-

-

OF CORPORA-
TIONS- May not approve Or-
ganization of Corporation to buy
and sell Real Estate
See CORPORATION. 2.

Fee of

OFFICER Gra-

-

-

-

COMMONWEALTH-Employee-Vet-

eran Retirement

119

A veteran of the civil war employed by the
Metropolitan Park Commission as a police
officer is in the service of the Common-
wealth" within the meaning of St. 1907, c.
458, which provides in part that " a veteran of
the civil war in the service of the Common-
wealth, if incapacitated for active duty, shall
be retired from active service with the consent
of the governor."

2.

360

524

Veteran Retirement Com-

pensation
128
Under St. 1907, c. 458, § 1, which provides
that "
a veteran of the civil war in the service
of the Commonwealth, if incapacitated for
active duty, shall be retired from active serv-
ice
at one-half the rate of compensation
paid to him when in active service.
veteran so retired is not entitled to receive
compensation based upon the estimated cash
value of benefits in the nature of living ex-
penses, occupancy of a dwelling house free
from rent, and like privileges, in addition to
the fixed salary paid to him from the treasury
of the Commonwealth.

3.

561

Retire-

561

195

Employee Veteran
Compensation

44

ment
Salary
141
In St. 1907, c. 458, § 1, providing that a
veteran of the civil war in the service of the
commonwealth, if incapacitated for active
duty, shall be retired from active service, with
the consent of the governor, at one-half the

a

4. Employee

COMMONWEALTH

Continued.

rate of compensation paid to him when in
active service, to be paid out of the treasury
of the commonwealth," the word "compensa-
tion' is to be limited to salaries the exact
amount of which is determined by law, and
may not include living expenses or other like
advantages, in addition to such salary.

Retire-

Veteran
ment Consent

494

St. 1907, c. 458, § 1, providing that, with the
consent of the Governor, a veteran of the civil
war in the service of the Commonwealth, if
incapacitated for active duty, may be retired
at one-half the rate of compensation paid to
him when in active service, was designed not
only to provide a pension for the person so
retired, but also to relieve the public service
of persons unable to perform the duties re-
quired of them, and if incapacitated for duty
a veteran may be so retired without his consent
and upon the request and recommendation of
the head of the department in which he is
employed.

-

2.

-

3.

See CIVIL SERVICE. 8.

CONSTITUTIONAL

em-

LAW-Appro-
priation Public Purpose
Liability of Commonwealth for
Act of Insane Person released
on Parole

151

•

The Commonwealth is not liable for any
act of or injury caused by an insane person
released from a public asylum on parole, by
authority of St. 1905, c. 435, § 1; and an
appropriation for the purpose of compensating
the widow of a member of an unpaid commis-
sion in the service of the Commonwealth,
who was killed by an insane person so re-
leased on parole, is not for a public purpose,
and is, therefore, unconstitutional.

441

469

526

. 325

153

A society, school or institution which is
under direct ecclesiastical or sectarian control,
and is designed solely or even principally for
the benefit of persons of a particular sect or
denomination, cannot be held to be maintained
for a public purpose such as would justify an
expenditure of money raised by taxation; and
an appropriation for the benefit of such so-
ciety, school or institution from the public
funds raised by taxation would be unconsti-
tutional.

- Public Funds Appropriation
Public Purpose Money not
directly raised by Taxation
160
Since the relief of persons who have suffered
loss by fire, or by other great and general ca-
lamity, is not a public purpose which will
justify the expenditure of public funds, an
appropriation of public money for such pur-
pose is unconstitutional, and it is immaterial
that the money sought to be so appropriated
was not directly raised by taxation, but was
received from the sale and rental of lands
belonging to the Commonwealth.

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW -

-

Continued.

219

4. — - Insurance Accident and Health
Disability Form of Policy -
Insurance Commissioner - Ap-
proval Exercise of Legislative
Power by Ministerial Officer
A proposed act, vesting in the Insurance
Commissioner authority to approve the form
of every policy of accident or health disability
insurance issued in this Commonwealth, and
constituting such approval a condition prece-
dent to the issuance and delivery of such
policy, without prescribing any standard form
therefor or directing what, in substance, such
policy shall contain, would be unconstitu-
tional under the Constitution of Massachu-
setts, Article XXX. of the Bill of Rights, as
a delegation of legislative power to a minis-
terial officer.

5.

-

-

Constitution of the United States
Amendment - Income Tax . 267
A proposed amendment to the Constitution
of the United States, vesting in Congress "the
power to lay and collect taxes on incomes,
from whatever source derived, without ap-
portionment among the several States, and
without regard to any census or enumeration,"
was intended to empower Congress to lay and
collect taxes on incomes without the restriction
imposed by the Constitution of the United
States in Article I., § 8, that "all duties,
imposts and excises shall be uniform through-
out the United States,' and 9, that
capitation, or other direct tax, shall be laid,
unless in proportion to the census or enumera-
tion hereinbefore directed to be taken."

