109 Mass. 355 | Mass. | 1872
The complaint is for the violation of a city ordinance, passed June 2,1871, to amend an ordinance in relation to Faneuil Hall Market. By § 4 of the ordinance in relation to Faneuil Hall Market,
The first objection urged against the complaint is, that the ordinance was not in force at the date of the alleged offence. It was approved by the mayor on June 2, 1871. The act complained of is alleged to have been committed on June 16,1871. The city charter provides that such ordinances “ shall take effect and be in force from and after the time therein respectively limited.” St. 1854, c. 448, § 35. And the objection rests on the ground that this ordinance does not in terms prescribe the time when it shall take effect.
But its language implies that it is in force immediately upon its passage; and unless some other time is limited, this is the ordinary construction of statutes. The Brig Ann, 1 Gallison, 62. Matthews v. Zane, 7 Wheat. 164. Arnold v. United States, 9 Cranch, 104. Matter of Welman, 20 Verm. 653. We do not think the language of the city charter requires a different construction to be given to city ordinances. This construction is not inconsistent with the rule stated in the Opinion of the Justices, 22 Pick. 571, 573, “ that every clause and word of a statute shall be presumed to have been intended to have some force and ef
It is contended that the ordinance in question does not conform to the St. of 1869, c. 301, § 1.
It is further contended that the ordinance is unreasonable, unequal and unconstitutional, and unduly restrains trade.
The restrictions created by it are in force only between eleven o’clock in the morning and four o’clock in the afternoon, leaving persons at liberty to occupy a street stand, for the sale of fresh provisions and perishable produce, at all other times of the day, when the market is open. Such stands are an interruption to travel in the street; and the court cannot judicially determine what portion of the time the travel ought to be free from such interruptions, nor how the business of the market should be regulated, nor upon what occasions or by what officers the market-men should be relieved from the restriction. The making of proper regulations on such a subject, so as best to accommodate the public, requires special knowledge and experience as to the
Exceptions overruled.
“ The limits of Faneuil Hall Market shall include the lower floor, porches and cellars of the building called Faneuil Hall Market, the basement story and cellars under Faneuil Hall, and the following described portions of the adjacent streets, namely, so much of Commercial Street as lies westerly of the side walk on the easterly side thereof, and between the outer lines of the side
“The mayor and aldermen of any city, and the selectmen of any town, may make such rules and regulations in relation to the passage of carriages, wagons, carts, trucks, sleds, sleighs or other vehicles, through the streets or public ways of the city, as they shall deem necessary for the safety or convenience of those who travel on said streets or ways, on foot or in vehicles with penalties for violations thereof, not exceeding twenty dollars for one of-fence.”