189 Wis. 5 | Wis. | 1926
The constitutionality of the curative act, ch. 332, Laws of 1923, is challenged by the defendant in
This subject has been dealt with so fully by the court in the cases of Boyd v. Milwaukee, 92 Wis. 456, 66 N. W. 603; Burnham v. Milwaukee, 98 Wis. 128, 73 N. W. 1018; Cawker v. Central B. P. Co. 140 Wis. 25, 121 N. W. 888; and in Neacy v. Drew, 176 Wis. 348, 187 N. W. 218, that little need now be added. It is firmly established by those cases that in order to render a classification valid the class must admit of additions to it. If it does not, it violates the constitutional provisions referred to. The same rule has been applied to sec. 23, art. IV, of the constitution, requiring uniformity in town and county government (State ex rel. La Valle v. Sauk Co. 62 Wis. 376, 22 N. W. 572; State ex rel. Merrimac v. Hazelwood, 158 Wis. 405, 149 N. W. 141; State ex rel. Johnson v. La Crosse and Trempealeau, Counties, 167 Wis. 417, 167 N. W. 822), and to sec. 18, art. IV, of the constitution (State ex rel. Joint School Dist. v. Nyberg, 183 Wis. 215, 197 N. W. 724).
It is sought to distinguish the cases at bar from the cases of Cawker v. Central B. P. Co. 140 Wis. 25, 121 N. W. 888; Boyd v. Milwaukee, 92 Wis. 456, 66 N. W. 603; and Neacy v. Drew, 176 Wis. 348, 187 N. W. 218, because in the latter cases there was only one city to which the act could apply, while here there are at least two, namely, Beloit and West Allis, and there may be more. The distinction is as to a fact quite immaterial. The basis which justifies a classification is not whether there is one city or there are several cities in a class, but whether the class is so defined that other cities may grow into it. -Thus it has been repeatedly held that laws pertaining to cities of the first class, of which there is at present only one, namely, Milwaukee,
By the Courts — Order reversed, and cause remanded with directions to sustain the demurrer to the complaint. •