The Ely miner., 1911-03-17
SMOKE LAW GOOD.
CITY ORDINANCE PLACING LOCO
MOTIVES UNDER BAN is SUS-
TANNED IN DECISION.
OF THE STATE SUPREME COURT
Prohibition of Soft Coal Inside Mime
apoIis Limits Declared Binding
City Authorities Pleased
At Finding.

st. Paul - Minneapolis has OBJ
| tanned from the state supreme court
what it long has waited for, decision
upholding the city in it's assertion of
police power in regulation of the
smoke nuisance. The decision is rem
dered in the case of Minneapolis VS..
the Chicago, Milwaukee and st. Paul
railroad. The company was prosecut-
ed because its engines, burning soft
COAL emitted great clouds of smoke.
The railroad held the city had no
right to prevent use of soft coal in its
engines, nor to distinguish between To-
comotives and stationary engines. The
decision, this morning gives the city
the right to do both.
1t means, according to City Attor-
ney Fish, that the city now can pro-
ceed to frame and pass the new smoke
! ordinance, the regulations of which are
more rigid than those in the present
ordinance now upheld. The principal
change in the new ordinance would
lessen the burden of proving RESPONSE
bility and will probably regulate the
class of coal to be used in stationary
engines.
1T is the best thing that has hap
pened to the city in many months, /"
said Mayor Haynes. 1T gives us
police power and right to regulate the
coal used in both locomotives and sta
tionary engines. We now will go
ahead with our new ordinance. With
| in very few months the clouds of
smoke that have been regularly pres
ent in Minneapolis will have disap-
peared for good"
Following is syllabus of the deci-
sion:
I. The validity of a provision in a
| city ordinance, expressly authorized
by the legislature, does not depend
upon the expediency or public policy
of its enactment, but upon its being
within the legislative power of the
state.
2. The emission of dense smoke by
yard and switch engines, being caused
by the use of soft coaP therein, a. pro-
hibition of such use within a popu-
! lous city is substantially related to and
| directly tends to the prevention of a
nuisance-the emission of dense smoke
and is an exercise of the police pow
er of the state within constitutional
limits.
3. Where there is substantial diff
ference in thu condition or situation
of individuals or objects with refer
ence to the subject embraced in law,
an appropriate limitation based on
such difference in the application of
the law does not make such legislation
partial.
4. The fact that prohibition of
the use of soft coal in locomotives
| does not apply to stationary engines,
does not make such prohibition partial
legislation, there being obvious differ
ences between the two classes of en-
gines in respect to the tendency that
burning soft coal has to cause smoke
nuisance, and other appropriate legis-
lation having been enacted by the
city to prevent the emission of dense
smoke by stationary plants.
Il am glad" said Smoke Inspector
Allen, "the supreme court has official
ly and for good placed smoke in the
nuisance class and given us police
power of regulation. 1t Is excellent
also that the court allows us to legis-
late separately for locomotive and sta
tionary engines for the same rules can
not be applied to both.
Police regulation will also give us
| authority, believe, to make the rail-
| road companies take out a license or
permit for each locomotive. This is
not to gain money, as the fee would be
but nominal, but to make it possible
for us to fix responsibility by simply
| taking the number of the engine In
granting licenses the number and own
er or lessee would be taken and kept
city record which would stand in the
courts. 1t means that our hands no
longer are tied'
'The decision, the syllabus of which
l have read, seems to give the city
reasonable police regulation power"
said City Attorney Fish. Smoke In
spector Allen, Chairman Ziemer of the
council smoke committee and myself
now can get together on the new ordi-
nance with knowledge of just how
far we can CO."
John Crosby, chairman of the citi-
zens' anti-smoke commission, was i'm
mensely pleased in hearing of the de-
cision. He declared meeting of the
citizens commission would be held
very soon, and with the decision in
hand the commission would work with
the council in an endeavor to make ev-
cry possible use of the authority con-
| firmed by the court.