State ex rel. Campbell v. Cincinnati Street Railway Co.

Citations

• 97 Ohio St. (N.S.) 283

Syllabus

<p>Constitutional law — Municipal corporations — Public utilities — Ownership and operation — Administrative boards — Delegation of legislative power — Rapid transit system — Section 4000-16 et seq., General Code (.106 O, L., 286) —Lending credit to private corporations.</p> <p>1. An ordinance of a municipality passed pursuant to law, which confers upon an administrative board authority to grant to a corporation the right to operate a public utility owned by the municipality, upon the terms and conditions specified in the ordinance, and empowers such board to perform certain specified administrative duties which are necessary to the carrying out of the plan provided for in the ordinance, does not thereby delegate legislative power in violation of the Constitution.</p> <p>2. Such an ordinance does not violate Section 5, Article XVIII of the Constitution, which provides that any municipality proceeding to construct, own, lease or operate a public utility or to contract with any person or company therefor shall act by ordinance.</p> <p>3. The act entitled “an act authorizing the creation of a board of rapid transit commissioners in cities, defining its powers,” etc., approved May 17, 1915 (106 O. L., 286), is a valid exercise of legislative power not repugnant to the Constitution or any limitation contained therein.</p> <p>4. An ordinance of a city providing for the grant to a street railway company of the right to operate jointly a subway or street railway owned by the city with a system of street railways already owned and operated by the company, which provides that the gross proceeds from the operation of such properties shall be used for the payment of existing and hereafter issued securities of the company, is a pledging of the city’s credit for the private debts of a street railway company, in violation of Section 6, Article VIII of the Constitution, which prohibits a city by vote of its citizens or otherwise from raising money for or loaning its credit to or in