352 Meyer—Early Railroad Legislation in Wisconsin. 
it is invalid with it. ” If the stock subscription alone contains the 
public element essential to support a tax, then a municipal cor¬ 
poration in this state might be authorized to subscribe for stock 
in a New York railroad. And if the stock subscription does 
not contain this public element, then how can it be essential to 
the validity of the tax? The opinion admits that taxes can be 
collected only for public purposes, but it declares the building" 
of a railroad to be a public use, and supports the assertion by 
numerous citations. The nature and character of the work it¬ 
self, its effect and influence upon the general prosperfty of the 
community, and not the question of ownership determine the 
category into which it shall be placed. “ There is no principle 
of law which prohibits the raising of money by tax to be ex¬ 
pended through the agency of a private corporation. The limi¬ 
tations of the power depends upon the use for which the money 
is raised.” Few will object to this principle, but many will 
impeach the conclusions drawn from it. But when the honor¬ 
able judge asserts that he “ can see no substantial difference be¬ 
tween Milwaukee taxing itself one hundred thousand dollars, or 
any other sum, to build a harbor, and the county of Fond du 
Lac taxing itself as much to build a railroad ” we are less sur¬ 
prised at some of the conclusions reached in this dissenting 
opinion. 
The opinion in the case of Weeks vs. Milwaukee , delivered by 
same judge as in case of Clarke vs. Janesville , J touches upon the 
question here under consideration. The court declares an act 
authorizing a town to subscribe for railroad stock to be valid; 
that such a debt is not a state debt; that the legislature may 
authorize a municipality to make such a debt, which the state 
cannot make for itself; that an act authorizing subscription for 
railway stock, authorizes the company to receive it and take 
bonds in payment; and that power to issue bonds includes the 
power to make them negotiable. “Whether it is a wise or 
just exercise of the power, courts cannot inquire. Those are 
questions for the legislature. ” 1 2 
1 10 Wis., 242. 
2 Weeks vs. Milwaukee , is a case full of excellent material for the stu¬ 
dent of taxation. It is only incidentally important in railroad matters as 
