The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1943-06-14
BE CAREFUL, GENTLEMEN.

Article /, paragraph of section 0 of
the Constitution of the United States says,
among other things:
mo state shall >. pass any law inn
pairing the obligations of contracts. .''
That part of the basic law of the land
is published for the benefit of those city
councilmen and their brilliant lay advisers
who scoffed at the editoriaEthat appeared
in The Citizen for Thursday that the $1-a-
day tax law, or supposed Iay, aimed at the
Key West Transit Company is unconstitu-
tional
Some people, seemingly they include
some councilmen, are under the impression
that the legislature can do whatever it
wishes to do. They apparently don't know
that the legislature is just as amenable to
the basis law as is the man-on-the-str
What knack the trainers of our Con-
stitution had in picking out words that hit
the nail flush on the head So sacred were
contractual obligations to our forefathers
they did not use such words as "abrogating"
or "vitiating,' which, on first consideration,
seems to be strong enough, but they chose
the strongest word in. our language for that
particular use, to maintain the binding force
of the provisions of contract soi
..Inpairing ! There is the cofiiiffnisa1Had
change not a single word in that contract
do not single thing that, in any way what
.soever, wouldmterfere in the least with the
binding forcesof contract.
How we'll did our forefathers know,
and how we'll should we know, that the
foundation stone of our country is based on
contractual obligations, which permeate
every phase of our lives and make possible
our very freedom Rip to pieces those obi
cations and we would descend to lower
plane than that of totalitarian state.
But let us forget for moment that
that tax law is dead letter because it not
only impairs but tears asunder the solemn
pledge embodied in the contract the city
council entered into with the, Key West
Transit Company. nJvap
Thousands of people in-Key West,
among them the city councilmenlthem-
selves, were glad to have the company come
here to operate Buses Their coming meant
providing travelling accommodations for
every Key Wester who didn't have an auto
mobile So the councilmen sat down with
representatives of the company and drew
up contract that complies with every re-
quirement of the law, and that contract
was signed in good faith. s,Ssif1lllsfs
Among the provisions is one that does
not require the company to pay any revenue
to the city for the first two yeafs5the buses
are operated.
The operators, despite the fact they
have been faced, and are still being faced,
with an acute shortage of help, are still
carrying on, still giving the public service.
They may or may not have earned a few
dimes, but let us say they have earned an
abundance of dimes and dollars too. Now
what do the councilmen do? Aware they.
are bound by their legally executed obliga-
tions, they try to ram their official hand in
to the company's cash box by employing
something that is-called law.
Be careful, gentlemenl Don't pull your
Fragile house. Of cards down on your heads
by driving the&ompany out of town and
leaving the city wide open to asslit for
damages. lss