State ex rel. Gaulke v. Turner

• Decision Date: 20 August 1917
• Citation: 164 N.W. 924,37 N.D. 635
• Parties: STATE ex rel. GAULKE v. TURNER.
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

37 N.D. 635

164 N.W. 924

STATE ex rel. GAULKE

v.TURNER.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

Aug. 20, 1917.

Syllabus by the Court.

The clause of Senate Bill No. 314, Legislative Assembly of 1917 (Popular Ed. Sess. Laws, p. 188), which provides that the Commissioners of Railroads shall set aside 25 per cent. of all fees collected to create a fund for building public grain storage warehouses within the state, is not expressed in the title to the act, and is therefore unconstitutional.

An act of the Legislature which violates the provisions of section 61 of the Constitution of North Dakota, which provides that no bill shall embrace more than one subject, which shall be expressed in its title, is invalidated only as to so much thereof as is not so expressed.

The constitutionality of an act of the Legislature may be raised in a habeas corpus proceeding.

Where the subject of an act is single, and the same is expressed in its title, the act will not be invalidated by the fact that the title announces a plurality of subjects.

The title of the act under consideration examined, and held not to contain more than one subject.

The constitutional provision which provides that “no bill shall embrace more than one subject, which shall be expressed in its title,” is not intended to forbid or to prevent including in the bill such means as are reasonably adapted to secure the objects indicated by the title.

In considering the title to an act and determining whether the provisions in the body are germane thereto, the general subject must be considered, and the specific wording of the title is not always important. It is sufficient if the title, either by express words or by necessary or reasonable implication from the meaning of its terms, includes the subject and the purposes of the body of the act.

Under a title which expresses the general purpose and subject of the regulation of the marketing of the agricultural products of a state, it is perfectly proper and germane for the body of the act to contain provisions for inspecting and grading, the creation of markets, the granting of licenses, and the fees and charges for such licenses and inspection and grading as well as for the officers and deputies to be appointed and the compensation of such.

The Legislature may delegate to ministerial officers the power to create and to enforce grades.

The Legislature may delegate to a ministerial board the power to fix the salaries and to determine the number of employés necessary to carry out and enforce the provisions of a general inspection law, provided that the total sum to be paid and expended shall not exceed the reasonable cost of such inspection, and is paid from a fund created by fees for licenses and for inspection and grading, and no part of which is to be used for any other purpose.

License fees cannot be exacted which are in excess of the sum reasonably necessary for the expenses of regulation.

The courts cannot review the economic facts on which the Legislature of a state bases its conclusions that an evil exists and should be remedied.

The Legislature of a state is given a large discretion with reference to the means it may employ to promote the public welfare, and the courts cannot undertake to decide whether the means adopted are the only or even the best means possible to attain the end sought.

Ministerial boards and officers may be given the power to perfect the details of a plan, the general outlines of which have been laid down by the Legislature.

Senate Bill No. 314 of the Legislative Assembly of 1917 (Popular Ed. Sess. Laws, p. 188), and which seeks to regulate the marketing of agricultural products in North Dakota, is not invalid or repugnant to the provisions of section 185 of article 12 of the Constitution which forbids the loaning or giving of public moneys in aid of any individual, association, or corporation.

Except where limitations are imposed by the state or national Constitutions, the sovereign power of the Legislature is practically unlimited.

All that section 62 of the Constitution of North Dakota requires in regard to special as opposed to general appropriations is that they “shall be made by separate bills embracing but one subject,” and an appropriation may be made in an act creating a system of regulation and for carrying out its provisions and as a part of such act.

A writ of habeas corpus affects only the liberty of the person arrested, and intervention on the part of other persons is not permissible.

Whether the persons directed by the Legislature to carry out the provisions of an inspection or grading act are liable to bias or prejudice is a matter for the Legislature, and not for the courts, to determine.

Habeas corpus by the State of North Dakota, on relation of M. C. Gaulke, against A. F. Turner. Writ quashed.

Robinson, J., dissenting.

