39 N.J.L. 509 | N.J. | 1877
The plaintiff alleges that he did certain work on the public streets in the township of Union, county of Union, under a contract made with him by the road board incorporated in the name of “ The Southeasterly Road District of the township of Union, in the county of Union,” by the act of 29th of March, 1871, and that the obligation to pay this debt was transferred to the present defendant, the township committee of the township of Union, by the act which repeals the previous one, and which latter act was approved 1st of April, 1872. It is obvious that the plaintiff’s right of action rests on one or both of these legislative enactments, and that if both of them are inoperative, such action must fail as against this demurrer. Both of these laws are called in question in this connection, and although the same objection is made to the two, still it will tend to perspicuity to treat them in turn. It should, however, be premised, that although this case has been before this court on previous occasions, the questions now to be disposed of have, for the first time, been placed before us 'for consideration.
The exception now taken to these statutes is, that they are in conflict with Placitum 3, of Section 7, of Article IV., of the constitution of this state, which is in these words, viz., “ To avoid improper influences, which may result from intermixing in one and the same act such things as have no p>roper relation to each other, every law shall embrace but one object, and that shall be expressed in the title.”
The purpose of this provision is plainly two-fold ; first, to ensure a separate consideration for every subject presented for legislative action ; second, to ensure a conspicuous declaration of such purpose. By the former of these requirements, every subject is made to stand on its own merits, unaffected by “ improper influences ” which might result from connecting it with other measures having no proper relation to it; and, by the latter, a notice is provided, so that the public, or such part of it as may be interested, may receive a reasonable inti
The first of these laws was approved on the 29th of March, 1871, and it is entitled thus: “ An act in relation to streets in Union township, in Union comity.” By its first section it sets off, by designated boundaries,'a certain part of Union township, and then declares that the inhabitants of such part —to use its own language—“ shall be, and they are hereby created, a body politic and corporate, to be called the ‘Southeasterly Road District of the township of Union, in the county of Union/ for the purpose of laying out, opening and improving streets, roads, highways and public parks within the said boundaries, and for exercising the rights, powers and franchises conferred by this act, and shall be capable of suing and being sued, and of having and using a corporate seal.” The next section directs that there shall be a board, to'consist of five persons, to be called commissioners of public roads, whose duty it is made to exercise the powers therein conferred, and to whom is given exclusive control over the roads and highways within such district. In subsequent sections this board is clothed with full and exclusive authority “to lay out streets, avenues and public parks within the said district”—to enter upon and take lands for these purposes; the necessary machinery for assessing damages and benefits being provided. In a special section, power is given to connect any sewer in this district with any sewer to be built in the city of Elizabeth, and the act concludes with a provision for the annual election of the members of the board of commissioners. These are the substantial contents of the act in question.
There are two objections under this head, in the brief of the counsel of the defendants, that seem to me to be especially worthy of consideration and criticism.
The first is, that the act in question relates to more objects than one, some of which are not expressed in the title. The
But the second point, I think, is more intractable, and cannot be brought into subjection to the same rule. The making and control of streets is a thing entirely different from the making of parks; the two have no connection, and neither is an adjunct to the other, and it is impossible, as it seems to me, to logically hold that a description of one embraces-both. The rule that there must be a substantial unity in the statutable object as indicated by the title, is, in this instance, obviously violated. But I do not, on this account, conclude, as counsel appears to have done, that by reason of this illegality this entire statute is to be treated as a nullity. Such is not the legal rule, and no such consequence is denounced by the constitutional article in question, which merely prohibits, without defining the effect of, its infraction. It will answer every purpose of law, and of public policy, to declare, in such cases as the one now under advisement, the unlawful superaddition to the declared object of the statute to be inoperative and void. This can always be done when the objectionable feature stands by itself, and is separable, as a distinct thing, from the body of the act, and there is no reason to suppose that the portion thus eliminated constituted an essential motive to the enactment of the law. This I understand
But the other point on this same subject, raised by counsel, ■has a wider scope, and, therefore, is of a more serious character, such point being, that the title of this statute does not ■truly express the' object of the legislation which it embodies.
After a careful consideration of this subject, I have concluded that this exception is well taken, for I have failed to discover what effect is to be given to this constitutional provision, if it is not, in this case, to have the effect of annulling •this law. It has been already said that the purpose of the provision requiring the object of the proposed law to be expressed in its title, is to give notice of and publicity to the proposed legislation, and such purpose would be thoroughly frustrated, if a rule should be sanctioned having a scope sufficiently wide to embrace and to validate the present act. The title of this act is, “An act in relation to streets in Union township, Union county,” and it will, on a moment’s thought, be perceived how general such an allusion to the legislative purpose is. It is true, that it may be difficult to indicate, by a formula, how specialized the title of a statute must be; but
But this resolution, with respect to this first point, is not conclusive of the issue on this demurrer. The questions touching the legality and effect of the act of the 1st of April, 1872, remain to be disposed of.
