The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-04-22

: ing whether this is a delegation to the
president of law making power; (2l
the effect upon the bonds of the failure
| of the supervisors, prior TO the enact
, ment of ACT 139, to fix the time for
payment of the bonds: 81 whether
making the county bonds a charge or
the revenues of the county derived
, from the Territory affects the security
of the territorial bonds the payment
of which is a first charge upon the ter
ritorial revenues; (4 whether the Or
ganic Act requires as a prerequisite
to the issue of county bonds that there
be property taxable by the county for
securing their payment
IL BY Sec. ~ Organic Act, Act 139
became a law when it was passed over
the governors veto. If its fourth Sec
ton meant that the act would not go
into operation until the presidents APP
! prevail. which merely fixed that time.
/ then the approval was not condition
/ precedent to the act becoming law ana
/ the section is not an attempt to place
| legislative responsibility upon the
I president or to delegate to him any
| portion of legislative power. BY Sec.
! So Organic Act territorial or county
/ Indebtedness could not be incurred
until approved by the president and by
| Sec 1 of Act 139 the issue Of bonds was
/ subject to his approval so that the
section was not required in order to
authorize their issue. The mere post
/ ponement of the taking eeffct of an
act until a stated time or until an
/ event which may or may not occur
| does not render the act incomplete
| Legislation. To require adoption of
| legislative measure by popular vote in
order that it may take effect is gener-
ally considered a proper exercise of
/ legislative power concerning local mat
ters as for instance, in restricting
liquor sales or authorizing municipal
| bonds for stated purposes which are
instances of submission to the voters
of the disturbances of accepting or
declining legislative enactment ac
corCiing as they shall deem 1t to be
desirable or not. A majority Of the
court think that the fourth section is
not intended to require the presidents
approval in order that the act should
become law and therefore is not an at
tempted delegation of law making
power but is intended merely to fix the
time when the law would go into OPP
Grafton. or else that it refers to the
approval required by the Organic Act
and expressed in Sec. 1 authorizing |
the issue of the bonds subject also to
the approval of the President of the |
United States" and that in any of /
these meanings the section does not |
invalidate the rest of the act which is |
complete in itself; it being "elemen- |
tary that the same statute may be in |
part constitutional and in part uncon- |
stitutional, and if the parts are wholly |
Independent of each other, that which /
is constitutional may stand while that /
which is unconstitutional will be re-
jected." Pollock " Farmers Loan & /
TrIst Co. 15S U. S. 635.
(2) The resolution of the board of |
supervisors does not strictly comply /
with the requirement of Sec. 8, Act IS |
s. L. 1907 as to fixing the term of |
the bond issue, but Act 139, which re- /
cites the resolution and refers to it as
''in accordance with the provisions of
said Act 65," authorizes the treasurer
to issue bonds under and in accord /
ance with the provisions of Act 65.P
This may be considered as showing
that the legislature regarded the reso-
Act 65 or as dispensing with literal
compliance in this respect. the act not
being in the nature of a fundamental
law but being subject to modification
or amendment.
(3) The third ground is entirely un-
tenable since the first charge upon the
territorial revenues would be the ter
bonds. The county bonds, al
though charged upon county revenues
derived from territorial revenues would
necessarily be a second charge.
f4) The most difficult question in the
case is whether the limitation of in
debtedness which a county as a SUBJ +
division of the Territory may incur in
any one year (Organie Act Sec 55), i
namely, one per eentum upon the as
sessed value of taxable property of the Il
county shown by the last general as I
sessment for taxation, implies that the
property upon the assessed value of
which the amount of Indebtedness is
shall be taxable by the Z
county. Ordinarily a power to issue
bonds implies power to levy /:
taxes for their payment Citizens Saw |;
& Loan Assn. Y. city of Topeka, 81 II
L. s. go WalI) 655; Z. S. V. City of
New Orleans, 80 L. s. 3S1; Rails County
1ouAl v. u - 1U0 u -. to9, lily VI
Quincy Y, Jackson, 113 L. S. 335.
The act of July 80, 1886, Oh. s18, "a
Stat. L. 40, limits general territorial /
Indebtedness which may be incurred
for the erection of penal, charitable or
institutions to lone per
centum Jpn the assessed value of the
taxable property in such Territory as
shown by the last general assessment
for taxation" while the limit OF in !
debtedness of municipal corporations
is -four per centum Of the value OF the
taxable property within such (munici-
pail corporation, county or subdivision
10 be ascertained by the last assess
ment for territorial and county taxes" II
These provisions are quoted from Secs.
3 and of the act, the former section Il
declaring that mo law Of any terri
torial legislature shall authorize any K
debt to be contracted by or on behalf
Of such Territory except for the pur-
poses and within the limits therein
and the latter that no political Ii
or T1uniCiDaI corraoraffon county ar +,