Commonwealth v. Moore

Citations

• 71 Pa. Super. 365
• 1919 Pa. Super. LEXIS 112

Syllabus

<p>Public officers — Increase of salary — Constitutional officers — Registration commissioners.</p> <p>1. Registration commissioners of cities of the second class are public officers, within the meaning of Section 13, Article III, of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, which prohibits the increase of salaries of public officers during their term of office. Such officers are not entitled to the benefit of the Act of July 19, 1917, P. L. 1108, which increases the salaries of registration commissioners in the cities of the second class.</p> <p>2. Where the'duties of the office are to be exercised for the benefit of the public, for a stipulated compensation, to be paid by the public, where the term is defined and the tenure certain, and where the powers, duties and emoluments, become vested in a successor when the office becomes vacant, it can confidently be affirmed that the occupant of the place is a public officer, within the meaning of the Constitution.</p> <p>Constitutional law — Amendment of 1901 — Registration commissioners.</p> <p>The amendment of 1901 of the Constitution, authorizing a change in the qualification of electors had no relation to the subject of compensation, or the power of the legislature to increase or diminish it. It only authorized the legislature to enact laws, regulating the registration of electors in cities.</p>