State ex rel. Hunt v. Hildebrant

Citations

• 93 Ohio St. (N.S.) 1

Syllabus

<p>Referendum — Constitutional amendment — Argument or explanation against — Who shall prepare and file same — Duty of secretary of state — Section ig, Article II, Constitution, 19x2 — Mandatory and self-executing — Implied powers and authority — Section 5018-1 et seq., General Code (103 O. L., 831), construed — Publicity pamphlets on initiative and referendum measures.</p> <p>1. Section lg of Article II peremptorily commands the secretary of state to cause to be printed an argument and explanation, or both, against any proposed amendment to the constitution, and to mail, or otherwise distribute, the same, together with a copy of such proposed amendment and argument and explanation, or both, for such amendment, to each of the electors of the state, as far as may be reasonably possible, and further expressly provides that this, with other previsions found in this section of the constitution, “shall be self-executing.”</p> <p>2. These mandatory provisions of the constitution are binding upon the executive officers and the courts of this state alike. It is the duty of the officer to obey. He has no authority to declare that a constitutional provision is not self-executing, when the constitution expressly provides that it is self-executing.</p> <p>3. It is the official duty of the secretary of state to obey this constitutional command, regardless of the fact that neither the constitution nor the laws of the state specifically provide in detail the manner and method of selecting the person or persons who shall prepare and'file such argument and explanation, or both.</p> <p>4. Where an officer is directed by the constitution or a statute of the state to do a particular thing, in the absence of specific directions covering in detail the manner and method of doing it, the command carries with it the implied power and authority necessary to the performance of the duty imposed.</p> <p>5. The act of the general assembly, passed April 18, 1913 (103 O. L., 831), entitled, “An ac