Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, February 17, 1878, Page 3

PR T 0 RS TEHG F ) e Dee e e e — THE PROBLEM. to Run a Big City Without W Ho Money. Officers Have Not Yet An- o citlzaimced Their Solation, ic Personal-Property Taxes=== Gor. Cullom Opposed to a Special Session. Recent Deoision of the Supreme ourt Qarried to Its Logical Qon- clusion, s ety Shown by {he Effect Tts Enforee- ment Will Bave, OUR FINANCES. AFFAIRS AT THE CITY-HALL savedropped back Into the rut, and the old kery was as void of news yesterday as a g.,.; in & druggist’s window is of water. here W3S VIS little talk about the future. No (o seemed 1O think it of any importance, so ‘wofident ere all, beads of Departments as well 5 employes, thst the Mayor and Comptroller Tire hatcbed dut a scheme which will obyiate e closing of the doors. The officials named, § they bave matured a plan, are inclined to it to themeelves, sinee nothing relating to yway out of the difficulty can be pumped out o them by an foterview. 1t is pretty certafn, powerer, that they look with favor upon the carrant system. That is really the only practi- eable etep for them to take. What strengthens {his copjecture is the fact that the Mayor was sourgent to have the Finance Committee re- port 80 sppropriation bill which left 2 margin for shrinkege, not. only on_account of the non- colleztion of taxes, but also for a discount of warmots. A strong effort will pe made to pet the Council to sores toan appropriation of at Teast §4,000,000, utitis ot the intention 1o spend that much moncs. At least 15 per cent will not be col- Jested, sud, fn_order to insure the receipt by exployes of their full salaries, a reduction in {he force will doubtlees be made 50 as to offset {he shaving which will have to be submitted to toget cash for the city’s paper. This will work. very well asto clerks and laborers, but the imerest. on the bonded delt cunmot be met mnless capitalists can be induced to cnyit until the money is in the Treasury. Torée semi-annual coupons fall due before the' {axes for 1578 begin coming in, and they will mretobe beld for twelve, nive, and three onths, respectively. The payment of the in- ferest 18 really about the only ‘thing that causes ssmoganee to the Mavor and Comptroller. Were 1he sure of getting the funds to it, their gleep wonld not be disturbed by visions of pro- 1ested coupo! When the levy for 18@ is scsally made, whatever programme is to be amedout will come to tbe surfuce. Until thenit is useless to attempt to penctrate the shell of confidence which covers the two prin. ¢pal manazers of the Governmental machinc. A reporter asked the Comptroller yesterday what he thonght of Tur TRIBUNE'S suzgestion fn reference to SMALL WARRANTS, thus making thein availabie for paying taxes. “] 1hipk,” £aid he. ““we should need a grist il to carry out that idea.” + fow much would the clerical labor of your oifice be fucreased ] couldn’t apswer that question now.” “Do you think tbe plan practicable” “Itcoula be done, of courses but if small warrants are nceded, eoough could be procu {rom the men who work on the streets at §: aday. They usually get paid for five or six davs! work at a time.” LSuppose you issue them alSo to policcmen 10d firemen,—give 3 man half adozen ora dozen warants, instead of onme covering his whole suarvi? “We could do it, as Isaid, but I don’t ap- prove of 1t at first blush.” “Why not?" “On account of the multiplicity of warrants there would be, and the increase of labor. 1 don't think it would be to the interest of the aty to have these little shinplasters out to the emount of two or three miltion dollars.” “Changing the subject. In December, 1870, Mayor Mason reported that tbe citv had no foating indebtedness.. How do you account for ihe §3,500.000 pow on the books?” “From the fact that - prior to that time there was money provided by the issuing of bonds for vater, eewerare. City-Hali. school buildings ete., 20d we didu't have to borrow tempora Since the Constitation was adopted, the 1ssuing of bonds is probibited, and as the taxes levied were expended before they were coliected, we bad 1o borrow movey 0 temporary certif- cates. GOV. SHELBY M. CCLLON arrived In town at 4 o'clock yesterdav after- noon, and 100k 3 room at the Grand Pacific Hotel, where a TRIBUNE reporter shortly after * met him and had a brief talk with him in regard 10 calling a speeial session of the Legislature to remedy, if possible, by mew cnactments, the present peculiar_financial status of this city. The reporier said: 4 You know the city’s financial condition?”? “Yes," enid the Governor, ““and 1 fully ap- preciate it and sympathize with her.” “Will you call a special session of the Legis- Tatare if eked to do 8o by the City Conncil.” “That is a leading yuestion. 1 dou't know what I shoulddo. Iwould not call a special session unless 1 should see very good reasons for dotng so.” “To prepare an amendmeut to the Constitu~ tion, for instance, to be sudmitted to the peo- e, giving cities of a certain dass power Lo bor- mv»hy_v ‘warrants in anticipation of their reve- Tei? 5 “To call the Legislature together wounld en- 1 3p expense upon the State of from £50,000 10 1100, We baven't got it to spend, and if webad T can’t sec what benefit Chicaro would derive from it, for I don’t see what the Legisia- ture could ensct under the Constitution to belp You. The session mignt be called, members couvene, and get up 2 amepndment to the Constitution which would not_be submitted to the neople untll next fall. In the meantime, what would Jour city do? “Live on faith.” I “That's a poor diet, to a certain extent. No, hardly think that a special session of the islature will be necessary. Let vour peopic Das up their back taxes. Lt them support the Government. There are vlenty of people in- ferested here—iio have eversthing at stake— wEo will devise a way out of this difficulty. I don’t propose to PUt any extra expense upon the State, if I can help it. We don’t want 1o getberin the same fix that Chicazo is. I want 10 sce affairs straightened here, but I don’t think a special session will be at all necessary.” Gov. Cullom will remain in the city today. He came here to visit his dauglters, who are the uests of friends, and ke will to-day also be entertained by tnem. - He leaves for Spriugficld tomorrow. ALDERMANIO TAXES, “fo the Editor of The Trivune. Cicaco, Feb. 15.—I notice that at the last meeting of the Council several Aldermen were yers getere in their remarks on the tax-fighters. W Ibave paid taxes in this city for ten v nd bave, Ithink, ar zood right asany one to denounce Ux-ighters, which 1 do; but there are two kinds of tax-figiters. There are the fcllows who e causht by the Asscesor, and then fight their taxes in the court, and there e the otners, the original 1ax-fighers, ¥hododre the Assessor or make false returas, 2ad o eftherdon't vei taxed at all or don't get ed a quarter enonsh, thus throwinz the burden on others. 1 understand that numbers of thesc Aldermen are either paying no taxes at all on per- 2onal property, or are not payinz half what they ought to. : Look up the returne, and sce how the e actually stands. No Tax-Frauzen. In order to satisfy the correspondent’s curi- Ceity the personat property tax-books for 1877 have been cxamined. and the result is civen in Labulated form below. The firet column gives C return of houschold furniture, mouecys, stocks, bouds, credits, jewclry, watches, gold and silver or plated ware, horses, sewing-ma- <chines, pianos. melodeone, savings-bank deposits, dity eentificates, office furniture and propertyy 2ud all other personal property required to be a The second column gives the tax there- 9a. The third column mves the personal prop= oty assessment upon the business of each Alderman, where be has any. 1n some cases it I5impossible 1o disassociate his individual ju- terest from that of Lis partoers. In the case of Ald. MeAuley, for instance, he_is a member of ihe firm of McAuley, Dyke & Co., who are as- #ossed at $11,000. The total amount is given, it is impossible to rind out just what his share - _Ald. Beidler is asscssed on his lnmber-yard 35 well as on his houschold furniture, ete. Ald. Umgerien is assessed on his fced-store, as ¥l 35 on his houscnold goods, moneys, ot only omission, it is belleved, is in the caso 22, Waldo, whose lumber-yard fs on the ‘st Side, the reporter forgetting to look on the books over there for him, a s’ ., and he pays his %x, on it over there. Ald. Thnmoson‘:t{l Fif: Taarteenth Ward, is not assessed atail this year. at 15 due to the fact that Jast year there was { error in the assessment, and e haa to pay a t:x of $120, which was more than twice what he should have pajd. Sinee the tax could not be refunded to him, ho is not asscssed at all this Jicam, which will even It up. In the case of Ald. allard, his return for household furniture, ‘moneg ) ete., was jumped wich the return for his umbor-yard, and botn are given in the third cf!lumn. The persons whose names are marked With 2 star made no return. Where there arc any estimates of the value of thefr property they were made by the Asscssor, either on the basis of last year’s asscssmeut or in accordance with the Assessor's judgment. Where returns were made by the parties themselves, they were g:\!;ll,“nh which contained the following afii~ I cortify that the foreroing isa fall, complete, and correct schedule of il the personal broperty subject to taxation in the county, town, city, vil- lage. and schaol district above mentioned, owned or contralied by n the first'day of Mas, A. D. 1877, and which I am by law requircd tolist; that the numbers, quanuitics, or amoupts of cach item so listed are correctly stated; that the values of the several items of property, Wherever by me stated (in column No. 2), are the fairicash values of the same, as 1 verily belleve; that 1 have stated tho full amonnt_of moneys and of my crediia (less deductions authorized by law), and that I have correctly stated the face valaes and the market or actual values of oll bonds, stocks, and sbares of capital stock in companics’or asso- ciations not tncorporated by the laws of this State, by me owned or controlled. HERE 18 TUE TADLE: g 8 ‘st - wsaupsng 20y g0y *J. Rosenberg J. i Thompson . . v, Stewart.... . m 1. . Thompson. JUF. Rawlelgh . & G: Seaten, ¥, Nl esen 7 . W, Wl 8 Lipsenbarth, 14 ~Scnwelsths L. Sweeney. 