""

no

6.

-

Great Pond-Right of Legisla-
ture to determine Height at
which Water shall be maintained 273
It is within the constitutional power of the
Legislature to pass an act establishing a point
upon the shores of a great pond below which the
waters therein shall not be drawn by persons
entitled to the use thereof, if adequate provi-
sion is made for compensation if the condition
thus established interferes with vested rights
of riparian owners, or affects prescriptive or
granted rights to lower the waters of such ponds.

7. - Constitution of the United States
Discrimination Proposed
Act forbidding Women under
Twenty-one to enter Chinese
Restaurants

276

A bill providing that "it shall be unlawful
for any woman under twenty-one years of age
to enter a Chinese restaurant or hotel or to be
served with food or drink therein," and that
"it shall be unlawful for the proprietor of any
such hotel or restaurant to admit any woman
under twenty-one years of age thereto or to
serve her with food or drink therein," and
further providing that "violations of this act
shall be punished by fine or imprisonment, at
the discretion of the court," is in effect a dis-
crimination against the Chinese by reason of

9.

Taxation - Income Tax

299

A general income tax, imposed upon the
income from real and personal property, as
well as upon income from annuities and from
professions, trades and employments, which
is in addition to and not in substitution for
existing taxes, would probably be held un-
constitutional as a property tax, as not being
within the requirement of the Constitution of
Massachusetts, part II., section I., Article IV.,
that taxes shall be "proportional and reason-
able," upon the ground that thereby a greater
burden is imposed upon property from which
income is derived than upon property of equal
value from which no income is derived, and
would be unconstitutional as an excise tax for
the reason that the mere right to own and
hold property cannot be made the subject of
an income tax.

10.

11.

Money raised by Taxation
Public Purpose Relief of Per-
sons out of Employment by
Construction of Highways in
Times of Industrial Distress

. 305

The expenditure of money raised by taxation
must be limited to a public purpose, and it is
not, therefore, within the power of the Legis-
lature to authorize the Governor and Council
to issue and sell bonds and to expend the pro-
ceeds in the construction of highways, where
the primary purpose of such construction was
to furnish relief to persons out of employment
in times of industrial distress.

Amendment to Constitution
Submission to People

370

Where a proposed amendment to the Con-
stitution was duly agreed to by a majority of
the Senate and two-thirds of the members of
the House of Representatives in two successive
years, as provided in Article IX. of the Amend-
ments of the Constitution of the Common-
wealth, but no further action was taken with
respect thereto, it may be submitted to the
people as required by said article by a resolve
passed in the usual manner by a subsequent
Legislature.

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-Continued.
Public Highways Use Erec-
tion of Structures over Public
Ways Eminent Domain
Public Purpose

375
A proposed bill which provides that upon
petition and after public notice and a public
hearing the board of street commissioners of
the city of Boston may, with the approval of
the mayor, issue a permit to certain individ-
uals named therein "to construct and main-
tain a bridge across Avon Street in said city
for the purpose of connecting buildings owned
by them on opposite sides of said street or for
the purpose of a fire escape, on such conditions
and subject to such restrictions as said board
may prescribe," purports to confer upon such
individuals an absolute right to be granted by
the city of Boston, and in so far as the grant
of such right would be inconsistent with the
rights of other persons, to require the exercise
of the power of eminent domain without
provision for compensation.

12..

-

13.

A proposed bill which authorizes the city of
Boston through its mayor, if it shall sell the
whole or a part of its real estate on Mason
Street in said city, "to grant to the purchaser
of said estate, and his successors in title, the
right to connect the real estate so sold with
property on Tremont Street opposite said real
estate by means of a covered passageway or
bridge over Mason Street," and provides for
the compensation of any person whose property
may be injured by the erection of the structure
so authorized, appears to contemplate the
exercise of the power of eminent domain, not for
a public purpose, but for the benefit of certain
individuals who may purchase the real estate
described therein.

Both bills are therefore objectionable upon
constitutional grounds.

Appropriation of Money raised by
Taxation Public Purpose
Museum of Fine Arts

380
The Constitution of the Commonwealth, in
chapter V., section II., imposes upon the Legis-
lature the duty "in all future periods of this
commonwealth, to cherish the interests of
literature and the sciences, and all seminaries
of them," and "to encourage private societies
and public institutions, rewards and immuni-
ties, for the promotion of arts, sciences,
and a natural history of the country,'
and the appropriation of money in the reason-
able performance of the duty so imposed would
be for a public purpose.