This statute is entitled “ An act to repeal an act entitled ‘An act in relation to streets in Union township, in Union county/ approved March 29th, 1877,” and it effects the pur
It is argued that this repealing act is void by reason of the same imperfection which has been found exists in the primary law, that is to say, that its title does not fairly express its object. The specification under this exception is, that the body of the act comprises objects not expressed in the title to the law.
I do not concur in this view. The objects which, it is insisted, are not indicated in the title, are the powers conferred on the township committee of Union, looking to the payment of debts due under the repealed statute. But I think such powers and their incidents are the necessary concomitants and dependencies of the repeal of this act. A provision for the payment of the existing debts was an inseparable accompaniment of a repealing law, for such a law could not be legally passed without some such provision being made. Nor could there be any doubt as to who would be responsible for such debts. The road district was a part of the township, and when, therefore, tire organization of the district was abolished, the township organization revived, and it followed almost as a matter of course, that the latter would fall heir to the obligations of the former. All these things
This second statute is not, in my opinion; obnoxious to the charge of unconstitutionality.
Having reached this stage of the inquiry, the next question which arises is, whether this last-mentioned law of 1872 has
It has already been declared that this original act is void. All contracts, therefore, entered into by its authority, are to be regarded as unwari’anted by any law, and, as originally, unenforceable; so that the distinct inquiry is, whether it is competent for the legislature to legalize claims of this character, having, in law, no inherent force.
But whatever doubts may still exist with respect to the control which the legislature may exert, in some departments, over political corporations, it appears to me that a measure of authority over such institutions must be conceded to reside in the law-making power, that will fully justify the conclusion that the obligation to pay the claims now in controversy could be legitimately imposed on these defendants. The moneys now sued for must, on this argument, be taken to be honestly due; for the township, represented by the defendants, is now in the enjoyment, in the shape of improved streets, of the results of the plaintiff’s labor, and, consequently, it is manifest that the district so benefited should remunerate the plaintiff for his services. Antecedently, then, to the enactment of this second law, a duty existed in a portion of the inhabitants of this township to pay this claim; and it has been repeatedly decided by courts of the highest authority, that the legislature have the undoubted right to compel a corporation of this character to pay a debt which, although not legally enforceable, carries with it the force of a moral obligation. Such a power grows out of the fact that these corporations are altogether public in their nature and uses, and that, in the language 'of Chief Justice Marshall, their “ whole interests and franchises are the exclusive property and domain of the government itself.” The contract out of which the debt in question issued, was palpably ultra vires, as it was made by a body having no legal existence; but it was nevertheless an object beneficial to the locality now sought to be "burthened for its payment, and which object could, beyond all question, have been legislatively authorized.
The result is, that this act of the legislature having recognized this debt and directed it to be paid, such claim has passed from a mere moral obligation into a suable demand.
There are other exceptions, but they relate to matters of form and procedure.
In the first place, it is insisted that this suit should have been brought against the corporation whose charter has been rescinded, and not against this township committee, such officers not being a corporate body. If this is the true view to be taken of the legal position of the plaintiff, it is obvious his claim must be lost, inasmuch as this road board, according to the opinion just expressed on the point, never has had a legal existence. But as it is the repealing act that legalizes the cause of the present action, we must look to that law in order to ascertain who it is that has been made responsible to the plaintiff. The statute requires the payment of this debt, but it does not require, unless it may be by implication, the inhabitants of the township—that is, the incorporated township—to make such payment. On the contrary, in express terms, the burthen of payment is put on the township committee and their successors. It is this committee that is required to pay the debts which had been contracted by the road commissioners for improvements, and it is this same committee that is to borrow money and issue the bonds of the township, so as to be enabled to meet the obligation of settling these claims. In the entire act, there is nowhere any duty imposed on the incorporated township, but everything in pursuance of it is to be performed by the committee and
The duty of settling with the class of creditors in which the plaintiff is comprised, having been cast by the statute on this township committee and its successors, and such duty attaching to this body in its official capacity, in my judgment, it is the better conclusion to regard the present action as being sustainable in its present form.
With respect to the further objection, that on the admission
But it is not necessary further to pursue this subject, for, I think, the first count of this declaration does show, with sufficient certainty and definiteness, the ground of this action. It substantially avers the creation of a road board by the act of 1871, that was thereby authorized to lay out streets; that the debt sued for accrued for work done in making the improvements under this law; and that, by the act of 1872, the defendants were directed to pay debts which had thus been incurred; and these facts appear to lay a cause of action in the plaintiff.
Let judgment be entered on this demurrer, for the plaintiff.