56,531 “Dat (X These valuations are not the fair cash values returned to the Town Assessors, but are tho valuations as increased am the North and West Sides by 57 per cent, and on the South Side by 88 §-10 nercent. Thus, where the table gives a an’s valuation av $157, it means that he orig- inally returned it to the Assessoras §100, or where, on the South Side, his valuatiou is $1,- 884, it means that his sworn return was 31,000, WEST TOWN COLLECTIONS. The total collections in the West Town last week will foot upa trifle over 340,000, The tatal amoung taken in thus far bas beea $150,~ 000 in rouny numbers, neariy all of which has been turned over by Collector Hoffman. Yes: terday he gave the city a check for §20,000, and will turn over §2,000 to the West Pa Monday, besides the amount, of money aiready bandedin. The Collector has paid out nearly every cent collected to the various recipients— i toswn, ete.—in proportion to the is interested in the collections. The largest amotuts pald In by tax- payers t week were as follows: Watkup & Merrill, Charles S. Gardner & Co., Culbertson, Blair & Co., Northwestern il Company, and Carson, Pirie & Co., 1570 cach; 1. Whitbéck, 3835.20; Hanna, Lay & Co., £705.i9; Chi Maileable Iron Works, $1,307.55: Ford River Lumber Company, §1,005.84; Buddock, Palmer & Co. and Bates & Co., §6i0 cach. Mr. Hoffman is desirous tnat the large taxpayers should pay up, as the small- crones are coming in voluntarily and vaying their portion. The city needs money, and_ the- Collectur is anxious to turn over at least $75,000 this week to Treasurer Larrabee. ANOTHER TAX Calvin Snow, a bolder of 150 shares of stack in the Traders’ [usurauce Company, of this city, filed a bill vesterday in the United States Circuit Court =zgainst Mark Kimbail, the South Town Collestor. and the Traders’ Insurance Company to restrain the collection of the greater part of the tax assvssed agajnst the insurance company. The total tax was 10,717.- 07, and_the complainant charges that all but £2,118.23 is illezal, or, in other words, that the 57 per cent addition of rhie State Bourd of Equal- ization, and also the 20 per cent addition of the County Board, are both illegal. The allega- tions of the bill areinthe main the sameas thosc heretofore made in the First National Bank case. The only new point is, that the Committee which was apoointed by the State Bozrd of Foualization to fix the pereentaze 1 be added to the franchises and stock of corporations and _assoviations made a report which was mot adopted iter the Board adjourncd the Chairman anu Sceretary of the Board cer- titied 1o tne Auditor of State the addition as recommended. as thouzh it had been adopted. The Auditor cerlifiad the eame to the County Clerk, and he extended 1t ov the tax-books. The German National Davk fled a stmilar bill against Mark Kimball, Dy the State Board. WASTS TO KNOW. To the Editor of The Tribune. 'CnicaGo, Feb. 16.—Pleas: tell me if the Aldermen who talk so much against taxfizhters arc exempted from paying tax themselves by hielp of the law. If not so, I should think Ald. Cullerton, and other of Ins nomination, onzht to pay his taxes for six years, water tas includ- cd. Plense answer. I wm no tastighter, but Licavy taxpayer, strictly paid, in Sixth Ward, CITY CERTIFICATES. A REVIEW OF THE SUPREME COURT'S DECISION. The following claborate arzument, written by an eminent lawyer of this city, takes up the re- cent decisian of the Supreme Court in rezard to the issue of city certificates or the making of temporary loans, follows it out to its inevitable and incxorable conclusions, shows the destrue- tion of the civic government which would en- suc. and, by this “reductio ad absurdum,” clearly proves the fallacy of the position as- sumed by the Court* To the Editor af The Tribune. Cutcaco, Feb, 16.—The twelfth scceion of Arti- cle 9 of the prescnt Constitution of Lilinois, adopt- ed 1 1870, bus the ellect, a3 the Supreme Court of S vs it has In its lute decisfon, to prevent acity from burrowing money for ita'current ex- penses in anticipation of the collection of the &5 levied and appropriated for thit purpose: then citier the interpretation of eafd scction by our Supreme Court is an crroncous one, or the section, Fointerpreted, is itsclf a law of the State of fili- nois fmpairing the cbligation of contracte. within The meaning of the tenth section of Article 1 af The Constitntion of the United Statzs, which says: **No State »hall pass any Jaw impairing the odli- gation of contracts,” And said section is, there- fore, void, if the Supreme Court's constraction of it is admitted to be correct. > 1t was decided, in Canal Company va. Raiiroad Company. 4 Gill & Johnson, that *‘there i3 no difference in principle betwesn a law that impairs the obligation of a contract in terms, and one that produces the same effect, fn the construction and practical execution of it. " Tn_ the case of Railroad Company vs, McClare, 11, the Supreme Conri of the United States in 1870 decided that ** the Constitution of a State 2 8 *aw® within the probibitiun of the Con- stitution of the United Statcs upon State laws fm- parring the obligat:on of contracts. ‘Therefore, if 1 shalf show that that section_of our present Constitation which forbids a munici- pal corporation from becoming indebted 1 any Toanneror for any purpose to an amount includ- ing existing indcbiedness beyond certain limit does, **in the construction and practical esecu- tion of it,” fmpair the oblization of contracls that are valid and Jegal. then, according to the foregoing decisions of the Snpreme Conrts of the Tnited States and of the State of Murylwnd. I shall have establislied that the section of our Gan- Etitution containing the probibition referred to i<a Jaw Impairing the oblization ef coutracts, within the meaning of Sec. 10, Art. I nstitn- tion of the United States. which says: **No State shall pass any law impairing the obligation of can- tracts, " ond that eaid scction of our Comstitution i< a5 completely ennuilea by the Federal Constitu- tion 8 if it were o State etatute, which, by its express terms, bad the saine effects directly, upon 1he oblization of contracts. i Tn ditcussing whether the prombition in our State Constitution, above referred to. does or does Dot “4in fhie consiruction and practical execution of it" impair the obligation of contracts, the fol- Jowing are the questions to be sewled in their log. Jea) order: First, What ja the const. sction of eafd prohibition? Seccond, What is the pracical exects 10 Wallace, tion of 1t in conformity with such construction? Third. What is the effect upon fhe oblization of contracts of the probioition under the #aid con- straction and practical exccution of it FIRST—WIIAT IS THS CONSTRUCTION OF THE PROMIBITION IN CONTROVERST! The construction of it has been settled by the 1ate decision of onr Supreme Court. It is this: a debt, in the sense in which it is uscd in said prohi- ‘1any obligation {o paya certainsum af it Dition, 3 UMe: ¥ence, any oblization on the any futnpel 10 QRIEHT CMAC EiSts: L2’z vam o, ‘part of the City of Chicago to pay a certain sum 2. money to any person, real or artifcial, at a fature time. ehe beiny already indebted to the constitn- tional Kmit, is forbidden by the Constitution, and i¢, therefare, illegal. null, and void, withou! rof- erence to whether the time of payment falls with- in the carrent fiscal_year or is to occur twenty or thirty years from the date of the obligation, and withodt reference, also, to whether the sum stipn- Tated is to be paid’ out 'of taxes specifically levied orappropriated for fhe expenses of the current fiscal year, or otherwize. Nor does it matter, ac- cording to this Supreme Court, whether the obli- gution so incurred be a mero oral one, ot fs ovi enced by & promissory note. a dae-biil, a bond, an ordinance, orany other form of instrument im- {msiug an obligation on the part of the city to pay he eum stiplated, For, the Court having decided what kind of obli- gation, on the partof acity, already indebted to the Constitutional limit constitutes a debt of the kind prohibited, the Constitution itself, by its own terms, cxpressly forbids the contracting of such an obligation, ordebt, ‘*in any manner,” and there- {fore, inthe view of the Constitution and of the Court's construction of it, it is obvionsly im- material what way be the pecuhar form of such