40 So. 133 | Ala. | 1905
The notice of an intention to introduce into the Legislature a bill to' create and establish the in
“The State of Alabama, Geneva County. Before me, TT. R. Chapman, a notary public in and for said county, personally appeared Ed. M. Johnson, who,-being duly and legally sworn, deposes and says that he is editor and proprietor of the Geneva Reaper, a newspaper published in Geneva county, Alabama, and which is a weekly newspaper, that the notice, a copy of which is hereto attached, was inserted in said Geneva Reaper, and has been published and has appeared regularly in four weekly issues of said Geneva Reaper.
ED. M. JOHNSON.
“Sworn to and subscribed before me on this the 7th day nf February, 1903.
“W. R. CHAPMAN, Notary Public.
The constitutionality of the act establishing said court is. questioned on two grounds: That the notice given of the intention to apply for the passage of the law was insufficient, in that it did no more than state the subject of the proposed law and did not state the substance; and that the proof of notice was insufficient. The court to be established is referred to in said notice as an “inferior court of record for Geneva, county,” the bill for which should prescribe the powers and jurisdiction of said court, and to provide for the election of the officers thereof. These are .the only words in the notice that refer to the subject or the substance of the act. That the act is a local law is not disputed. Section 110 of the Constitution. The act covers little less than twelve nages of the printed acts of the Legislature, contains 21 sections, and is found at page 40 of the local acts of 1903. One reading the notice that was published would
In constuing section 106 of the Constitution, which provides that the notice of intention to apply for the passage of a local law by the Legislature shall be published, which notice shall state the substance of the proposed law, and be published at least once a week for four consecutive weks in some newspaper, etc., care should be observed that the word “substance” be not used or interpreted as a synonym of the word “subject.” The two words are essentially different in meaning and convey entirely different ideas. Section 45 of the Constitution provides that each law shall contain but one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title, etc. This section was in the Constitution of 1875, has been many times construed by this court, and in construing that section the difference in the meaning of the two words “subject” and “substance” has been pointed out. — Falconer v. Robinson, 46 Ala. 347; Ex parte Thomas, 113 Ala. 1, 21 South. 369; Ex parte Pollard, 40 Ala. 98; Wallace v. Board of Revenue, 140 Ala. 502, 37 South. 321.
From an examination of the authorities cited it will be found that under section 45 of - the Constitution, while the scope, the object of the bill, need not be stated in the title of a law, the subject — i. e., the thing legislated upon — shall be disclosed, and the act can embrace only that one. “What .the act proposes to do with the subject need not be stated in its'title nor the machinery to be put in operation therein disclosed. It is enough if the ‘subject’ of legislation be stated. The author of an essay, or lecture, in choosing and announcing his subject, does not ordinarily declare, in its title, his proposed treatment thereof, but he simply states upon ‘what’ he is to write or speak; and he who would know more must read or hear what is written or spoken upon that topic. Precisely this the framers of 'the Constitution had in mind when they said the subject should be expressed in the title and that it should be single.” — Hurlburt v. Banks, 52 How. Prac. 202. One short extract from the Wallace case, 140 Ala. 502, 37 South. 323, will suffice to show the meaning given by this court to the word
Certainly several of the matters we have enumerated in the several sections of the act are important parts of the substance of the act. It is not intimated in the notice that the rules of practice and procedure will be prescribed by the act, or the fees Avill be prescribed for the officers, or that, power, the same as the circuit judges possess, will be conferred on the judge to issue the remedial and extraordinary writs mentioned in 'section 17 of the act, or that the .salary of the judge shall be fixed at |1,C00, and be payable out of the county treasury, nor that costs and fees incurred at the instance of the state stall be charged on the fine and forfeiture fund. It seems to be conceded that these are all matters of substance, but it is insisted the notice required by the Constitution is such, and only such a notice, as would give to the people of the community to be affected a fair and reasonable notice of the general objects, purposes, and effects of the proposed law. This contention cannot be reconciled with the construction placed upon section 106
The Chief Justice concurs Avifh the Avriter in the foregoing Anews, and in the opinion that very important parts of the substance of the law are not intimated in the notice, and, for this reason; that the laAV Avas not enacted in accordance with section 106 of the Constitution. But Justices Tyson, Doavdell, Simpson, and Anderson entertain different vieivs from those expressed by the Avriter, and hold that the notice given of the intention to apply to the Legislature for the passage of the law AAras in accordance Avith section 106 of the 'Constitution. With respect to the proof of the notice, we take it that the proof should show, with reasonable certainty, that
It follows; in accordance with the conclusion reached by the majority, that the proceedings against the defendant and judgment of conviction had thereon are valid, and a judgment will be here rendered quashing the writ of error and affirming the judgment of conviction.