Opinion of the Court-Sanders, C. J. within the district, the finding of facts and conclusions of law, and the respective judgments. Appellant did not appear in either of the confirmation proceedings above referred to, but has filed in this court an assignment of errors that includes and covers an attack upon the constitutionality of the Nevada irrigation district act, the jurisdiction, power, and authority of the district court of Lyon County to examine, hear, and determine the subject involved in said judgments, and the legality and validity of the proceedings had in connection with the organization of the district, and insists that the judgments are absolutely null and void. 1. If the judgments rendered be judicial decisions, possessing the scope, effect, dignity, and efficacy of the usual and ordinary judgments of courts of general jurisdiction, we are of the opinion that the appellant, by his failure to appear or file an answer in the confirmation proceedings, is estopped from questioning the judgments, and is in no position to draw from this court on appeal therefrom an expression of opinion upon questions of fact involving the regularity, validity, and legality of the proceedings had in the court below to secure a confirmation of all the proceedings settled by the judgments. His failure to answer the petition is deemed an admission on his part of the material allegations in the petition. Section 19. The effect of the judgment as to the proper compliance with the provisions of the act is conclusive upon landowners within the district, whether they appear or do not appear at the confirmation proceedings. 3 Kinney on Irrigation and Water Rights, sec. 1421. 2. Since it appears affirmatively from the record that appellant has a substantial interest in and is affected by the act, and the subject of its constitutionality is of grave public importance, we feel that those interested in the district and intending purchasers of its bonds should have the advantage of an authoritative decision Opinion of the Court-Sanders, C. J. in advance upon the legality of the organization of the district and all other proceedings which may affect the legality or validity of its bonds. We shall therefore state our conclusions reached upon the one question, to wit: Is the Nevada irrigation district act constitutional? Stats. 1919, p. 84. At the threshold of the subject, we are confronted with the proposition that the confirmation provisions contained in the act (sections 19 and 20) are violative of section 6, article 6, of the constitution of this state, in that they attempt to confer upon the district courts jurisdiction not within or contemplated by said section. Our conclusion upon this proposition is that the confirmation proceeding, as prescribed by said sections, is clearly in the nature of an action in rem; the object being to determine the legal status of the district and its power to issue valid bonds. 3 Kinney on Irr., sec. 1420. The confirmatory procedure neither limits nor extends the original jurisdiction of district courts, as declared and prescribed by the constitution, and is not violative of its letter or spirit. 3. It is further contended that sections 19 and 20 of the act are unconstitutional, for the reason that said sections are in conflict with that part of the constitution of Nevada (sec. 20, art. 4) which provides: * "The legislature shall not pass local or special laws * regulating the practice of courts of justice." If we clearly interpret the position taken by counsel for appellant, it is their contention that the particular provision is a special privilege that is granted to no other public corporation, individual, or association, and is therefore special legislation within the meaning of section 20, article 4, of the constitution. We are not in accord with this position. The sections are general in their application, and were enacted for the purpose of providing for the organization of irrigation districts throughout the state for the reclamation of our arid lands, and the legislature had in view the summary proceedings provided for in the sections for the express Opinion of the Court-Sanders, C. J. purpose of simplifying the organization proceedings of irrigation districts, and the issuance of its bonds, "which was a very wise public policy of a general and not a special nature." Emmett Irr. District v. Shane, 19 Idaho, 332, 113 Pac. 444. If the act be constitutional, we are satisfied of the lower court's jurisdiction, power, and authority to render the decrees complained of. 4. We shall now consider the further attacks made upon the constitutionality of the act, which for convenience may be arranged as follows: (1) The title of the act embraces more than one subject, and matter properly connected therewith. Constitution, sec. 17, art. 4. (2) The act is violative of the due-process-of-law clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. (3) The act is violative of sections 1 and 6 of article 2 of the constitution of this state. As