obligation, provided it involve the one essentinl feature of an undertaking on the part of the city 10 pay a sum certain ot a future time. For, in that case, it is forbidden, and is null and void, Nor does it make any diffcrence whether a city alreads indebted 1o the constitutional lmit, incur an obligation of the kind defined by the Court to bo a constitutionally forbidden debt for materinls furniebed or services official or otherwise render- cd, by any peréon of persons provided for a& a pary of the expenses of the city for the current fscal year, and necessuryto tho carrying on of the City Government. For, the Supreine Court having decided what constitutes a det forbidden by the Constitution. the Constitation iteelf, by its own terms, expressly prohibits a city from contructing &uch a debt ** for any purpose.” Hence, according to the construction of the con- stitutional prohibition referred to, a3 made by our Supreme Court, any oblizatfon on the pree of a city alreedy indebted 1o the constitutional timit to pay a stipulated sum at auy time 1n the futare matur- ing either within or beyond the current fiscal year during which it wus given, whatever be the form of such obligation. whether it be oral or written, whether contained in a due-biil, or promissory- note, a boud, an ordinance, « fevy and poropria non bill, or any otner written instrument, and whatever may be the purpose or consideration for which such obligation, oral or written, express or implied, was ncurred, whether for the salary of the Mayor, of the Comptroller, of the Treasurer, or of any other city official, for the wages of a street- lJaborér, or lamplighter, for the services of a polfcenian, or a fireman, for the furnishing of gas to the street-lamps, even for the sweeping, dust- ing. and lighting of the Councll Chamber, or the cate of the water-closcts in the Municipal building, all such obligations are forbidden, null, and vold. Such bemg thoe construction of the prohibition in question, a5 settled € our Supreme Court, the inquiry next in order is this: WHAT 18 THE PRACTICAL OPERATION OR EX~ ECUTION OF THE PRONIBITION UNDER THE CONSTRUCTION THUS PUT Ul' ird . 1t is in the case of clty already Indebted to the constitutional limit to deprive it of all power to perform its corporate fanctions by the use of legal means, and thus, for ail the practical purposes- of its_creation, neceseanly terminates its corporate cxistence. For the law does not authorize nor allow the continuance of its corporate life by the use of any other means than those prescribed by the law to which it owes its creation. If it caunot exercise ita Jawfnl powers and perform its Jawful duties, without incucrine obllgations which the Coustitution forbids it to contract, then it must cease tolive, or continue its existence only by a persistent cotirse of violutions of the law by which alone it lives, and moves, and has its being. TUnder euch o prohiibition as the ahove, construed as.it has been, a cily already indebted to the con- stitutional limit cannot elect a Mavor, a City Treasurer, a City Clerk, or a City Aftorney, and permit him Lo qualify and_cnter upon the pos- £ession of his office without thereby making a con- tract with him, by which he becomes oblizated, on the one hand, to perform the oflicial services be- longing to his offices and the city becomes bound on tac other to pay him the salary fixed by ordinnce. Sa with a Comptrolier, a_Coporation Connecl, or other officer, who is appointed to, and nccepts, and enters upon the possession of au uiiice. If the city employs any one to eerve it In the ca- vacity of a policeman, 4 freman, au_enginecr, a street-cleancr, or Lo perform any clerical dutics in any of the departments, it must of necessity incur 2 legal obligation to pay him some amount for his time and lubor at sowe time, 1f the ity in em- ploying bim should sk to evade the application 10 their engagement ith bim of the constitutional prohibition ugainst its incurring any obligation to pay, by omittiz any stipulution betsween them a3 1o the amount tobe paid him, or the tine of its payment, the conrts. in a suit instituted for that purpose, would hold the city obligated by law to pay to the person so employed such 4 sum 88 the Jury mizht ind his kervices to be reasonably worth, and that the same was due st such time from the commenceinent of his labors as tac jury might find o be reasonnble. Even in such a case, therefore, the clls would incnr a Jezal obligation to pay mon- ey, and, conscquently, sccording to the construc- tion of the Supreme Court, cobtracta debt for- bidden by the Constitution. 1t way, for the sake of argument merely, be con- ceded, a a possibility, though not as a probabil- ity, that persons may be found of sufiicient meuns and public spirit to serve the city a2 municipal officers withont a £alary, oras a laborer or an em- ploye without wages. “But il canuot be assumed a5 a fact that persons of such sacriticing gencrosity can or i)l be found to thus run the Cifty Govern- went at their own espense, and without expense to the tax-payers of the municipality. Neither can it be sssumed 08 a possibility even that the Coustitutional Convention in framing the prohibi- twn referred to intended that a city nlready in- debted to the constitutional limit shonld thence~ forth, und until it had accumulated suflicient money its treasury to pay as it went, excrcise its corporate powers and perform its corporate duties through agency of upsalaried oflicials and uupaid employes. 1t must rather be supposed that the authors of this probibition framed it as well as all the other provizions of our orzanic_law witha dne regard 10its practical adaptibility to the ordinary and usual course of human affairs and of human con- dect-ond characrer, and 2ls0 with a view to the then exisung uniform and well known usage among mumciral governments of performing their governmental functions throush the azency of sularicd officers und of clerks. laborers, and other subordiates working for wazes, 1In discassing, therefore, the practical operation of the vrohibition in question upon the workiugs of manicipal Governments with a view 1o _deter- mine whethdr such prohibition is, *‘in ifsconstruc- tiop and execution,” a)aw impairing the oblization ©of contracts or neither =ound reason, common sense, mor the spiritof the law ean_tolerate the c'aim that we should ook at the subject before us in the light of any such far-ferched and puerile suggestion, as_that the city may find men to fill ita. oflices and perform all the lubors of its corporate Government for nothin: If it were being shown toncoart that a law deny- inz to a city already indebted to a comstitutional it the power to rontract any obligation to pay money to any one in any manner or for any pur- pose, practically deprived such a city of the Raal capncity to procure the ofiicers and ~ other avents needed for_corrying on its Government unless it pald them in advance for the services to be rendet ed by them, and that such a law would thereby ter- minate the life of such city s an_actual working corporation, we venture the opinion, that any Court wonld tec] itself insulted by an attempt ti evude the force of such a showing by the eugges- tion, that the city could, nevertheless, conunn ita governmental functions throush the sgency of men Wwho would volunieer their services to the city for that purpose, -For suchan anomaly has never been witnessed and probably never wilf be, and will not be regarded. 83 o possinility even by the lus, whose essentialand informing spirit is common sense and sound reason.. Biut an incorporated ity needs for the condnct of its municipal government, not_only ofiicers and mumerous agents of other kinds, but it also re- quires z Jarge amount of materials and supplics, jons, stationery, etc. The suggestion of the ility that men may be found fo render their s to the city a8 municipal oflicers und em- ployes, withont compensation, which has been re- soriad 10 as u relief from the ofherwise insupcrable difliculty in which the city is involved by the con- stitutional prohibition azainst its contracting to pay salaries or wages to such officers and ¢m- n)oi'cs— his suzgestion caunot apply to the case of euch materialsind eupply, and ie, certninly, not ayailable to relieve the eiiy trom the practiéal in- ability to ootain such supplies which is imposes on it by the conetitutional prohibition against its he- coming indebted—or, in_other words, against its contracting any obligution to pay money in any manner or for any purpose, FFor it may ve assutned 58 a certaintyy in the eye of the law, that no one will make u donation of such materials or eupplies to the city, or deliver them to the city for its kse or consumption, with- ont some contrict on the part of the recipient, cither oral or written, express or implied, to pay the price of them, at Some time in the futufe, cither nearor remote. It may be conceded as possible, thouzh not as probable, that there may be persons wao will fur- nish the city with such needed materials and sup. plies and agree to watt for the payment of £ etipulated price of them for twelve or eicht months from the date of their delivery,—that until the city hns collected the taxes levied and ap- Y,mpm\tcd for the expenses of the current year, ut, even in that case, the constitutional prohibi- tion will be violated according to the