O'Connor & Johnson, of Grand Forks, for petitioner. William Langer, Atty. Gen., H. A. Bronson and D. V. Brennan, Asst. Attys. Gen., and T. B. Elton, State's Atty., of Grand Forks (S. L. Nuchols, of Mandan, of counsel), for respondent. E. T. Burke, of Bismarck, amicus curiae.

BRUCE, C. J.

This is a proceeding on a writ of habeas corpus. In it is involved the speedy determination of various constitutional questions arising out of an act passed by the Legislative Assembly of 1917, numbered Senate Bill No. 314, to be found on page 188 of the Popular Edition of the Session Laws, and generally known as the Uniform State Grading Act. An attack, indeed, is made upon the constitutionality of the whole law.

Although the question has been somewhat mooted, and although a proceeding in equity is much preferable, as in it various parties may be allowed to intervene, and the act may thus be more thoroughly scrutinized, and from all standpoints, it seems now to be well established that the constitutionality of an act may be passed upon in habeas corpus. See 12 R. C. L. 1198; State ex rel. Goodsill v. Woodmansee, 1 N. D. 246, 46 N. W. 970, 11 L. R. A. 420.

The petitioner, M. C. Gaulke, is an operator of a public elevator and warehouse at Thompson, N. D. More specifically, he is the agent and buyer of a co-operative farmers' elevator. He was arrested under the provisions of the act under consideration for the offense of having-

“purchased, weighed, graded and inspected grain and seeds without first having obtained a license as deputy inspector of such grain and seeds thus purchased, graded, weighed, and inspected, said grain and seed not having first been inspected, weighed and graded by a deputy state inspector of grades, weights and measures.”

The provisions of the act in question, and under which the arrest was made, are that:

“It shall be unlawful for any person operating a public warehouse to purchase, weigh, grade, or inspect grain or seed who is not licensed as deputy inspector, provided that any person without a license may buy any article that has been graded, weighed and inspected by a deputy state inspector of grades, weights and measures.”

The act as a whole is as follows:

“The Commissioners of Railroads of North Dakota shall appoint a member of the faculty of the North Dakota Agricultural College (who shall be an expert in the grading and weighing of all kinds of grain, seeds, and other agricultural products) to be the state inspector of grades, weights and measures, and shall receive in addition to his other compensation the sum of $1,000 per annum. It shall be the duty of said inspector to proceed at once to define and establish proper grades and weights for grain, seeds and other agricultural products, also for flour, meal and products made therefrom, which grades and weights shall be approved by the Commissioners of Railroads.

The Commissioners of Railroads shall authorize the employment of such clerical help as is necessary for carrying out the provisions of this act, and determine the compensation to be paid for such service.

The state inspector of grades, weights and measures shall cause said formula or scale of grades, weights and measures to be published in not more than five newspapers of general circulation in the state of North Dakota, two of which shall be devoted to the benefits of agriculture and three shall be papers of general circulation.

The said standards of grades shall be published each year not later than August first.

The state inspector of grades, weights and measures shall have power to appoint skilled and competent deputies who shall be stationed at any town or place where grain, seed and other agricultural products are marketed: Provided that the town or community where such deputy is stationed shall at their own expense provide a suitable building and scales for housing said deputy, the upkeep of said building and scales shall be borne by the state out of funds secured on account of fees collected for inspecting and weighing.

It shall be the duty of the deputy to weigh, inspect, and grade all grain, seeds and produce that shall be offered for sale at said market place, and to issue a signed certificate stating the kind, grade and weight of such grain, seeds or produce, also the amount of dockage, if any, and such other facts as he may find relative to its condition. It shall also be the duty of said deputy to accurately sample and grade carload shipments destined for some central market either within or outside the state, and to make and attach a signed inspection certificate to a sealed package containing the sample, and forward same to a deputy in charge of said central market.

The Railroad Commissioners shall appoint such number of inspectors of public warehouses as may be necessary who shall be men of expert and practical knowledge of the grain business; who shall visit the public warehouses in the state for the purpose of ascertaining whether a sufficient bond is in force to protect the holders of storage tickets for grain stored therein; whether such institution is amply protected by insurance; to advise with local...