preliminary to the discussion of these questions, we may remark that, where the constitutionality of district irrigation laws has been attacked upon the grounds stated, they are generally upheld as being constitutional and valid. The legislature is presumed to have knowledge of the state of the law upon the subject upon which it legislates. Clover Valley L. & S. Co. v. Lamb, 43 Nev. 375, 187 Pac. 723. It must also be understood that, where the legislature of one state adopts the statute of another, the act of adoption raises the presumption that the legislature of the adopting state enacted the statute in the light of the construction that had been placed upon it in the parent state. O'Brien v. Commissioners, 41 Nev. 90; Ormsby County v. Kearney, 37 Nev. 371. The history of irrigation district laws in Nevada begins with the statute of 1891, p. 106, and ends with the act under consideration. The substantive parts of Opinion of the Court-Sanders, C. J. the parent act are modeled upon the irrigation district law of California, commonly known as the "Wright Law" (Stats. 1887, p. 29). The administrative features of the present act include and cover provisions embodied in irrigation district laws of the arid-land states that have received a settled construction, principally the laws of Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. The act being an entirely new act, it is fair to presume that its administrative parts were incorporated as being the latest authoritative expression of the judicial mind, which were presumptively within the contemplation of the legislature. 5. Counsel have labored arduously to convince us that our constitution and the act itself differ in material respects from the irrigation district laws of other states. This contention imposes upon us the duty of reviewing their several contentions. They insist, as above stated, that the act contains six different subjects not germane to its title. It must be understood that this court was among if not the first court of the arid-land states to hold, without a legislative declaration upon the subject, that the doctrine of riparian rights is unsuited to the demands and necessities of the agricultural and mining industries of this state and the prosperity of its people. The legislature has declared that "water" belongs to the "public." Nevada was the first of the arid-land states of the Pacific Coast to literally adopt the "Wright Law" of California, upon which all the irrigation district laws of the arid-land states are grounded. The title of the act under consideration contains but one general subject, to wit, the organization of irrigation districts, which we think is broad and comprehensive enough to include every provision of the act, and we so hold. Anderson v. G. V. Irr. Dist., 35 Colo. 532, 85 Pac. 313; Nampa & M. Irr. Dist. v. Brose, 11 Idaho, 474, 83 Pac. 499; Pioneer Irr. Dist. v. Bradley, 8 Idaho, 310, 68 Pac. 295, 101 Am. St. Rep. 201. Opinion of the Court-Sanders, C. J. 6. It is urged in the second place that the act is violative of the due-process-of-law clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, in that no limitation is placed upon the indebtedness which the district may incur, and private property may be confiscated by taxation. As a general proposition this contention is set at rest by Fallbrook Irr. Dist. v. Bradley, 164 U. S. 112, 17 Sup. Ct. 56, 41 L. Ed. 369, reversing Bradley v. Fallbrook Irr. Dist. (C. C.) 68 Fed. 948. And to repeat the opinions of state courts to the same effect would be a work of supererogation. We are of the opinion that counsel have overlooked, not intentionally, section 14 of the act, which provides: "The board of directors, or other officers of the district, shall have no power to incur any debt or liability whatever either by issuing bonds or otherwise in excess of the express provisions of this act, and any debt or liability incurred in excess of such express provisions shall be and remain absolutely void. * * The proviso contained in the section permits and limits certain indebtedness not material here. The power to incur any debt or liability is not unlimited, but is expressly restricted to revenue sufficient to meet the obligations voluntarily assumed by the landowners within the district, as voiced by their votes at elections held for that purpose. Board of Directors of Alfalfa Irrigation District v. Collins, 46 Neb. 425, 64 N. W. 1086. The board of directors apportions the amount each year necessary to meet these obligations, and the act provides how collectible, and, when collected, how to be used. 7. Counsel fail to distinguish between the phrases "assessment of benefits" and "special assessments" to be charged or levied against the land within the district, and the term "tax," as ordinarily used in revenue laws. It is the plan of assessment of benefits and special assessment of benefits required to be carefully ascertained and equitably and fairly apportioned or distributed to the lands within the district as nearly as |