construction of it by the Supreme Court. For no one wili dis- pule the propokition that the very mowment such materials and supplies are dehvered by their owner to the city, uvon an agreement on the part of the latter to puy thelr etipulated vrice 2t any time in the future, that moment the city has incurred an obligatiun to pay money. Having then incurred such an obliration, and being previously indebted to the constittional limit, the city bas ** become indebted ™ in violation of the constitntional prohi- bition, as interpreted by the Supreme Court. For that Co in its late decia- jon. uses ze: ““Nor could the {ramers of the nic law have intended to use the term™ (that is, the words become indebted) -¢1n the sense that the sum must be dne 1o be an indebteduess, a5 that would hsve created no limit whatever, a8 such debts are seldom, if ever. due when they are crested. To so hold ‘would abrogate this provision, and wholly defeat the intention of the framers of that section and of the people in adopting it. Tt would render the effort to limit city and municipal indebledness futile, and defeat the supreme will of the State thay clearly aud dehberately_expressed. ™ From this extract it1s evident the Supreme Conrt recoznized the fact that the word debl has two dif- ferent senses: that in its .morc restricted and literal sense it meansa sum of money which has become actually due and owing by reason of a failore to pay it, at the time stipulated therefor,. by the party who has contracted &elf to Thake sach payment. and "o qoed i poitazzd and less Jjtaral <ense Jt means a cont: Emirgeres Mo antia oo 1t 06308 2 ct or nl:fignliun to pays ceriuin -3airaiSly rature time, whether neat or remote, Tt is a debt, in the latter and not in the former of these two eenses, which tho Supreme Court eays a city already indebted to the conetitutions] Iimit is forbidden o contract, fn_sny manmer or for any urpoce; that is, it holds thatany city so previous- ¥ indebied to the limit prescribed is forbidden 1o make any farther contract, o incur any farther onligation, to pay money at any subsequent time, near or remote, no matter in what manner or for what purpose such obligation may be incarred. But it {8 well known that a debt in_the sense of an_ obligation or contract to pay a sum of money ats future time docs Dot Wait to become a debt until the time fixed for the payment of the sum obligated or contracted t8 be paid, but is & debt froui the time th obligation upon which it ariscs is entered Into, Hence, according to the Sapreme Cout, nny obligation to pay money at a fatare fime Incirred Dby @ city after tha constitutional Timit to fts power to become fndebted has been reacbed ix o debt forbidden by tho Constitution, and, therefore, null and void from the very mo- ment it is entercd into. In their view, it is strangled by the Conetitution in its very birth, ‘Such being the nature and necessary effect of the definition which the Supreme Court gives of the kind of indebtedness which is forpidden by the constitutional prohibition, it follows necessarily thut, when a clty already indebted to {he constita- tional limit obtains materls and supplics from any one, even upon an understanding or agreement that they ‘shall not be paid Tor until the taxes Ievied and aporopriated for the expenses of the current fiscal year ehall have been collccted, such city becomes instantly indebtod in violation of the constitutional_probibition, but the indebtedness 80 incurred is annulled by the orcanic law the very instant it is contracted. The contract, whataver its form. by which such indebtedness on the part of the city was vainly attempted to be created, being thus snnulled by the Consttution us soon as made, the owner of the materiafs and supplics 50 delivercd to the City DArtawith them upon s contract which imposes no legal obligation on the city, and upon which he can never recover any judzment in any conrt. Morcover, when, ut the ond of twelve or eirhtecn months, the taxes levied and appropriuted for the expenses of the then cur- Tent year have been collected, and the contingency bas arrfved npon whose occurrence the stipulated price was to be puid, neither the Comptroller nor the Treasurer have any authority to pay such price, but, on the contrary, ate forbidden by the Constitutton and the laws fodo so. Tor the con- tract upon which said price is probosed to be paid was annulled in the Qrst moment of its inception by the Constitation, which forbid it to be made, and, consequently, has never had an exwstence as alegal obligation sininst the city from the making of such contract down to the final moment ap- pointed for the payment of the price, 1o allow the Comptroller, therefore, to lssue his warrant on the Tressuror for the payment of such prico ont of taxes levied and coliected under the luw for Inwful corporate purposes only wouid be fo au- thorize those ofifcera to_repeat by the payment of & foroldden_contract that violation of the Cons stitution which had been first committed in the making of it. IN VIEW OF TUESE RESULTS, G which are tho necessary and logical consequences of the construction placed by the Supreme Conrt upon the prohivition of our Covstitution, will it b believed that the city can obtain the maferials and supplics it may need n any other way than by pay- ing for thew at the time of their delivery, or will it,"under such circumstances, be_denied_ that the city is thereby deprived of all degal ability to ob- 1aip them otherwise than for cash? Whether sho can poy caeh for them ot not, as she may necd them, {8 o question which will'be hereinafter dis- cussed. What we have here said in rezard to contracts for materinls and supplies entered into by a eity al- ready indebted for as much a3 tiie Constitution ). Jows ie‘equally trucin regard to coniracts for light- ing the cily with 2ae, for buiiding sewers, foropen- ing nnd closing bridges, as well as )l contracts on £l purt of the city with its oflicers and other cm- ployes for the payment of thoir respective salarles orwazes, 1In the case of cachand all of these sev- cral contracts the Coustitution, according 1o the interpretation placed upon it by the Supreme Court, s Brat violated in the making of them, and must, therefore, be azuin violated in the puyiment of any mones upon them, if such psyment should be made out of any proceods in the 1 Treasury of taxes levied and coliectad, such taxes being collected and availuole for_lawfal corporate purposes only, and not for the discharge of any pretended obliga: tions on the part of the corporation which it was forbidden by the supreme luw of the State to con- tract, and which 1t would be an offense against that faw Lo consummate. For it must be noted that, by the sccond clause of the 62d section of Art.'V. of the Geperal In- corporation act of cities, which constitutes the present Charter of Chicigo, 1t is provided that *the City Council in Cities shall have power to ap- propriatc money for corporate purposes only, and yrrovide for payment of debts and expenses of the corporation.™ " The City Conncil of Chicago being thns empowered (o appropriate money for corporate purposes only, and (o provide for the payment of corporate purposes only. and Chicao being already indebted to the full constitutional limit at the time our present Constitution went into force. it follows that any indebtedness contracted, or any obliga- tions o pay money incnrred by her, i any man- ner or for any purpose, I forbidden by the Conuti- tution, as the same is interpreted by the Supreme Court, and, therefore, isnot **a corporate debt " for which the City Council is cmpowered to pro- vide asapove, and not one of the ‘*corporate purposes ™ for which said Council is_anthorized to ‘appropriate money ont of the City Treasury. The City Council of Chicago, therefore, caunot, withont vioJating the Constitution and the present City Charter, appropriate any moucy for the pay- ment of any sums which the city may bave become obligated to pay to any peréun upon any contract on its part, expressed or_implied, oral or written, with such person for materials and supplies, or for the salary of an oflicer or clerk, or for tha wages of an employe or laborer. nd, as the City Council cannot make any law- ful appropriation for any such nnlawful und non- corpurate purpose, the Comptroller cannat draw a warrant on the Treasury for the vayment of the price of materials and supplies, or of the salaries or wages which the city has become obligated to 2y upon contructs for that purpose which it has Dean Torvidden by the Coustitation to make. Since, 16 drawing auch a warant for the faifll- ment of an_unconstitational void, and, therefore, Tnon-corporate contract. on the vart of the city, he knowingly violates the ofiicial oath which ho is Tequired by Sec. 75 of the City Charter to take, and which reads: **I dosoleninly swear [or aflirm as the case may be] that 1 will support the Consti- Tution of the United States, and the Constitution of Jllinole, " and how can e draw a warrant for the discharze ‘of an oblization of the city which the State Constitution peremptorily forbids, according to the Supreme Conrt's interpretation of it, with- out himeelf violating that Constitution, and there- by his colemn _oath to support it in the discharge of i3 oflicial duties, Nor can our reasoning_on this point be answered by the sugzcation that ofiicors for the