Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1911-11-10

the compensation of county officers
IN proportion to their duties. and
Tor that purpose may classify coun-
ties by population. Classification
has been made by the legislature
Section 1881. Rem K Bal. Code.
provides
For the purpose of regulating
the compensation of county officers
and for all other purposes herein
provided for, the several counties
of this state are hereby classified
according to their population:
Counties containing a population
OF fourteen thousand and under six
teen thousand shall belong to and
be known as counties of the thir-
teenth class
Counties containing a popula-
ton of ten thousand and under
twelve thousand shall belong to and
be known as counties of the fifteenth
class; :"
The words shall belong to and
be known as" are mandatory When
it was definitely ascertained by al
legal and proper enumeration that
Adams county had u population of
10000 and under 10000, the law
at once assigned it to the fifteenth
class. At the trial the parties stipu-
lated:
That the population of Adams
county, Washington, as determined
by the federal census taken on or
about April /, 1910, then was TO- 4
$50 persons, and said fact shall be
accepted and taken as evidence. and
it shall be Unnecessary to introduce
any other evidence or proof as 10
the population of said county on
said first day of April, 1910. or at
any time thereafter"
No additional evidence was Of
fered. and We must accept as an
established fact that, on November
s, 1910, Adams county had a popu-
Iation of 10000 and under 1000.
1t was, therefore, a county of the
fifteenth class, So fixed by statute.
when respondent was elected. It
could not belong to a higher class
without a population in excess of
10000. Respondents theory seems
to be that the commissioners, in
October, 1906, determined Adams
county had population Of 1900
and under 10000, md was then a
county Of the thirteenth class that
such classification was not ques-
toned at that time by legal pro-
cedure or otherwise; that it has
since remained. and must remain. in
that class until the commissioners as
the only body of original jurisdic-
ton order Reconsideration; and
that. in the absence of further ac-
tion by them, the courts have no
jurisdiction to fix, determine, or |
adjudge any other classification We
find no statute comforting original
or exclusive authority upon county |
commissioners to determine the |
of their counties nor
has respondent cited any such act.
The cases of State ex rel. Smith Y. |
Neal, supra, and State eX rel. Malt
bic Y. Will, "a Wash. 453, 1913 Pac.
479, 104 Pac. 797, necessarily recog-
nize the doctrine that, when by
evidence, the fact is es-
tablished that the population of a |
county has so increased as to assign
it into higher class, the county
officers previously elected will be en-
titled to the advanced salaries per-
class. and may compel payment by
writ of mandamus. The theory of
those cases is that the actual popu-
latiOn determines the classification
While we have held an increase in
population may be ascertained by
county commissioners, we have not
held they may arbitrarily fix a GER
tain classification or, when a later
census shows too high a grade has
been fixed, or shows that the county
has decreased in population. the
courts will be without jurisdiction
to act because the comm issiOnerS