52 N.J.L. 496 | N.J. | 1890
The opinion of the court'was delivered by
This certiorari brings up an order of the ■ Circuit Court of Burlington county, made on the 13th day of October, 1888, by which commissioners were appointed to-make an assessment for benefits for sewers laid in Northampton township, under the provision of the act “ to provide for-drainage and sewage iii densely populated townships in which, there is a public water supply,” approved March 4th, 1884-(.Pamph. L., p. 32), and the various supplements.
The chief ground of attack is, that in Northampton township there is no public water supply.
By the statement of facts annexed to the return it is agreed! that the mains of the Mount Holly Water Company are laid!
For this position Dobbins v. Northampton, 21 Vroom. 496, is relied upon. The case is, however, not in point. In Dobbins v. Northampton it was held that the enacting clauses cannot extend the operation of a statute beyond the objects expressed in its title, a very different proposition from that now before us. What is sought in the present case is-not to
To consult the terms of a statute for the purpose of ascertaining the sense in which words are employed in the title, is a radically different thing from extending the operation of the statute to matters not within the scope of its title. If the natural meaning of the words employed in the title of an act, fairly construed, give the requisite notification of the contents and scope of the enactment, the constitutional requirement is satisfied. In the present case the township of Northampton is clearly within the operation of the act thus construed.
A further reason urged against the validity of the proceedings in question is, that the improvement was not originally ordained by the township committee, but was inaugurated by a resolution of the town meeting. As the resolution thus passed recited the act in question, by which entire authority is vested in the township committee, the township committee, by proceeding under the resolution, must be presumed to have ratified the action of the town meeting. That the work was originated by resolution instead of by ordinance, comes too late after the total completion of the work. Hoboken Land Co. v. Hoboken, 7 Vroom 291.
The writ of certiorari must be dismissed, with costs.