city may be clected or appointed, and may qualify and act in their offices, without the city entering into any formal or express contract to pay. them their re- epective salaries; that agents and employes muy be employed by the city without any express con- tract to'puy them their wages. For we have al- ready shown in a previous part of this argument that the law iteelf creates s contract or oblization on the part of the city to pay an oflicer of the city his ealary from the fact. viz., that he has been elected orappointed in accorddnce with the Charter, has qualifica and entered upon his oftice and per- formed its Guties, und that the Iaw also raises an oblization on the part of the city to pay cach of its respective employes and agents a reasonable com- pensation in n reasonable time for services ren- dered by them to the city at its request, though neither their waves nor the time of tleir payment be fixed by an express or specific agreement be- tween them and it, We have shown the eame to be truc in respect to ‘materials and sunpijes obtained from any one by the clty for its own nees unless the said materials and supplics be expressly dosated to the city free of all charge. And in this connection ft may be approprintely remarked that the Charter would ecem to require that the city shall obtiu_materials and supplies for 1ts corporate use, by express contract betsween the city and the party who farnished them. For Clause 94 of Sec. 62 of the City Charter says: **The City Conncil shall have power 1o provide, by orainance, that all the paper, print- ing, stationery, blanks, fucl, and all the suplics needed for the ‘use of the city, #hall be farnished Dy cantruct, let to the lowest bidder." BY THE FOREGOING I HAVE DEMONSTRATED, a1 conceive, that a city already indebted to the consticutional limit cannot huve, for the conduct of ite municipai_government, any paid oflicers, clected or apnointed, and ncting for the city, without necexearily incurring an oblization to yay them their salarics, ubon some contract, either express or implied by Jaw to_that effect. nor any uld employcs, agents, laborers, o others, rondar- Ths sotvices v the elty, at its request, withont in curring an oblieation to compensate them for such kervice, cithier upon on express contract to that ef~ fect, or upon one implied by law from the fact of theiF serving the city at its request, and that the city can obtain none of the supplics or materialy needed for the discharge of its corporate duties and the maintenance of its corporate government without_ incurring an_odlizution to the furnish~ crs thereof: to pay them some price for such articles, at some time in the juture, which price ana time wil] be determined eitlicr by express con- tract orone created by Jaw. upon the basis of the furnisher's riht to 4 roasonable price in a reuson- able time, unices the owner of such supplies shali make a present of them to the city. 1 hove also shown that, according to our Sn- preime Conrt’s construction of the constitutional prohibision now under discussion, no city in the State of lllinoie which i4 already inacbied o the full constituionn] limit can incur an obligation tonny of its officers elccted or_appointed to pay them their salarics, or to any of its employes of sny kind, to pay them for thete services and labors in its business, or to any one to pay them any price at any time for material or supplies furnish- ed to the city at its request without thereby **be- coming indebted™ in some manner and for some purposc within the meaning of the prohibition contined in the Constitution, nor, therefore. without violating the command of toe Constit tion, which, according to the Supreme Conrr, for- bidsthe incurral of any sacn additional indebted- ness or_obhgations to pas on the partof acity already indebted to the limt allowed. FROM TIE TWO PROPOSITIONS THUS PROVEN, thie conclusion follows inevitably that a city al ready indebted to the limit allowed by the Cothsti- tution of 1870, at the time that Constitution went into force (as Chicago and_other citiea of the State were known to be by the Convention. cannot havean officer of any kind, @ clerk, laborer. po- liceman, or Greman, or employe of any kind, unless they pay such officers und employes in arf- zance for the serrices to de afterards réndered by them, or unless such officers and emploves volun- teer fo serve the city gratuitously. §hap “anless they re paid n advance for thels services, ” otc., because, if not pald in advance, - they cannot be lawfully paid at all, according to the Supreme Court’s own decision. 'Far the Court soys, a city doos not_**bocome indebted” within the meaning of the Constitation by simply fmling 10 pay a promised -amount when it falls due (for that would render the prohibition futile), but by oblizating itaelf to pay money at all, at any fature time, in any manner, or for any purpose. Accord- ing tothis interpretation, then, by the Court of the words **shall not be allowed to become indebted ™ in the Constitution, the city violates the Constitu- tution when it obliates itself, either expressly or impliedly, to pay an_ofiicer, oran employe, his salary at the end of a month, & quarter, or a year, that fs, the violation dates from the commence- menof such month, quarter, or year, and not at the end of it when thero is failure to pay, if sncn failure occurs. _The Constitution being thus vio- lated, according to the Supreme Coart, at the very firat moment tho city contracts or incars an obliga- tion to pay its ofiicets or employes any amount, at any time; that is as con as they enter upon their employments or oflices at ‘the city's request, that is at the commencement of the month, quarter. or year, for which they are coguged, it “follows inovitably that _af the “city “actually pays such - ofiicers ‘or cmployea at the end of the month, quarter, or year for which they have served_the city,.it, then, Vio- Iutes the Constitution a second time,” by paying a ‘money obligation, or debt, which, the Supreme Court eays, is forbidden andavoiaed by the Con- stitution, which nover had any lawful existence, o dob o obligation of the city, and 18, therefore, not a corpotate debt for which the Comprroller is anthorized to draw a warzant on the City Treasuty, to be paid out of taxes levied and collccted, under he law, for orporate purposes only, und. there. fore not lawfully apphcable to the payment of debts contracted in defiance of the organic law. We have thus demonstrated this proposition, that under tho prohibition in our Constitution, it is interpreted by our Supreme Court, no city, which, 1ike Chicago and others, is alrendy indebted to the'constitutional limit, can lawfully nrocure the officers nnd cmoloyes; beeded to carry om it Munlcipal Goversment.” unless such officers and employes volunteer to serve the city without pay, or unless they are paid in advanee for the servicos agreed to be atterwards rendered by them: and, also, that such a city cannot obiain any of the ma- terials and supplies needed for its corporate pur- poses, unless they are donated by the parties far- nishing them. ‘THE QUESTION NOW ARISES, whetherit is practicable fora city, already fndebted to the conatitutional limit, to pay its ofiicers and employes In advance of the eervices to be ren- dered by them, and to pay for its needed muterials and supplics at the time of their purchaset To do this, it must have money in the City Treasury law- fully applicable to that purpose, and lawfully ap- propriated thorefor. Dut how can such s city ob- tain the money required for the eaid purposes, without violating the Jaw, it not being authorized t0 obtain it by any means that are illegul® 1t cannot obtain it by borrowing money on'a long- time loan, such as would necessitatethe levy and appropriation of o tax to mect the annual accruing nterest thereon. ¥or, in var opinion, that is the very kind of borrowing, and tha only one, which was wiended to be forbidden, beyond a certain Hmit. by the prohibition in_our Constitation, and whichour Suprema Court, a far higherauthority than ouricives, says i8 probibited. Inour opinion, it can be borrowed on & temporury loan, payable sith- inthe current fiscal yuar, and by way of antici- puting the colfection of the taxes levied and ap- propriated for that sear and for the pirposcs to which the proceeds of such loan are applicd. But the Snpreme Court gays that even such a foan s forbidacn If it fmposcs_any oblization on the city iteclf to pay it, and it g their opinion, not mine, which must prevail in this mattor, and it is their oplion, ot my oVm, Wiose ellects [m now dis- cuesing, 1f thio City Council conld lery and appropri- ate, at the commencement of one flscal year, ail the taxes required to mect the entire expenses of that year, and, also, of the three o four yeats suc- ceedfng if, and then commence to collect the whole of the taxes for all of suid years, forthwith, then there might be eome possible chance to raise money to pay {n advance. BUT THERE ARE NUMEROUS OBSTACLES, both lezal and practical, to the success of any such extraordfnary plan. We will enumerate a few of them: First—Itwould bo illegal. For Sec. 89 of the act for the zeneral incorporation of cities and villages, which s the prosent. chiarter of Chicaco and of mostof the other citics in_this State, provides that ** the City Councll in cities, and the Board of Trustees in