134 Minn. 355 | Minn. | 1916
The city of Duluth is a city of the first class, and is governed by a homo rule charter, adopted in 1913, which among other things confers upon the electors of the city the powers commonly designated as the initiative and referendum. Acting under these provisions of the charter the electors of the city, in June, 1916, adopted an ordinance prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquor within the city and forbidding the issuance of licenses for the sale of Such liquor. Thereafter the relator, asserting that this ordinance was invalid and of no effect, applied to the city council for a license to sell intoxicating liquor at retail. His application was denied and thereupon he procured an alternative writ of mandamus to compel the issuance of the license. The defendants demurred to the petition and made a motion to quash the writ. The trial court discharged the writ on the ground that the ordinance was valid and prohibited the issuance of the license. The relator appealed.
The former charter contained the usual general welfare clause followed by the usual enumeration of the specific powers which the city might exercise to accomplish the purposes set forth in the welfare clause. It contained substantially the same restriction which was held in State v. Hammond, 40 Minn. 43, 41 N. W. 243, to expressly limit the general grant of power contained in the welfare clause so that the city could exercise only those powers specifically enumerated and set forth. It gave specific power to regulate the liquor traffic but not to prohibit such traffic; consequently it did not confer the power to prohibit. Kelator contends that, because the present charter continued in force all powers previously possessed
Save as otherwise provided, the present charter confers all powers previously possessed by the city; also all powers now or hereafter granted by the Constitution and laws to cities, of the first class having home rule charters; also all powers usually exercised by, or which are incidental to, or inhere in, cities of like power and degree; also all municipal power of every name and nature whatsoever. While each successive grant of power covers and includes, to a greater or less extent, the powers con•ferred by the preceding grants, it is obvious from the context that each successive grant was made for the purpose of adding additional powers to those already conferred, and not for the purpose of lessening or limiting the powers conferred by such preceding grants. Furthermore, if the restrictions placed by the former charter upon the general grant of power contained therein were to be construed as precluding the city from exercising, under the general grants of power contained in the present charter, any powers except those specifically set forth in such former charter, it would render the express general grants of power, which follow the grant conferring upon the city all power previously possessed by it, meaningless and of no effect. The insertion of these additional provisions clearly evinced the intention that the city should possess and exercise powers thereunder not conferred by-the former charter, and this inten
This provision was under consideration in State v. City of Mankato, 117 Minn. 458, 136 N. W. 264, 41 L.R.A. (N.S.) 111, and the court held that it was not violated by the charter of the city of Mankato, which established the commission form of government in that city and vested executive as well as legislative powers in the legislative body and made the mayor a member of such legislative body, as the court could not say that it clearly prohibited home rule charters from imposing executive duties upon the legislative body, or from imposing legislative duties upon the chief magistrate. The precise point now urged was not discussed specifically in that decision, but the same reasoning which led the court to the conclusion that the Mankato charter, in giving both executive and legislative powers to the same body, did not violate the constitutional requirement, also leads to the conclusion that the Duluth charter, in giving the power of the initiative and referendum to the electors of the city, does not violate such requirement. Eequiring a legislative body to be a feature of all home rule charters, does not necessarily mean that no legislative functions can be exercised by any other- body. While the legislative body undoubtedly becomes the respository of all legislative power possessed by the city and not expressly given to some other body, we find nothing in the language of the Constitution which requires us to hold that no legislative power can be given to the electors. Pitman v. Drabelle (Mo.) 183 S. W. 1055; Walker v. City of Spokane, 62 Wash. 312, 113 Pac. 775, Ann. Cas. 1912C, 994. The power to initiate and enact local legislation has frequently been given to the electors of different subdivisions of the state, notably by the local option statutes; and as any powers, in harmony with the Constitution and laws, which the legislative'power may confer upon
Order affirmed.