact, a
number Of ordinances passed before
this one, are in the same condition
Murphy hung hard on these points,
and secured the decision OF Police
Judge Sapp that the ordinance under
which il was charged that Townsend
| had committed an unlawful act, was
! invalid. And the case ended.
Now the gossip among the lawyers
has to do with the decision Of Police
| Judge Sapp in this important case.
| City Attorney G. L Calvert, who was
represented in the case by Attorney
Knight, contends that the police judge
| has no right to decide whether an or
/ ficer Of the city to try infractiOns Of
| ordinances as he finds them and to
| impose punishment for violation
/ Calvert says he has passed upon a
constitutional question that judge In
a district court would handle with
considerable delicacyS but Murphy
says the police judge has a right to
know the legal condition Of an Ordi-
nance by which a person is arraigned
I in his court for punishment, and may
| declare an ordinance Of no effect in
/ his court when there are clear and
| evident irregularities in its form and
passage
And there YOU have il. If this fire
limit ordinance is invalid, then there
are about a dozen before it in the
same condition. The franchises Of the
| Goodland Light. and Power company,
and Of the GOOdland Telephone COM
| pany, the ordinance directing the is
suance- Of the $4,000 bonds for the
| construction Of the city standpipe and
| other water service Improvements,
and other minor acts Of the council,
would, by inference from the above
| decision, have no force or standing as
/ laws Of the council.
| Mr.. Calvert says the case will be
| taken to the district court for adjudi-
| cation. But il will have to go by an
/ other route than appeal, for there is
no avenue for entry by plaintiff, de-
feated, into the district court from
| the police court Of the city. If the
] decision had been against the defend
ant. he Of course, would have the right
was quasi-criminal and cannot in
itself, 1Ir. Murphy contends, be tried
| again However, IL is very likely that
a test case will be made in some way
| to establish the validity Of ordinances
| that now seem to be more or less
punctured by irregularities. And the
/ first move will be into the district
/ court by proper legal process.
The Touch That Failed.
There was a struggling writer in