GENERAL PRINCIPLES 13 



result; perhaps there are conditions where a 

 proper use of a leash would secure perfect protec- 

 tion to the public. * * * Under the circum- 

 stances it seems to me quite illogical to urge that 

 the ordinance bears no reasonable and direct rela- 

 tion to its purpose. Consequently the court must 

 hold that it comes fairly within the power of the 

 board of health, even though the court might feel, 

 which it by no means desires to intimate, that it 

 might have found other means less annoying to 

 dog owners which might prove equally effective. 

 * * * It is the duty of the court to give an 

 ordinance, where possible, such construction as 

 would not render it unconstitutional."^^ 



It is also the duty of the courts to prevent ex- 

 cess of other officers, to see that they do what is 

 required of them by law, and that they do their 

 work in proper form. It is their duty also to judge 

 between man and man, and to punish evildoers.^^ 



8. Acts Must Not Be Arbitrary. Arbitrary 

 action is the result of will, rather than of reason. 

 It is the method used by tyrants in government, 

 whether the tyranny may be shown by a single 

 king, or by a temporary majority of the people. 

 For this reason even the semblance of arbitrari- 

 ness is shunned in American governments. The 

 executive officer must show reason in the applica- 

 tion of the law, and he must not use his position 

 for the purpose of gaining some personal advan- 

 tage over another. So the wording of a statute 

 or ordinance must show that it is based upon a 



18 People ex rel. Knoblauch v. is Public Health, Chap. V. 



Warden of City Prison, 153 N. 

 Y. Sup. 463. 



