151 P. 710 | Or. | 1915
delivered the opinion of the court.
“Every act shall embrace but one subject, and matters properly connected therewith, which subject shall be expressed in the title. But if any subject shall be embraced in an act which shall not be expressed in the title, such act shall be void only as to so much thereof as shall not be expressed in the title”: Article IY, Section 20.
It must be observed that the title of the original statute as enacted in 1909 reads thus:
“An act to prohibit the advertising of treatment or cure of venereal or other diseases, declaring the same a misdemeanor and prescribing a penalty therefor.”
We think it will be conceded without argument that this title fully covers the scope of the act itself. The title of the amendment reads thus:
‘ ‘An act to amend Section 2095, Lord’s Oregon Laws, relating to advertising to cure sexual diseases.”
In Funk & Wagnall’s New Standard Dictionary the word “sexual” is given as synonymous- with “venereal,” and is so accepted in common usage. This court, in the case of Ex parte Howe, 26 Or. 182 (37 Pac. 536), speaking by Mr. Justice Bean, says:
“Hill’s Annotated Laws is an authorized compilation of the statutes of Oregon, and to refer in the title*477 of a legislative act to the particular section of such compilation sought to be amended is a sufficient statement of the subject for a mere amendatory act, and if the provisions of the amendment could have been included in the original act without violating the Constitution, it is valid.”
It follows that this contention of defendant must fail.
For many years it has been recognized by publicists and legislators that some drastic action is necessary to check certain social evils and to protect youthful and inexperienced humanity, not only from easy access to vicious and immoral practices, but also from the schemes of designing men, who, for the sake of financial profit, would prey upon the calamities of the unfortunate who have sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind. Further than this, it has been thought that the act of spreading broadcast, by means of advertising, the idea that certain venereal diseases are easily and cheaply cured, is against public policy, in that it has a decided tendency to minimize unduly the disastrous consequences of indulging in dissolute action. These views were evidently the moving principle of our legislators in the passage of the act under discus
“It is the duty of the court to give effect to a legitimate legislative purpose plainly indicated, if it can reasonably be done, and not construe language so as to invalidate an act where the language is fairly susceptible of a construction consistent with validity. The act appears to be a reasonable police regulation.”
Again, in the case of Kennedy v. State Board of Registration, 145 Mich. 241 (108 N. W. 730, 9 Ann. Cas. 125), the plaintiff, a physician, sought to enjoin the defendant from revoking his certificate for having violated a statute which, in part, reads thus :
“And provided further, after the passage of this act, the board may at its discretion revoke the certificate of registration, after due notice and hearing of any registered practitioner who inserts any advertisement in any newspaper, pamphlet, circular, or other written or printed paper, relative to venereal diseases or other matter of any obscene or offensive nature derogatory to good morals.”
This was held to be a valid exercise of police power. In the case of State v. Giantvalley, 123 Minn. 227 (143 N. W. 780), Mr. Justice Bunn, of the Supreme Court of Minnesota, says:
“It is argued that, because defendant was admitted to the bar of Minnesota before the statute was enacted, the law deprived him of a vested right to advertise that he was a specialist in divorce matters, and is therefore unconstitutional. Granting that defendant’s license to practice his profession gave him a right to advertise*479 his proficiency in any branch of it, snch right was subject to regulation. The legislature decided that advertising for divorce business was contrary to public policy, and certainly the decision was justified. Rights of property far more valuable than any right defendant may have had to advertise his calling have been obliged to yield to considerations of public health, safety, and morals. We hold that the statute is valid. ”
We might multiply similar citations, but it is not necessary. We regard the statute in question as a valid exercise of the police power of the state, and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Affirmed.