villages, shall, witbin the first quarter of ench fiscal year, pass an ordinance. to be termed the annual appropriation bill, in which such corpo- rate authorities may appropriato such sum or sums of money 28 may bs deemed neceeary to defray alf necessary expenscs and linbititics of such corpon tion; aud in such ordinauco shall specify the oo- jects and purposes for which such approvriations are made, and the amount appropriated for each object of purpose,” &c. This scction evidently requires the levy and apropriation of taxcs in each city to be made, at the commence- meot of each year, to meet the necessary expenecs of the Corporation for that year only. Sec. 111 of the same act evidences the same intent etill more cleurly, if that is possible. o, alio, with Sec. 122 of the General evenue law of the State, and many other of its scctions. At the'time of thé adontion of the constitution of 1870, most, if not nll, the cities of tho State, including Chica~ g0, were governed vy special charters. [t may Safely be asserted that, in none of these charters, were the corporate authorities empowered to levy aud appropriate taxes otherwise than snuually, and for the necessary expenses, ctc., of the tuen current fecal veor, - It may also bo’ asserted, with cqual confidence, that, in none of the States: have thieir constitations ond laws suthorized State or municipal taxes to be levied, appropriated, or col- lected otherwise than annudlly, and _only enouzh tomeet the estimated necessary expenses of the year durfug which such levies and_appropriatio were made. Nor bas it been customary for muni ipal coryorations to levy and mppropriate their taxes, fn any other way than annually, from the earlic<t colonial times to the present. This was, undountedly, known to the framers of the cons tution of 1870, and the prohibition therein co tafned wust_have been framed with & view to_this universal and louz-cstablished course of Statesand corporations in respect to the levy and appropria~ tion of tuxes. Second—The _taxpayers of any city, whose authorities might attempt to levy, appropriate, and collect within one fiscal year ihe taxes ro- quired to mect the expenses, notonly of the then current year, bnt also of several successive oncs, would be unable to pay all the_taxes so levied, on those for more than one year, without serious em- barrassment Lo all and fter ruin to many of them, and they wonld, therefore, resist, with all their might, the cxecution of a scaeme do disastrous to their private interest, no matter what might be the ‘prowmised benetits of it to the public. Third~The chronic tax fighters and- their at- torneys would exult in such a favorable opportun- ity for the practice of their pecaliar modes of war- fare, ‘But cnough bas been said to demonstrate the UTTER IMPRACTICABILITY of a city's thus obtaining money to puy in advance. Can money to pay tho ealarics of oflicers and the wages of employes. in advance of the services to be rondered by them. and to pay caeh on delivery for supplies (as we hiave shown is_necessary under our constitution as it is construed) be realized by means of collections of the taxes lovied und appro- priated for the ofe yeur, during whichsaid cash advances have to be made to the city? Emphatically,no! It fs utterly impossible to ob- tain the needed funds in this way. ~In bis late message to the Council, Mayor Heath states, vers Correctly, that the takes which are mow being Tovied and appropriated by the Council to meet the necessary expenses of the present fscal year will not begin to be collected until Jannary. 1879, nearly twelve months hence, while the entire col- Tection of €0 much of them as can_be collected at all will not be completed before November, 1879, nearly two years hence. Tlow can any man with the smallest ehare of common eense indulge the delusive idea that the city authoritics can realize ont of the collection of the taxes levied for this year the means of meet- ing, not only when they may be due under con- tract, but_of paying inadvance (2 the Supreme Court decision compels them to do), the expenses of the present year: Yet Mayor ilcoth's statement in regard to the collection of ourcity taxes corresponds eubstan- tinlly with what has been, and is now, the history of 1ax-collections in every city in the State of Tli- nois, If not 10 everr city in the United States. No convention, Legislaturc, or court has ever held. or will ever hold, it as practicable for a_city to meet. 2s they arise, the expenses of any year outof the collections exclusively made of the taxes levied and appropriated for such year, The Supreme Court of New York has nscd the following lanzuage on this subject: **Municipal corporations optain their funds, for the most part, periodically, by means of aunual taxation, and it 1% impossible, by sny degree of care, to adjust their means 10 their wants so accurately bat that exzencies will arise rendering necessury a resort to the credit of the corporation. ™ "A8 to the susgestion that the Government of this and other cities of the State similarly situated may be sdminisiered by means of volunteers, oflicers and employes réndering their services eratuitously, and withont any agreement for futnre poy ot any time (such an agrcement being unconstlitiona),’ and (hat its needed materiala and suoplics mas be donated by patriotic citizens, e need not hiere add to the remarks aizeady made on that subject, for we are confident that no Court, in discnssing the constitutional bearings of fhe prohibition under considcration, would give a ‘moment's consideration 0 a suggestion 50 1mprob~ able and vizionary as that a_ City Government can Do ron by means of unoaid oficinls, gratuitons Jaborers. and donated Fupplies. We have therefore demonstrated that, under our comstitationnl prohibition, s it is interpreted by our Supreme Court, no city in the State, slready fhilebred 1o the constitutional fimit, can bave any. ofticers or employes; or obtain auy materials or Supplies, withont violating the sunrcme law of the Stite, aé well as 1ts own charter powers. WHAT 13 THE FINAL RESULT OF ALL Titis! Neither Chicago, nor any other city indebted to {he fnil constitutional limit, can carzy on its ma- nicipal government, or continue its cxistence 2 an actual working corporation, without hourly and daity violatfons of the Constitition of the State, as it has been interpreted by our hiznest judicil tri- bunal. Withont the posver, under that Constita- tion, #o construcd, to oblizate itscl{ byan ordi- pance of sppropriation. or in any other manner, to To pay the salary of any oflicer, or the wagcs of an emplaye.—cqually disabled from afterwards paylng the salaries of wages do unlawlully contracted for, even when the moucy unlawfully appropriated therefor ahall come into the Treasury (for that \will be paving a debt contracted in dofiance of the Constitition), —with no lawful power to have offi- cers or cmployes at all. unless she para them in advance for the eervices they are o subsequently fender (as we base previously demonstrated), with no constitntional authority to procare ma- terials or supplics withont paying cash for them on delivery, unicss they arc donated and, that cannot bu relicd on us possible,—forbidden to borrow mozey, on long or short time, to comply with the stern demand of the Supreme Court 38 the author- ized interpreters of the Constitation, that it shall not even pay salaries and wages for services that have been alresdy rendered, but must pav for them in advance of thelr befng rendered,—withaut the lawful power to accamalate the means to 50 pay in advance by levying the taxes of several years one; unable to bezin the collection of her taxes for the carrent vear in less than twelve months from their levy; noable to anticipate their collec- on, —the cily can perform no one of its corporate fanctions, can draw not one moment’s vital breath, without ontraging the law, and Is doomed, by the sentence of a misinterpreted: Constitation, to_im- ‘mediate death, Forit is not entitled to any other than s Jawful life. It must, therefore, live on in deflance of the law, or else discharge all its officers, employes, laborers, policemen, and firemen, ex- tingnieh its sirect-lamos, expose oar dackemed and unguarded strects to the easy assaults of the assassin, the garroter, and the purglar, and inang- Tence ina posniatonof Salr s i, micssyie: pulation o a millio a0y of the worst men om ¢arthy | OO And, when the City Government nas thus been shorn of all lawful power to perform any of its corporate functions, where, 1n the whole municipal community, either individually or collectively, will reside the lawfal anthority to levy, appropri- ate, and collect taxes, or apply the proceeds of the same to the payment of ejther the principal or in- terest toany of onr municipal debts, contracted prior to the adoption of our present State Consti- tntion, and, therefore. lezal and obligatory on the cits, doapite the prohibition in 1hat Consiitation. which has thus, throngh theagency of an erroneous mterpretation, ' deprived the city of all legal ap- pliances for paying them? 1S IT NOT EVIDENT, . 