Leach v. People ex rel. Patterson

Citations

• 122 Ill. 420
• 12 N.E. 726

Syllabus

<p>1. Special legislation—under constitution of 1848—township organization and the county court—management of comity affairs. Section 6, of article 7, of the constitution of 1848, which provides that “the General Assembly shall provide, by a general law, for a township organization,” etc., relates to the management of the affairs of the several towns of counties adopting the system, and not to the management of the fiscal affairs of counties.</p> <p>2. The constitution of 1848 provided that as to such counties as might adopt the township organization, the General Assembly might dispense with the county court for the management of the county fiscal concerns, and the affairs of such counties might be transacted in such manner as the General Assembly should provide. In this the legislature was not restricted to general laws.</p> <p>3. The adoption of the township system did not necessarily, under this constitutional provision, do away with the county court for the transaction of county business.. The management of the county affairs might still be left to the county court, or intrusted to any other tribunal created for that purpose.</p> <p>4. Statute—whether title embraces the subject. The act entitled “An act to change the time of electing certain officers in a county therein named,” approved February 28, 1867, is in violation of section 23, of article 3, of the constitution of 1848, in not having its subject or main object expressed in its title. The main subject of the act in question was, the change of the composition of the board of supervisors in Wayne county,—to diminish the number of the members of the board as provided by the general Township Organization law, and to change the mode of their election, from towns singly, to groups of towns. This subject was not expressed in the title, nor was it in any way germain to the purpose which was expressed in the title.</p> <p>5. Officebs de facto—validity of their acts—of officers acting under law which is not constit