1874-yet this law would give full validity to their expired warrants and full powers as to the right of collection to these now private citizens. The bill gives this power to these officials, not only in their old jurisdiction, but also permits them to follow persons owing the tax who may have removed from the city, ward, township, or townships, or boroughs, to which they owe the tax. These tax collectors voluntarily assumed their offices with a full knowledge of their duties and responsibilities. I cannot see any reason, in law or equity, why, after their terms have expired, they should be re-invested with their official authority to save them from the consequences of their neglect consequences of which they must have had knowledge when they solicited the suffrages of the people. The purpose of this bill, I think, will be better accomplished by its failure to become a law than by its enactment; as tax collectors will thereby, hereafter, understand that they must promptly perform their duties if they would escape responsibility. And that they need not in the future look to legislative indulgence to enable them to escape the consequences of their neglect. ROBT. E. PATTISON. No. 29. A SUPPLEMENT To an act relating to the collection of district and township debts in the several counties of the Commonwealth, approved the thirty-first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, limiting the amount which may be collected in any one year. SECTION 1. Be it enacted, &c., That the act entitled "An act relating to the collection of district and township debts in the several counties of the Commonwealth," approved the thirty-first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, which reads as follows: "That when it shall be shown to the court of quarter sessions of any county of this State that the debts due by any district or township in said county shall exceed the amount which supervisors or overseers may collect in any year by taxation, as at present regulated, or when the proper officers refuse to levy a tax for the purpose set forth in the seventh section of the act of the twenty-fifth of February, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five, it shall and may be lawful for said court, after ascertaining by proper means the amount of indebtedness of any particular district or township by a writ of mandamus, to direct the proper officers, by special taxation, to collect an amount sufficient to pay the same: Provided always, That if the amount of such indebtedness is so large as to render it inadvisable to collect the same in any one year, taking into consideration other necessary taxation, the said court may direct the same to be levied and collected by annual installments or proportions as may be adjudged reasonable and proper, and may order such special taxes to be levied and collected during such successive years as may be required for payment of the same," be and the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows: SECTION 1. Be it enacted, &c., That when it shall be shown to the court of quarter sessions of any county of this State that the debts due by any district or township in said county shall exceed the amount which supervisors or overseers may collect in any year by taxation, as at present regu lated, or when the proper officers refuse to levy a tax for the purposes set forth in the seventh section of the act of the twenty-fifth of February, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five, it shall and may be lawful for said court, after ascertaining by proper means the amount of indebtedness of any particular district or township by a writ of mandamus, to direct the proper officers, by special taxation, to collect an amount sufficient to pay the same: Provided always, That if the amount of such indebtedness is so large as to render it unadvisable to collect the same in any one year, taking into consideration other necessary taxation, the said court may direct the same to be levied and collected by annual installments or proportions as may be adjudged reasonable and proper, and may order such special taxes to be levied and collected during such successive years as may be required for payment of the same: Provided, That such special tax shall not exceed four mills in any one year, on the assessed valuation of the property in the district or township. CHAUNCEY F. BLACK, President of the Senate. JAMES L. GRAHAM, Speaker of the House of Representatives. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, I herewith file, with my objections, in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Senate bill No. 139, entitled "A supplement to an act relating to the collection of district and township debts in the several counties of the Commonwealth, approved the thirty-first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, limiting the amount which may be collected in any one year." There is a mis-recital in this bill. Following the act of March thirtyone, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, to which it is a supplement, it refers to the seventh section of the act of February twenty-five, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five. As a matter of fact, the act that this bill is intended to apply to was approved February twenty-eighth, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five, and not February twenty-fifth. The bill, therefore, applies to an act that does not exist. I can conceive of no way in which such a mistake can be corrected, and it does not help the matter to say that the draughtsman of this bill has only followed the misrecital of the act of one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four. It is inaccurate and careless legislation which renders the bill a nullity, and I decline to encumber the statute-book with it and seem to approve of its mistakes. ROBT. E. PATTISON. No. 30. AN ACT To authorize the councils of cities or boroughs of this Commonwealth to provide by ordinance for injured or disabled firemen and policemen, or persons in the police and fire-alarm telegraph service in the employ of such cities and boroughs where such in. jury or disability may occur in the discharge of duty. SECTION 1. Be it enacted, &c., That from and after the passage of this act it shall be lawful for the councils of any city or borough within this Commonwealth to provide by ordinance, in the manner now directed by law, assistance to any injured or disabled person or persons in the fire or police service, or ir the police and fire-alarm telegraph service of such city or borough where the injury or disability to such person may occur or be suffered in the discharge of duty. SECTION 2. That the assistance authorized by the first section of this act may be by gratuity, annuity, stipend, or by whole or fractional wages on salary, and may extend to such time as the necessities of each case may require, and the amount appropriated shall be paid out of the city or borough treasury in the manner now directed by law: Provided, That it shall be lawful for the said councils at any time to withdraw such assistance or reduce the same by repeal or amendment of any ordinance at their discretion. SECTION 3. That all acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith be and the same are hereby repealed. JAMES L. GRAHAM, Speaker of the House of Representatives. