State ex rel. Northern Pacific Railway Co. v. Hughes
State ex rel. Northern Pacific Railway Co. v. Hughes
Opinion of the Court
The appellant is the mayor of the town of Sumas, which is a municipal corporation of the fourth class, in Whatcom county. Under the law of this state relating to such towns, the mayors thereof do not possess any veto power as to ordinances passed by the town council; but upon the lawful passage of ordinances by the council, it becomes the duty of the mayor to sign the same. Bal. Code, § 1012 (P. C. § 3525). And it is also provided by such law:
“No ordinance and no resolution granting any franchise for any purpose shall be passed by the council on the day of its introduction, nor within five days thereafter, nor at any other than a regular meeting.” Bal. Code, § 1010 (P. C. § 3522).
On the 9th day of November, 1908, there was introduced at a regular meeting of the town council an ordinance entitled :
“An ordinance granting unto the American Lumber Company, a corporation, its successors and assigns, the right to grade, lay ties, and rails, operate and use a railway spur over, upon and across certain streets in the Town of Sumas, Whatcom County, Washington, for the purpose of hauling freight to and from its mill on the Sumas river to the Northern Pacific Railway.”
Thereafter, on the 23d day of November, 1908, at a regular meeting of the town council, such ordinance, before being placed upon final passage, was amended by the council, the principal amendment so made being to change the name of the grantee from “American Lumber Company, a corporation,
It is contended by learned counsel for the appellant that, the ordinance was not lawfully passed by the council, in that it was so amended at the second meeting, at which it was passed, as to render it in substance a different ordinance from the one introduced at the previous meeting, and hence was in violation of § 1010 above quoted.
It has been held by this court, under a provision in the same words relating to cities of the third class (Bal. Code, § 936; P. C. § 3487), that the power of amendment, at the-second meeting, is not thereby withheld from the council. In the case of Vancouver v. Wintler, 8 Wash. 378, 380, 36 Pac. 278, 685, discussing an amendment which had been made by substitution of a new ordinance at the second meeting, this, court said:
“It is a well-known practice of legislative bodies to proceed in this manner, and so long as the substitute is clearly-within the limits of the subject-matter of the original proposition, we see no reason why municipal councils should not proceed in the same way.”
We are of the opinion that the judgment of the superior court granting the writ should be affirmed, and it is so ordered.
Rudkin, C. J., Mount, Crow, and Dunbar, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.