Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company's Petition

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania July 17, 1901

Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company's Petition, 200 Pa. 352 (Pa. 1901)

49 A. 797; 1901 Pa. LEXIS 500

Brown, McCollum, Mestrezat, Mitchell, Potter

Opinion of the Court

Opinion by

Mb. Justice Brown,

Our affirmance of the constitutionality of the act of Apjil 28, 1899, in Com. ex rel. Jones v. Blackley, 198 Pa. 372, disposes *359of one of the questions raised on this appeal. In the petition for the allowance of it, one of the reasons given was, that the act had been held to be unconstitutional by a divided court. It is true we were not unanimous; but four of the six members of the court who heard the case, our Brother Dean having been absent, concurred in the opinion filed by our Brother Mitchell, and it stands as the judgment of a majority of the whole court. The other question as to the repeal of the act of J une 12,1893, by that of April 28,1899, is free from difficulty. It seems clear that the two acts are not only repugnant, but that all the essential provisions of the former are supplied by the latter. We can add nothing to what the learned judge, specially presiding below, said upon this question, and, for the reasons stated by him, our judgment is that the act has been repealed. The appeal is dismissed and the decree of the Superior Court affirmed, at the cost of the appellant.

Reference

Full Case Name: Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company's Petition
Cited By: 6 cases
Status: Published
Syllabus: Constitutional law—Townships—Classification—Repeal of statutes—Act of April 28, 1899, P. L. 104. The Act of April 28, 1899, P. L. 104, entitled “ An act to provide for the classification of townships of the commonwealth with respect to their population into two classes, and to prescribe the form of government for townships of each class,” is constitutional. Statutes—Repeal of statutes—Acts of June 12, 1893, P. L. 451, and April 28, 1899, P. L. 104. The Act of April 28, 1899, P. L. 104, relating to the classification of townships into two classes repeals the Act of June 12,1893, P. L. 451, entitled, “ An act enabling the taxpayers of the townships and road districts to contract for making, at their own expense, the roads, and paying salaries of townships or road district officers and thereby preventing the levy and collection of road tax therein.”