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, OFFICE OF THE Governor, HARRISBURG, July 2, 1885. I herewith file, with my objections, in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, House bill No. 529, entitled "An act to authorize councils of cities or boroughs of this Commonwealth to provide by ordinance for injured or disabled firemen and policemen, or persons in the police and firealarm telegraph service in the employ of such cities and boroughs where such injury or disability may occur in the discharge of duty." This bill authorizes any city or borough in this Commonwealth by ordinance to assist any fireman, policeman, or person in the police and fire-alarm telegraph, service in the employ of any such city or borough, who may be in. jured or disabled while in the discharge of duty. The assistance authorized may, by the terms of the bill, be "gratuity, annuity, stipend, or by whole or fractional wages or salary." This is a new style of pension law, and while it may present some features appealing to the sympathies of the individual, is, I think, ill-advised, and might be but the beginning of a pension system the limits of which cannot now be foreseen. It is unnecessary, however, to discuss the merits of the bill, as its passage is, I think, forbidden by the Constitution. Section 7 of Article IX of that instrument provides, among other things, that "the General Assembly shall not authorize any county, city, borough, township, or incorporated district, to obtain or appropriate money for any corporation, association, institution, or individual." This bill does authorize cities and boroughs to appropriate money to individuals. The money appropriated may be a gross sum, or a yearly pension, or a whole or part of salary. The matter, therefore, is in direct conflict with the Constitutional prohibition cited, and for this reason I withhold my approval. ROBT. E. PATTISON. No. 31. A SUPPLEMENT To an act to extend the powers of burgesses in boroughs. SECTION 1. Be it enacted, &c., That section twenty one of an act entitled "An act regulating boroughs," approved April third, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, which reads as follows: "To impose fines and penalties incurring partial or total forfeitures, to remit the same, to provide or erect a lock-up house for the temporary detention of persons committed by the proper corporate officers or by the justices of the peace within the borough: Provided, That no person shall be confined in such lock up house for a longer period than forty-eight hours at any one time," be and the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows: "To impose fines and penalties incurring partial or total forfeitures, to remit the same, to provide or erect a lock-up house for the temporary detention of persons committed by the proper corporate officers or by the justices of the peace within the borough: Provided, The burgesses of the boroughs shall have power to sentence criminals convicted before them under existing laws to the work-house of correction, or county jail, for a period not exceeding thirty days. CHAUNCEY F. BLACK, President of the Senate. JAMES L. GRAHAM, Speaker of the House of Representatives. EXECUTIVE Department, COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, OFFICE OF THE Governor, HARRISBURG, July 7, 1885. I herewith file, with my objections, in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Senate bill No. 27, entitled "A supplement to an act to extend the powers of burgesses in boroughs." The title to this bill is defective. It does not give the date on which the original act was approved. It does not describe properly the act which it proposes to amend, for in this title that act is designated as "An act to extend the powers of burgesses in boroughs," whereas its proper title is "An act regulating boroughs." It would be impossible, taking the title by itself, to find the act which is sought to be amended by it. The bill is, therefore, in violation of section 3 of Article III of the Constitution, which requires the subject of the bill to be clearly expressed in its title. In the body of the bill, the portion sought to be amended is described as section twenty-one of an act entitled "An act regulating boroughs," approved April 3, 1851, and is set forth in words; whereas those words constitute the twenty-first clause of section two of the act named. Without con sidering its merits, I decline to give my approval to a bill marked by such gross inaccuracies and inexcusable misdescription. ROBT. E. PATTISON. No. 32. AN ACT To authorize county commissioners to make contracts for the collection of forfeited recognizances and fines. SECTION 1. Be it enacted, &c., That from and after the passage of this act, the county commissioners of any county in this Commonwealth shall have power to contract with any person or association, upon such terms and conditions as shall be approved by the court of common pleas of the proper county, to collect the fines and forfeited recognizances in all cases in which the county is entitled to the same. SECTION 2. That all acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith be and the same are hereby repealed. CHAUNCEY F. BLACK, President of the Senate. JAMES L. GRAHAM, Speaker of the House of Representatives. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, OFFICE OF THE Governor, HARRISBURG, PA., July 7, 1885. I herewith file, with my objections, in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Senate bill No. 46, entitled "An act to authorize county commissioners to make contracts for the collection of forfeited recognizances and fines." The duty of collecting forfeited recognizances and fines ought to be performed by the district attorneys. It falls legitimately within their functions: they are semi-judicial officers, and their action is, or ought to be, more impartial and disinterested than that of unofficial parties. To allow county commissioners to contract with private attorneys, to make collections, even if supervised by the court, would be likely to result in abuse, and probably in scandal. At all events, the direct and safest course, I think, is to have the district attorney of the county act for the county in all such matters so peculiarly connected with his office. ROBT. E. PATTISON. |