32 Pa. Super. 497 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1907
Opinion by
This prosecution was instituted under the provisions of the Act of June 24, 1895, P. L. 232. By the first section of the statute boards of health in cities and boroughs of this commonwealth are “ authorized and directed to adopt and promulgate suitable rules and regulations for the construction of house drainage and cesspools, and to provide for the registration of journeymen and master plumbers, and persons engaged in the plumbing business in cities and boroughs; Provided, that the provisions of this act shall not apply to boroughs having no system of water supply or system of sewerage.” The second section enacts that, “ Any person who shall refuse or neglect to comply with the requirements of said rules and regulations when promulgated, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $100, or undergo an imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.” The information charged that the defendant, on April 6, 1906, “ within the borough of Du
The learned judge of the court below based his decision, that the act involved an unauthorized delegation of legislative power, upon the authority of O’Neil v. Insurance Company, 166 Pa. 72. Mr. Justice Williams, who spoke for the Supreme Court in O’Neil v. Insurance Company, in a later case, Jermyn v. City of Scranton, 186 Pa. 595, which involved the question of the legislative power to clothe the officers of a municipality with authority to make municipal regulations, referring to O’Neil v. Insurance Company, said: “ An examination of that
Counsel for the defendant contend that the statute is local and special, for the reason that it applies only to boroughs which have a system of sewerage. The statute relates to the public •health, as affected by the matters of plumbing and drainage and of general sanitation resulting therefrom. “ In its nature it is a definition and regulation of the police power on a subject which is one of municipal concern. All the cases agree that such subjects are the principal basis of the legitimate classification of cities. That the control and regulation of cesspools and drainage in general are more important and require different conditions in closely built up neighborhoods from those sufficient for the open country does not need discussion. And for the same reason the regulations may require to be different in cities of different volume and density of population. . . . The subject being one which is germane to the proper basis of classification its regulation and application to one or more classes are within the legislative' discretion: ” Beltz v. Pittsburg, 211 Pa. 561; 26 Pa. Superior Ct. 66. “ Legislation for a class, distinguished from a general subject, is not special but general, and classification is a legislative question, subject to judicial revision only so far as to see that it is founded on real distinctions in the subjects classified, and -not on artificial or irrelevant
We now come to consider the regulation on which this case depends. Was it authorized by the statute ? The defendant is not charged with having violated any regulation relating to the manner of construction or materials used in the work which he performed. The only charge is that he, “ started as a master .plumber and did plumb in a building .... without first having taken out a plumber’s license or having the right to do plumbing,” etc. The information, in brief, means that the defendant started to do plumbing in a building in the borough without having registered in accordance with the regulation of
The order of the court below is affirmed.