Brown v. Tharpe
Brown v. Tharpe
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
This appeal involves the constitutionality of the act approved December 22, 1892, 21 Stat., 360, exempting a designated portion of Williamsburg County from the operation of the general stock law from the 15th day of December each year to the 15th day of April of the following year. The plaintiff and defendant are residents near the center of the exempted territory. The defendant in February, 1905, seized and impounded two cows of the plaintiff found upon his land, and, after notice, was proceeding to have the cattle advertised and sold by a magistrate, when the plaintiff brought this action in claim and delivery before magistrate W. P. Baldwin. The defendant sought to justify his seizure of the cattle on the ground that the exemption from the general stock law was unconstitutional.
The magistrate sustained the act and found judgment against defendant, and this judgment on appeal was affirmed by the Circuit Court, Judge Klugh, from which defendant appeals, alleging the unconstitutionality of the act in the particulars which we now consider.
The statute in question merely exempts the designated territory from the operation of the general stock law for the time specified and does not undertake to legislate in any other respect. If it be competent for the legislature to prescribe police regulations for a particular locality, any inconvenience which' results to those living near the boundary line because of their proximity thereto must be borne as. the natural consequence of the valid legislation. The case of Goodale v. Sowell, 62 S. C., 524, 40 S. E., 970, shows that it was not unconstitutional for the legislature in 1892 to enact a statute exempting certain portions of a county from the operation of the general Stock law. The statute applies equally to> all within the' exempted territory. The equality clauses of the State and Federal Constitution are not violated when all within a designated and reasonable classification are treated alike. State v. Berlin, 21 S. C., 296; Utsey v. Hiott, 30 S. C., 365, 9 S. E., 338; Simmons v. Telegraph Co., 63 S. C., 430, 41 S. E., 521; Johnson v. Spartan Mills, 68 S. C., 356, 47 S. E., 695.
3. It is further contended that the statute violates art. I., sec. 23, of the Constitution of 1868, and art. I., sec. 17, of the Constitution of 1895, in that it takes private property for private and public use without the consent of the owner and without compensation. This question is concluded against appellant by the case of Goodale v. Sowell, 62 S. C., 516, 40 S. E., 970.
The exceptions are overruled, and the judgment of the Circuit Court is affirmed.
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- 1. Personal Rights — Constitution.—Sec. 12., Art. I., of Constitution, of 1868, applies to personal rights. 2. Conflict of Laws. — Inin.—The act, 21 statute, 360, exempting certain portions of Williamsburg County from the operation of the general stock law for a certain time of the year does not violate the equality clauses of the State and Federal Constitutions, in imposing upon citizens in the exempted portion the burden of fencing their cultivated lands, when same is not required of other citizens of the county, and in compelling citizens along the boundary line to pay the penalty if their stock go across the boundary line. 3. Statutes. — Court cannot declare a statute void because (1) lines of territory described as exempted from a certain law is not clearly defined; (2) it contains no adequate and effective remedy for carrying out its provisions; (3) consequences of act are against common right and reason.