Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-20
Nebraska
to mean the normal board Of eduos-
How Constitution Reads.

to mean the normal board Of eduoa-
ton"
How Consultation Reads.
Section II, article 3, constitution, provides
NO law shall he amended unless the new
act contain the section or sections so
amended and the section or sections SO
amended shall be repealed
House roll 2S6 is in terms an tory
act purporting to amend sections l and y,
subdivision 10, chapter %. compiled statutes
cou'd nto have the effect OF amending
sections from 2 to 81, inclusive. OF said sub
division without doing violence to the con-
stitutional provision above quoted. This
legislation. as ] view IL, Is an indirect
attempt to amend sections 2 to q, inclusive.
in a different manner than that commended
10y the constitution. II Is elementary that
what may not be done directly may ne BE-
dore Indirectly. In Smails against White.
{ Neb.. $50, the supreme court of this state
laid down the following rule.
Where an act Is not complete in itself.
but is clearly amendatory of some GSrmcr
statute, it is within the constitutional In
any difference in this respect. whether by
its title, or in the body of the act, the new
statute assume to be amendatory or not;
it is enough IL II clearly have that effect.
This rule has been reaff.rmed in all sub
sequent cases where the question arose. In
Armstrong agair st Mayer. 60 Neb., 423, the
court held as follows:
Where the title to a bill is to amend
a particular section. no a~mendatory legis-
lation not germane to the subject matter OF
the original section proposed to be changed
is permissible
Policy of Executives.
1t has been the policy of the executive
state officers to consider all acts passed
by the legislature as constitutional ana
valid until declared otherwise by the courts.
In this case, however, we are confronted
with the situation of being called upon to
determine which Of two acts of the legisla-
ture is valid and shall be followed. Sec
II, as II now stands In the statute, requires
you to issue warrants upon certificates by
the secretary of the Board Of Education
and countersigned by the president, while
the amended Section l. says that the Nor
NAL Board OF Education" shall succeed TO,
take the place of and exercise the powers
of the present Board of Education as
therein provided" Section ] does not un.
dertake to provide how the Normal Board
OF Education shall exercise its powers.
The exercise of its powers and duties are
all defined in sections from > to Il. inclu-
slve. which are not in terms undertaken
to be amended by House Roll S6.
In view of the questionable constitu-
tionality of this act of the legislature, the
conflicting provisions of the statue, and
the fact that the question here presented
involves the expenditure of public funds.
| think you would be warranted in refusing
to issue worrants on certificates or either
the Board of Education" or the Normal
Board of Education" until an adjudication
may be had on this matter by the court.
New Buildings for state.
George Berlinghof Of Lincoln was
again employed by the state board of
public lands and buildings this afternoon
to be state architect and superintend the
construction of new buildings and prepare
the plans and Specifications for the same.
Mr.. Be%rlinghof will be paid . per cent FOR
drawing the plans and specifications and
IL per cent for experimenting the con-
~struction work. The following buildings
are 10 be erected in accordance with APP
propriations made by the last Legislature:
Deaf and Dumb institute at Omaha, $780,
600; Institute for the Feeble Minded
Youth at Beatrice. $4,000; asylum at
Hastings. $50, OOO; barn at Boys Indus
trial school at Kearney, $4,000; live
stock building at the state fair grounds,
$4,000. Total. $225 900.
Doctor on Wrong Side Of street.
DR.. ". n. Ramey in police court Mon
day pleaded guilty to having violated the
city ordinance insofar as driving his au-
tomobile on the wrong side of the street
is concerned. and was fined $50 and costs.
The complaint was filed on March 81,
after he had run down Charles Spangler
and Eugene Davis at Thirteenth and n
streets.
Black Hand Letter.
A Black Hand letter. crudely written,
but containing the print of the right nand
of some man which had been dipped in
ink, and bearing the traditional skull and
cross bones, is in the hands of Detective
Malone.
Considerable coal has been stolen from
the railroad yards in this city, and the
letter is supposed to refer to the inves-
LEGATIONS that are being made. The let
ter was unsigned except for a small,
rought sketch of a skull where the sig
nature ought to be. The letter was mailed