LEGAL ANALYSIS 91 



illustrates, to committee hearings at which evidence is taken, to the 

 most informal and casual contacts of the individual legislators with 

 their constituents and others, to matters of common knowledge in the 

 community or state. In this project, where there have been extensive 

 biological and economic factual studies, several legislators themselves 

 undoubtedly have other pertinent facts within their own knowledge, 

 for this particular field of salmon fisheries is of major importance and 

 significance in the history and present economy of the State of 

 Washington. 



Where in this portion of the report, therefore, references are made 

 to factual details, they are made solely to show that there is some 

 basis for legislative action. Undoubtedly there are more and possibly 

 varying factual details in the minds of many persons both within and 

 without the legislature. 



This important viewpoint of the function of the legislature with 

 respect to its factual basis for legislation has been forcefully stated 

 on several occasions by the Washington court. Perhaps the best is in 

 a relatively old case, in an opinion by Judge Main written in State 

 V. Pitney, '^^^ a 1914 case: 



"In determining whether the provisions of a law bring it within the 

 police power, it is not necessary for the court to find that facts exist which 

 would justify such legislation. If a state of facts can reasonably be pre- 

 sumed to exist which would justify such legislation, the court must pre- 

 sume that it did exist and that the law was passed for that reason. If no 

 state of circumstances could exist to justify the statute, then it may be 

 declared void because in excess of the legislative power." [Emphasis 

 supplied. ]^^^ 



A recent application of that same policy is seen in Clark v. 

 D\\T^/',"^ the 1960 decision upholding a change in the color-grading 

 system used for apples discussed earlier in this report: 



"It may well be that the legislature found that the marketing of apples 

 designated as C grade in standard Washington apple boxes had no adverse 

 effect on the market value and reputation of the fancy grades of yellow 

 and green varieties and, therefore, no change in the grading system for 

 these apples was needed. The legislature may have found it to be a jact 

 that color differences in the yellow and green varieties of apples are much 

 less pronounced than in the red and partial red varieties, and have little 

 significance in the mind of the purchaser.^' [Emphasis supplied.] ^^^ 



115. 79 Wash. 608, 140Pac. 918 (1914). 



116. /^. at 612; 140 Pac. at 920. 



117. 56 Wn. 2d 425, 353 P. 2d 941 (1960), cert. den. 364 U. S. 932 ( 1961 ), discussed 

 supra, nn. 52-53, 59-60, and 89-90. 



1 18. Id. at 436; 353 P. 2d at 948. 



