446 



IOWA. 



and therefore the House journal fails to show that it 

 adopted the same resolution which was adopted by 

 the Senate. 



When tne 19th General Assembly came to consider 

 the question as to whether it would agree to the con- 

 stitutional amendment proposed in the 18th, it did 

 so in the following manner and form, omitting ma- 

 terial portions thereof: 



SECTION 26. No person shall manufacture for sale, 

 or sell, or keep for sale, as a beverage, any intoxi- 

 cating liquors whatever, including ale, wine, and 

 beer. 



It will be observed that the words " or to be used " 

 are not in this resolution, and that the 19tli General 

 Assembly determined in substance that such words 

 were not in the resolution when it was agreed to by 

 the 18th. 



We are aware of the rule which universally obtains, 

 that a statute should not be declared unconstitutional 

 unless it clearly appears to be BO. It follows that this 

 rule should be applied to amendments of the Constitu- 

 tion. Mindful of this rule, and feeling its full force, it 

 is possibly to be regretted that we have felt forced to 

 declare that the amendment in question, which was 

 ratified by so large a majority of the electors, has not 

 been constitutionally adopted. 



The result is, the judgment of the District Court 

 must be affirmed. 



Judge Beck dissented. 



A convention of the friends of temperance 

 was immediately called, to meet in Des Moines 

 on the 7th of February, for consultation. The 

 convention adopted among others the follow- 

 ing resolution : 



Resolved, That it is the deliberate judgment of this 

 convention that the Executive and the General As- 

 sembly should immediately take steps to put in force 

 and effect the will of the people as expressed by the 

 vote of the 27th day of Juno last, by providing by an 

 extra session called, at as early a date as can legally be 

 done 



1. For a submission of a prohibitory amendment to 

 the Constitution of Iowa. 



2. For such other relief by statutory law as will re- 

 lieve the people and the homes of the State from the 

 curse of the liquor-traffic. 



The Governor declined to call an extra ses- 

 sion. An application for a rehearing of the 

 case was made to the court, on the following 

 grounds, and was granted : 



1. The 19th General Assembly had jurisdic- 

 tion of the subject embraced in the joint reso- 

 lution of the 18th General Assembly, propos- 

 ing the amendment to the Constitution drawn 

 in controversy in this case, including the regu- 



larity of its passage, and its judgment thereon 

 is conclusive and can not be reviewed. 



2. The enrolled joint resolution of the 19th 

 General Assembly, in the custody of the Sec- 

 retary of State, is conclusive evidence of the 

 judgment upon the regularity of the action of 

 the 18th General Assembly relative to the 

 amendment involved in this case, and of its 

 own action thereon. 



3. The judicial department of the State has 

 no jurisdiction over political questions; and 

 can not review the action of the 19th General 

 Assembly and of the people in the matter of 

 the adoption or amendment of the Constitu- 

 tion of the State. 



The rehearing was had on the 3d of April, 

 and the following days, and on the 21st the 

 Court handed down an opinion, dissented from 

 by Judge Beck, reaffirming its former decision. 



Driven Wells. The decision of the United 

 States Circuit Court, rendered early in May, in 

 the case of William D. Andrews and others 

 against George Hovey, touched a matter of 

 great importance to the people of the State. 

 Numerous suits in this and other States de- 

 pended on the result of this suit. These suits 

 are brought on reissued letters patent No. 

 4,372, granted to Nelson W. Green, one of the 

 complainants, under date of May 9, 1871, the 

 original patent, No. 73,425, bearing date Jan. 

 14, 1868, and having been issued for an "im- 

 proved method of constructing artesian wells." 

 The decision holds the reissued patent invalid, 

 because it is broader than the original patent, 

 and contains matters not set out in the original. 

 It also holds that Mr. Green abandoned his in- 

 vention after he made it, and before he applied 

 for a patent. It holds the patent void also, 

 because wells had been put down at Milwau- 

 kee, Wis., and Independence, la., before the 

 time Green claims to have made the inven- 

 tion, which embraced all the principles claimed 

 in his patent. If this decision be sustained by 

 the Supreme Court of the United States, it will 

 relieve a vast number of farmers from the pay- 

 ment of royalties. 



Finances. The following statement covers 

 the twenty-one months from Oct. 1, 1881, to 

 June 30, 1883 : 



The appropriations made by the 19th Gen- been, so far as their support is concerned, 

 eral Assembly have all been paid as the same maintained in a manner creditable to the State, 

 became payable, and the State, in every finan- and without marked increase in cost, notwith- 

 cial^ respect, is in better condition than at any standing the advance in cost of almost every 

 period for the past twenty years. article necessary to their proper and comfort- 

 All the public institutions of the State have able support. 



