196 Pa. 183 | Pa. | 1900
Opinion by
The proceeding in this case was under the act of May 16, 1891. The petition asked for the appointment of viewers to assess damages sustained by the petitioners by reason of the construction of Mill creek sewer and the taking and using and occupying of their private lands therefor. The appellees were not parties to the petition. The viewers assessed benefits generally, without regard to the cost of the sewer. It is conceeded that they did not consider the cost of construction, but limited their inquiry to the ascertainment of damages for
The Act of March 27, 1865, P. L. 791, and other acts of assembly which were in force in 1891, established a system in Philadelphia for the assessment for sewers, and authorized a charge of a fixed sum per lineal foot. The act of 1891 is the sole authority for this proceeding and it authorized only the assessment of the expenses and costs of the sewer. It is true ■ the word “ sewer ” is used in connection with other improvements, grading, paving, etc., in the 1st,. 2d and 8th sections of the act, but it must be read in view of the general system already existing, which allowed the assessment of land damages for other improvements, but not for sewers. The act of 1891 is an affirmative and supplementary act, which cannot be held to intend an implied repeal of the act of 1871 and a break in the general system. It contains no words of repeal, or any expression indicating an intention to repeal the act of 1871. '
In Morewood Avenue, 159 Pa. 20, the present chief justice in speaking of the act of 1891, in regard to the extent to which property in the neighborhood might be assessed, said: “Besides, there is nothing either in the immediate text or context of the act which indicates that the legislature intended to make so wide a departure from the long existing laws of the commonwealth as to require that properties situated away from the line of the improvement should be compelled to pay,” etc. “If the legislature had any such intention they could very easily have said so in language which could not be mistaken. They cannot be said to have done so by mere implication.” In the
In all of the cases in which the act has been considered it has been held not to repeal prior acts where the system provided by it is not so inconsistent that they cannot stand together. For these reasons we affirm the order of the court sustaining the exceptions to the report of the viewers.