18 Fla. 255 | Fla. | 1881
delivered the opinion of the court.
This is an information in the nature of a quo warranto, the relator, Haley, claiming the right to hold and exercise the powers and franchises of the office of Mayor of Eernandina as against the respondent, Stark, who now holds and executes the said office as he, Haley, relates, unlawfully and without legal warrant or authority.
On the 4th day of April, A. D. 1881, at an election held in pursuance of law; Haley was elected to the office of Mayor. He qualified and entered upon its duties. This election was held under a municipal, corporate organization had under the general act providing for the incorporation of cities and towns, which was then in force. On the 24th of February, A. D. 1881, the Legislature passed an act entitled “ An act to repeal and dissolve municipal corpora^ tions under certain circumstances, and to provide the manner in which such cities may become re-incorporated;”
The act provides for a dissolution of municipal corporations having a bonded indebtedness, the bonds to be passed due and unpaid, a fund for their payment not having been provided, in the manner following: On the written application of the holders or owners, or their agents, of one-half of the unpaid bonds of the city to -the Judge of the Circuit Court of the Circuit in which the city is situated, accompanied with satisfactory evidence that the city is prima facie bonded, and that the bonds “ are passed due and unpaid and for which a fund for their payment has not been provided, it shall be his duty to make a certificate of such facts, and cause the said application, proofs and certificates to be filed and recorded in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court for the -county in which the city is situated.” On the presentation of a certified copy of this certificate to the Governor of the State, he is to issue a .proclamation declaring that the charter of the city is repealed and the corporation dissolved. The act then provides for the incorporation of such dissolved corporation, which is to be had in the manner following : On the petition of twenty or more persons residing within the limits of the city thus dissolved, it is made' the duty of the Governor to appoint a Mayor and five Aldermen, residents of such city. They are to hold their offices for two years, and in case of va
Upon the County Commissioners of the county is devolved the duty to hear and determine applications for the correction of assessments of property, and the Tax Collector of the county is made the Collector for the city.
Under the existing system of municipal government applicable to all cities, and which was the system obtaining in the city of Eernandina and all municipalities having 300. registered voters at the passage of this act, the Mayor, the Marshal, City Clerk, Treasurer, Assessor and Collector of Taxes are elected by the people for the term of one year, and while the Aldermen are elected for two years, one-half are elected each year with a term of office of two years, one-half of the old board thus holding over each year.
If the present act is effective, it is thus seen that we have two essentially different kinds of municipal government operating in cities of the same class, as fixed by the original act and its amendments creating the system. In one the officers are appointed and hold their offices for two years.
In view of the plainest deductions and conclusions which follow the application of a simple, honest judgment to these facts, can it be said that that is a uniform system of municipal government in which such plain differences may exist in cities in the same situation and-the same class? Can it be said that a uniform system of municipal government is established by this legislation ? On the contrary, it is plain that the Legislature by its action, instead of establishing a uniform system of government for cities having a bonded debt, past due, for which payment has not been provided, places it within the discretion of the holders of one-half of the city’s bonds and twenty persons residing within its limits, to fix the character of its government, to say whether its Mayor and Aldermen, its Marshal, its Clerk, its Treasurer, shall be elected by the people or appointed by the Governor, and whether the assessment and collection of its revenue shall be done by its own officers or by officers of the county in which the municipality may be situated.
The Constitution, which is a limitation upon the powers of the Legislature, not a grant of powers to it, provides that “ the Legislature shall establish a uniform system of county, township and municipal government,” and any action of that department of the government which destroys the uniformity of a pre-existing system, and permits and authorizes, in cities similarly situated, systems of government differing essentially in the manner of the selection of officers, their terms of office, and the manner of the assessment and collection of revenue, cannot be sustained. There
The Legislature instead of establishing a uniform system of municipal government leaves it to the discretion of twenty residents and one-half of the bond creditors of corporations to fix the character of the government. The Legislature must so act as to itself establish, first, a system of municipal government; and, second, the system must be a uniform system. The Constitution limits its power as well as fixes its duty in this respect in plain and unmistakable terms.
"We see no necessity for elaborating these propositions. The authorities, so far as they have any application to the questions determined here, sustain without exception the conclusion we reach, and we are without the least doubt in the premises.
The only other matter which we deem it necessary to consider, is the proposition that Avhile such portions of the act as provide for the reorganization of the municipality may be unconstitutional, that part -which authorizes the dissolution may be effective. This question we must consider, because upon its solution depends the right of the party claiming title under the general act for the incorporation of cities, and under the act regulating proceedings in quo warranto, (Chapter 1874, Laws,) we must determine the right of the claimant here, and so enter judgment.
The rule, as announced by Judge Cooley and established by the authorities, is: “ If a statute attempts to accomplish-
The legislative intent here was to give to cities indebted in the manner stated in the act a new form of municipal government with peculiar and special powers, by which they might compromise and settle their debts. The dissolution was provided for simply as a method by which to reach that end. It was not the purpose to dissolve if the reorganization was not to be had. The power to dissolve was given simply as an initiatory step to the contemplated reoi’ganization, and if the reorganization in the man
Our conclusion is that the entire act must fall. In what we have said it must be understood that we do not decide or hold that the Legislature can, under the Constitution, authorize the holders of one-half of the bonds of an indebted corporation to dissolve such corporation ; nor do we mean to say that the act, stripped of the discretion vested in the bondholders, would be constitutional. We decide the precise case before us — nothing more. We say that even if such power exists, it is here so exercised that it cannot be given effect, and operation.
Judgment of ouster against the respondent.