428 



KANSAS. 



railroad, extending from Cherry vale to In- 

 dependence, and bringing a new and fertile 

 country into direct connection with central 

 points, was opened for business on the last day 

 of December. 



Other important projects for the extension 

 of the railroad system of the State are in prog- 

 ress. One of the most important is the Waka- 

 rusa Valley Railroad, to connect the city of 

 Lawrence with the Osage coal-district and 

 other coal-fields ; and also to connect with the 

 Atchison, Topeka & Santa Pe" Railroad, run- 

 ning south from Topeka, by the way of Burlin- 

 game and Emporia, to the great central and 

 southwestern districts of the State. Another 

 important enterprise is a proposed railroad 

 from Americus, in Lyon County, on the Mis- 

 souri, Kansas & Topeka road, to the north 

 boundary of Butler County, near the head of 

 the Walnut River, with a branch along the 

 Walnut to its junction with the Arkansas, 

 near the State line. It is the intention of the 

 projectors of the road to deflect all the trade 

 of the rich southwest from Topeka and Atch- 

 ison to Lawrence and Leaven worth. The 

 Walnut Valley is acknowledged to be one of 

 the finest in the State. Striking the State line 

 at a point seventy miles west of Parker, this 

 road, it is claimed, will be the great cattle- 

 carrying road, as the cattle of Texas are most- 

 ly in the western portion of that State. As an 

 ultimate terminus, it could run to the Red 

 River of Texas, the very heart of the cattle- 

 region; and, extended still farther, could strike 

 the line of the proposed Southern Pacific. 



In June the Supreme Court of the State 

 rendered a decision on the long-pending and 

 important question of the constitutionality of 

 municipal aid granted to railroads and other 

 public works by legislative authority, the 

 agitation of which has extended throughout 

 the State, affected the vital interests of the 

 people, as such aid has been extensively 

 granted and the bonds are widely circulated, 

 and stayed the development of various rail- 

 road projects. The court affirmed the con- 

 stitutionality of the act. The syllabus by the 

 court is as follows : 



1. The question whether the Legislature possess 

 the power to authorize counties to grant aid to rail- 

 road companies by subscribing for stock therein, 

 and issuing bonds in payment therefor, when it 

 comes to the courts, is purely a legal question, and 

 the courts have nothing to do with the wisdom or 

 policy of such legislation. 



2. The Legislature have no inherent power, but 

 all their power is derived from the people through 

 the constitution of the State. 



3. The people, in their primary capacity, possess 

 all the political power of the State, and may them- 

 selves authorize counties to grant aid to 'railroad 

 companies; or they may, if they choose, delegate 

 this power to the Legislature, and allow the Legis- 

 lature to grant such authority to counties. 



4. The" Legislature cannot exercise any power re- 

 tained by the people, or not delegated by the people 

 to the Legislature. 



5. Where the provisions of an net are designed for 

 the whole State, and every part thereof, such act has, 



in contemplation of section 1, article 2, of the con- 

 stitution, a uniform operation throughout the State, 

 notwithstanding the condition or circumstances of 

 the State may^ be such as not to give the act any 

 actual or practical operation in every part thereof. 



6. Section 8, article 11, of the^ constitution, which 

 prohibits the State from ever being a party in carry- 

 ing on any work of internal improvement, applies to 

 the State in its sovereign corporate capacity, and not 

 to the subordinate political subdivisions thereof. It 

 prohibits the State as a State, and not counties, from 

 being parties in carrrying on any works of internal 

 improvement. 



7. There is no express provision of the constitu- 

 tion which prohibits the Legislature from authoriz- 

 ing counties from becoming stockholders in railroad 

 companies, and issuing their bonds in payment for 

 such stock. 



8. All presumptions are in favor of the constitu- 

 tional validity of a statute, and, before the courts can 

 declare it invalid, it must clearly appear uncon- 

 stitutional. 



9. The power of the Legislature to pass an act 

 granting municipal aid to railroad companies must 

 be found in the general grant of legislative power 

 under section 1, article 2, of the constitution, which 

 provides that the legislative power of the State shall 

 be vested in the Legislature or not at all. 



10. At the time the constitution was framed the 

 term " legislative power" had a definite and precise 

 signification with reference to this question, estab- 

 lished by legislative, executive, and judicial con- 

 struction, practice and usage, and the general under- 

 standing of the people through the United ^States ; 

 which general understanding and signification was 

 that the term " legislative power" included the pow- 

 er to grant municipal aid to railroad companies, and 

 therefore, in the absence of any thing to the contrary, 

 it must be presumed that the people of this State, 

 when they framed their constitution, used said term 

 with the signification generally given to it, and there- 

 fore that they intended to give to the Legislature the 

 power to pass acts granting municipal aid to railroad 

 companies. 



11. If such was the intention of the people, the 

 constitution must be so construed by the courts, and 

 the courts have no power to amend it or change any 

 of its provisions, or insert any new provisions in it, 

 through the means of judicial construction or inter- 

 pretation. 



12. The aid given to a railroad company is not 

 strictly for a private purpose, nor wholly for a public 

 purpose, though the object intended by the Legisla- 

 ture is a public purpose. 



13. The Government may accomplish a public pur- 

 pose through the means of a private agency, a pri- 

 vate individual or individuals, or a private corpora- 

 tion. 



14. It is the ultimate object to be obtained which 

 must determine whether a thing is a public or a pri- 

 vate purpose. 



15. The ultimate object of the Government in 

 granting municipal aid to railroads is to increase the 

 facilities for travel and transportation from one part 

 of the country to the other, which object is in its na- 

 ture a public purpose. 



16. And if a railroad is made absolutely free for 

 every one who choses to ride and transport goods 

 upon it, it is still a public purpose, notwithstanding 

 the Government may allow a (in other respects) pri- 

 vate corporation to own and operate it, and to receive 

 a compensation therefor, provided it is a road for 

 which the Government exercises the right of eminent 

 domain and retains the right to fix the compensation. 



17. Taxation is the most universal power pos- 

 sessed by governments, being an incident and auxil- 

 iary of every other power, and may be resorted to 

 whenever it is necessary to accomplish a public pur- 

 pose, or to carry out any other power granted to the 

 Legislature. 