1n view of what we have sald, that the prohibitton againat municipal indebtednese, if it really means what the Supreme Coart has decided it does, is a 1aw of this State impairing the oblization of con- tracts, within the meanine of that' clause of the Federal Coastitation which says, **No State shall Bass any law imparing the obllgation of contracts™? For this ia clear, beyond all dispute, that it de- prives the holders of our city obligations incarred prior to the Constitation of 1870 of a1l remedy for realizing them. and the City Government of all law!ful means for paying them, _Andlet it here oe repeated that it has been de- cided that **thero is no difference in principle be- tween alaw that impairs the obligation of & con- tract in terms, and one that produces the same effect fn the construction and practical execution of it,"—a decision which accords with common sense as well as law. Ourarznment on this point derives additional force from the fact that there is another clause in our present Constitution which provides chat “*private propercy shall not be liable to be taken or sold for the pavment of the corporate debt of a municipal corporation.” For this clauee takes away from the lawful creditars of our city & reme- dy for the recovers of their constitionally con- tracted debts, whichthey possessed as comman law and under our former Constitutions, and thereb) intensifies the grievous injary done 1o those cred- itors by that other clause of the same instrament, whoase practical effect, as conatrued. 13 to deprive onr City Government of all lawful means and and power to provide by taxatlon for the payment of gither the peincipal o nterest of thoir lawful et We' are now confronted with this alternatiye: Either the Supreme Court has eered in 1ts construc- ton of our constitntiona) prohibition, or else that probibition iteeff {s a luw {mnniring the obligations ofa contract within the muaning of the Federal Constitation. Wherein the Court has erred we muy show hereafter. One great error the Court hios committed i3 inso construing the constitu- tlonal scction as to find uo sensible signification for the word -* allowed, " which occupies o most con~ epienone place in the Janguage of that section, and which, when considered in_connection with the proviohs bistory of the muncipalitics of the State n respect to corporate debts, discloses what was the mischief the Constitntion ' intended to correct. More of this anoz, Jomat, THE RAILROADS. . ILLINOIS CENTRAL. The annual report of the Illizols Central Raiiroad has just been finished. ftis a highly interesting document and well worth reading. Toe Directors’ report to the sharcholders is as follows: In view of the exhanstive report on the affairs of this Compuny, made Jast epring by the foreien delesates selccted by a joint committee of Enzlish and Eutch sharcholders, it is nunecessary now to enter into particalars tonching the adverse influ- ences which had disturbed the operations of this line. The Directors have the pleasurc to report a much improved result for the yoar 1877, chlefly owing to greater cconomy in expenditures. Iron ‘and stecl have declined to a lower point than was conceived possible a few years since, and there has buen a large reduction in'the prices of nearly ail raflway supplies. The deuils of operation, eleewhere given, show net carnings for last year $2,546,501.39, an in- crease over the net of 1870 of $101,785.08. Owinz 10 the exceptionally mild and rainy weather, pro- longed into midwinter, rendenng the highways impassable, the traffic of 1877 aid not have the benetit of the largy harvest. - The corn crop in Ti- nois alone is estimated at 270,000,000 bushels, and the wheat crop at 32,500,000 bushels. The greater part of this still remains to_make trafiicin some form for the railways. e may look for increased busincss not only fn ‘the shipment of grain, but also of cattle, pork, and provisions, the result of & large corn crop. At the sugzestion of the foreign deleates, the diviaend dates were_changed from February and Angust to March and Scptember, in order to asoid danger of error In estimating net traflic for each haifof the fiscal year. The net receipts for 1877, from traflic _and lands, amounted to S2,- 654,607.S. Ont of this sum were paid two dividends, each of 2 per cent, $1,160,000, and the nterest on the fundéd _debt, $§352,990.49, leaving a balance of £911,706.89. Deduct the sum disbarsed for permanent expendi- tures in Tilinois, $74,605.70, and the amount nsed to establish the Insurance Pund, 4,000, and there remains a balance nuapphed Dec. 31, 1877, of §700,103.19. It will thus be seen that the bal- ance brought forward from the vear's lncome car- responds nearly to o third dividend. During the year $154,000 bonas have been paid, reducing’ the Tunded debtof the Company to 510,508, 000. n July last this Company assumed temporary charge of the line formerly known as the Gilman, Clinton & Springfield Kailroad, with the under- standing thut the entire receipts shauld for the balance of the year be laid out upon tne progerty. The new Company which has since succeeded to the possession of that property is known ae the ** Chi- cago & Springfleld Railroad Company,” and from it the 1llinois Central Company bas now taken the Iease of the sbove-mentioned line. The consider- ation for ts control. practically made permanent, is $1,000,000 Illinois Centrai G per cert currency bondk, to' be fasued in the course of the next month, secured by a morigaze on the 112 mites of road between Gilman and Spring- fletd. This mortznze, made by the Chicago & Springficid Railroad Company, admits of the issur, from time to time, of $%00,000 additional Bonds, tobe used as may be forind mecessary in improvement of that live. This lcase is pursuant to recommendatfons of the foreixn delecates, and insures a valuable fecder to the tralfic of the main line. In the riots which occurred at Chiengo fu July, growing out of a strike originated by the emploves of other railway lincs, this Company hapoily es- caped loss or damage to any of its property, and retained the confidence and_eupport of its entire force during that trying period. ‘The final decree of the Court confirming the con- solidated morteuge bondholders in possexsion of the New Orleans line, was entered in November Tast, and the final transfer by the Receiver to the purchasers was made on the 313t December. The transfer of the Tennessee Disision necessitated yasment in full of the deat to the State. Since Lot »nuary the entirc line, extending from New Or- feans 0 the Ohio River, has been under the control of Mr. James C. Clarke, our Vice-President, Mr. Clarke has made repairsto the plant, brizges, and other structures, and has relaid neariy 200 mifes of the track. Ten thousand tons of steel rails will be laid the coming, spring. It proposed to extend tne linc two and a half miles up the Ohio River, to a point opposite the Iflinois Central freight de- Dot, by the 1st of Augustnext. The money de- rived from the trafiic of the road has been used, unaer the orders of the Court, partly jn vaying Jocal debts and partly in improvement of the prop- erty. This Company has advanced, for like neces- sary purposes, about $1,000,000, awainst which it holds 21,138,000 of weil-gecured bonds of the Southern Company, of lien prior to that of our previousinvestment. Our Company will also hala nearly three-quusters of the capital stock of the new Southern Consolidated Company. Tiie traflic, w7en during this traasition veriod” of 1877, hus shown a decided gam, and our deliveries of freight at Cairo, destined to the Sonth, increasea nearly 50 per cent besond thosg of 1876, [ne subject of the investmeut in thix New Orleans line was so thoroughly treated in the report of the forclzn defegates that your Directors have slmply to_call attention to the vastly improved condition of New Orleuns and the State of Lonisiana under their present Lome Government, with their commercial pusition s0 entirely changed by the _sccomplised fact of deep warer thronzh the jetties. New Or- leans is mow a frsi-class port for vassels of the Jargest draft, and will command its chare of the exports of the United States to Europe. We expect to carry to that port a fair proportion of the exportadie prodace of the Miselssinpi Valley. To Towa the indicatlons of public sentiment to- sward_railways are more favorable. The effect of injudicious lezislation on the ntercsta of the State has been 3o severely felt by the people that ihere is s probability of repeal of the unwleeand re- strictive faws whici crippled the railways of the State and forbade farther investment of capital. The Directors regret not. being able to advive any reault to their efforts to reach a deflnite settlement with the owbpers of 3the Jowa line. whose demands have been greater,tban the Board conld justly meet. Formany years we have had close relations with the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railway, on whick forcclosare procecdings are now in prozress. The manazers of that progerty evidently desirc to con- rolidate it with _the Wabush Railway, This s in conflict with our interests, and we are endeavoring 10 retain our ehare of the trafiic passing throngh Gilman, which should properly o to Cnicago. Finally, iv regard to the competition of several years past between water communication from Chicago enstward and the trunk railways, ~which latter determined at one time to take the traflic from Nllinols to the seaboard, regardless of cost or profit,—it 1s_well aettled that the inter-: ways have played a losinz game. Durinz eicht months of water commanication tie facilities for taing freight by water are s0 much improved that the actua] cost of waler_ transporiation to the ses- board is less than half the actua} cost of rail trans- portation. It is admitted that the ontlsys made to lucrease the cartying capacity of the rallways have been Kmnxuvrfi-enfi’ aud since the redaction of the tolls mpon the Erie Camal by the State of New York, ¢heap water communication is 80 firmly established that the effort to take freizht by rail daring the summer months has failed, ay indicated oy the re- ports of several of tho leading rallways.” Duringz the contest freight was carried in_ large volume at aboat half the actual cxpense incurred. 1t can Lardly bo expested that the public will loan mora money to tenesw this conteat, which has %o serd disturbed the valne of railway propersien " 00T Chicazo is, and must continue to be, the zreat iniand port.” The tonnage of vessels going in and out of Chlcazo last yesr wus 6,385,413 tons, With 3,000,000 of population tn Iliinois, and 3.000.000 or 4,000,000 In the States west and norch of i, its Iocation as the nearest outlet to surpius producta of that large population cstablishes it permanently as second only to New York in its Importance as a commercial centre. Your Directors have had the pleasare to elect Mr. Willlam ‘K. Ackerman to the Presidency of this Company, a positfon which he has earnea by twenty-five years of faithful service. . The annual meeting of snarcholders will take :hcs at Chicago on the last Wednesday of May exi The report of Traflic-Manager Josepn F. Tacker eives the following comparative state- ment of earnings for the years 1877 and 1876z - Earnings . 1ST5. oterother roads, Total. 187 - 4,063,752 $486,653 $4. 555,405 54,738, 355 1,440,974 13300974 1,624511 56,196,003 $485,653 §6, 633,322 $7,000,680 The rates obtained for the transoortation of freight fn 1577 show an increase of 4100 of 1 ceat per ton per mile oyer those received 1 1876. The tonnage moved one mile in 1877 was 15,256,373 tons less than in 1576. Of the ton- Dage moved in 1577, 84 per cent swas local; while of that of the yea: 1576, 87 per cent was local. ‘The earnings from local frefzht in 1577 were 86 }i'er cent, as compared with 59 per cent fn 1876. he unsettled through ratesto the seaboard prevailing during the year necessarily had an cffect upon the local rates; more especially was this the case at junction points and adjacent stations. To some extent the force of this eir- cumstanee was neutralized by maintainine as harmonions relations as possible with the lines crossing. The full average wheat crop along the leascd iines in Iowa in 1877 gave fair resnlts as to traflic during the fall months. It is esti- mated that one-third of the wheat crop along tuesc lives is yet to be moved; also, the rreater portion of a laree corn and oat crop in_Illinois and Tows, which will probably await the open- ing of navization before beinz moved to any considerable extent. The report of Supt. Edward T. Jeffery shows a decreasc in operation expenses ot $723,199.61 for the year 1 i The report of the Land-Commissioner shows that Quring the year 1877 there wera sold 8,811.57 acres of the donated lands to 204 ver- sons for $62,516.31. Averazo to each purchaser, 48.19 acres: average price per acre, $7.12. Do- pated town lots were sold to tne amouut of $857.10. Contracts were canceled for 2,161.06 acres. The numberof deeds issued was 216, for 15,476 acres. The whole area convesed to date, 2,212,421.06 acres, leavinz 833,578.04 neres unconveyed. Purchased lands sold for 76.16acres, $2.016.6¢. Total sales of donatea Innds‘ 2,308,719.67 acres, leaving unsold 286,230.33 acres! ¢ COUNTER CLAIM. Special Disputch to 2he Chicago Tribune. Quixcy, 1L, Feb. 16.—~The Hannibal & St. Joe Railroad Company has commenced sult against Gen. Singleton, In New York, for $65,000, which it is allered was wrongfully ob- tained from the Company in the building of the Atchison Branch, It is believed that the suit has no foundation other than as an offset £o the euit brougnt by the General in this city last faif for 50,000, which he claima the Company owes . Mr. Singleton is in New York, and it is reported that he was arrested ana compelled to, give heavy bonds for his appearance at the trial. FAST TRAINS. NEW YoRE, Feb. 18.~The Erie Raflway Com- pany will adoot a new time-table Feb. 25, put- ting on two new passenger trains. The Fase 8t. Louis Express wiil leave New Yorkat 6 p. m. daily, arriviog the next day at Cleveland at 2: . m., Detroft at 5:45, Toledo at 6:10, Indian- apolis at 11:20, and St. Louis at 8:30 the second morning. The new train East-bound will leave Niagara Falls at 7:05 5. m. and Buffaloat 8, in connection with the fast traine from tne West, 3!)!1 arrive in New York at 10:30 p. m. the same 8y, THE DANVILLE ROAD. The tirst train on the Danville route for Southern and Southeastern points leaves Chi- cago at 8:45 this evening. Thisis the shortest and quickest line to Danville, Terre Haute, Vincennes, Evansville, and Nashrille, and close connections are made for all other cities beyond the Ohio River. 1ITEMS. The Iilinois Central Railroad Company’s re- port for January is as follows: There were sold during the month of January, §23.18 acres of land for §5,449.00. The cash collected on land contracts was 38,638.47. The traffic on the main line in Illinois (707 miles) was $444,751, agalnst §367,401 in January, 1877, an increase of $7, or 21.1 per cent. There was also an increase on. the lowa Division of §35,167, making the gain on the entire line for the month 3TIZ517. In addition to the above ihe Springfield Division earned in January $19,507. Messrs. Clark and Vinint, of the Unfon Pacifie Railroad, bad a consultation yesterday wich the representatives of the Chicago & Northwestern and Chivago, Rock Island & Pacific in regard to the interchange of busincss betwees their re- spective lines. The troubles that have_existed for some time past in regard to the Nebraska and Colorado business were olso under discus- ston, but as far as can be learned no decisive action was taken. 1t is reported that the trains are to be with- Grawn from the Chicago & Canada_Sonthern Railroad and the rond abandoned, and tnere is much excitement aloue the line in consequence. The road is completed from Slocum Junction, Mich., southwest to Fayette, V., sixty-seven miles, and, it is stated, has never earned its op- erating expenses. ‘The Chicazo, Rock Tsland & Pacific Railroad Company has opened a freight contracting office at 56 Clark strect, under the Sherman House. Mr. T. B. Wolfe, Contracting Agent, has charge of the oflice. ——— LORD-HICKS. NEW Yorg, Feb. 16.~The difficalty between Thomas Lord, Sr., and his children growing out of the marriaze of that gentleman to Mrs. Hicks were brought to conclusion to-day by & scttlement betiween the parties. Negotintions looking to & compromise were opened shortly after the commencement of the proccedings to prove the bndegroom insane, and an agree- ment, it is eaid, was only brought about finally by the most enruest efforts on the part of emincnt counsel. After a great deal of dis- cussion and trouble, it was de«€i2d that Thomas Lord, Sr., should surrender his entire estate, including his real and personal property, to Clarence A. Seward, counsel for the owner, and Henrs L. Day, of the firm of Lord, Doy & Lord, counsel for the sons, they to hold i i trust and gy from it SIB00 per anoum to each of the children. Mrs. Lord sar- renders all right of dower to the estate, a0l acrees to receive nothing from it after the death of her husband, should she_survive him. The papers necessary to the setilement were druwn up sesterday by counsel for the parties. To-day <x-Judge John K. Porter, counsel for Mr. and Mrs. Lord, and Henry L. Day, counsel for the young Lords, bad o long confer- ence with the partics, aad the papers were duly sizned and verified this aftcrnoon. The estato of Thomas Lord, Sr., s said to amount to_over $2,000,000. Upon the death of the father it will €o to the children. Mrs. Lord 18 satd to ‘possess a fortune of over $300,000. A GOOD RIDDANCE, Special Dirpatch 1o The Chicaoo Trivune, ANs Arsog, Mich,, Feb. 16.—Jadge Hunt- inzton to-dny entered a final . decree in the Uni~ versity chancery suit against Rose, Donglass, and the suretfes of Rose. It requires that in- terest shall be paid on all suws in the hands of either defendant at the end of each flecal year, thus considerably iucreasing the judgment against each. Rose is held for $4,760.81, and Douglass for 31,820. Sixty days are allowed to pay the judgment, and in defsult of - payment on the part of cltier party execution will issue. ‘This decrec ends the case in the courts, except as to the question of costs between'the two de- fendants, which is reserved for decision till the March term of coart. Anattempt was made to again delay the final judgment, but the Hon. W. L. Webber, cguosel for the University, ef- fectoully prevented it. BUFFALO MARKET-DAYS, Easr Burraro, N. Y., Feb. 16.—Live-stock salesmen at this point have united in a circular to their consignors of cattlé, notifsing them of a contemplated change of "the principal market- days to Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, in- siead of the first three days of the week, as. 10w, to take effect March 7. “The chanze is de- manded by Eastern buyers and other constgnors for Monday’s New York markets - -- -