A proposed bill authorizing the city of Boston
to appropriate money, not exceeding $50,000
in any single year, for the maintenance and
support of the Museum of Fine Arts in said
city, subject to certain conditions to be per-
formed by the trustees of such museum, as
therein prescribed, would therefore be con-
stitutional.

Under existing law, however, the city of
Boston has no authority to appropriate money
for such purpose.

Continued.
License

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
- Public Highways
Use for Commercial or Advertis-
ing Purposes

383

A city may constitutionally be authorized to
require, and to issue through its board of
supervisors, licenses for the use of specified
parts of public streets therein for the storage
and sale of merchandise for purposes necessary
for the construction or repair of works or build-
ings and for commercial or advertising purposes
in cases where the consent of the abutting
owner or owners has been obtained. The
issuance of such licenses, if confined within
reasonable limits, constitutes a definition by
public authority of the public use of a highway.

14.

15.

Taxation Exemption - Chari-
table Corporation Land ac-
quired by Institution incorpo-
rated for Care of Insane

384

A proposed bill which provides that "no
private corporation or association now existing
or hereafter incorporated for the care of the
insane shall acquire land
to be exempt
from taxation without the consent of the legal
voters of the town or governing board of a city
where such land is situated," would not be
unconstitutional as creating an unreasonable
exception from the provisions of law for ex-
emption applicable to property of charitable
corporations generally, or because it delegates
to cities and towns power to determine whether
specific land therein which may be acquired
by such institutions shall be included within
the exemption applicable to land owned by
charitable institutions generally.

16.

406

Public Park Change of Use
Back Bay Fens Proprietary
Rights
It is within the power of the Legislature to
authorize the park commissioners of the city
of Boston to permit the erection of a public
schoolhouse upon land known as the Back Bay
Fens, acquired in fee by the city of Boston
under authority of St. 1875, c. 185, which
provided in section 3 that such commissioners
should "have the power to locate within the
limits of the city of Boston one or more public
parks, and for that purpose from time to time
to take in fee, by purchase or otherwise, any
and all such lands as said board may deem
desirable therefor,
since the proposed
use of the land in question is undoubtedly for
a public use and no proprietary rights will be
affected thereby.

""

-

17.

Matter of Local

Referendum
Self-government
424
A provision in a proposed bill that "this act
shall be submitted to the qualified voters of
the Commonwealth at the next State election,
in answer to the question, 'Shall a law enacted
by the General Court of the year 1911 relative
to the development of the Port of Boston and
authorizing the expenditure of $9,000,000 for
that purpose, be accepted' . . ." does not

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-Continued.
fall within the exception permitting a referen-
dum in matters of local self-government, and
would, therefore, be unconstitutional.

18.

Taxation Appropriation of
Public Funds Public Purpose
- Relief of Destitute Families
of Striking Employees

486

A proposed resolve, "That there be allowed
and paid from the treasury of the common-
wealth the sum of ten thousand dollars to be
expended. . . for the relief of destitute
families of employees of the factories at Law-
rence, who were thrown out of work by the
strike in that city," contemplates an appro-
priation of money raised by taxation for a
purpose other than a public purpose, and if
passed would be unconstitutional.

19.

Police Power - Regulation of
Private Business Sale of
Theatre Tickets

491
The right of the Legislature under the police
power to regulate the conduct of a private
business in respect to public safety or morals
does not extend to the regulation of the sale of
tickets of admission to theatres and other places
of amusement; and a proposed bill requiring
that such tickets shall have the price printed
thereon and that it shall be unlawful to sell or
offer for sale any such ticket for an amount in
excess of the printed sum, if passed, would be
unconstitutional and void.

Police Power - Regulation of
Sale of Goods, Wares and Mer-
chandise made by Convict Labor
in Prison Constitution of the
United States Commerce

Clause

495

A proposed act requiring that all goods,
wares and merchandise made by convict labor
in any prison, reformatory or jail in this or
any other State and brought into this Com-
monwealth, shall, before being exposed for
sale, be marked "Convict Made," and pro-
viding that any person offering such goods for
sale or having such goods in possession, without
the printed label or mark, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor, cannot be justified as a valid
exercise of the police power; and since it would
constitute a burden or restriction upon inter-
state commerce, and would therefore be in
contravention of the commerce clause (U. S.
Const., Art. I., § VIII.) of the Federal Con-
stitution, would therefore be unconstitutional
if enacted.

21.

Appropriation of Money raised
by Taxation Moral Obligation
Repayment of Money paid
under Mistake of Fact or Law
New York, New Haven & Hart-
ford Railroad Company

503

The fulfillment of a moral obligation upon
the Commonwealth, created by a claim growing
out of general principles of right and justice

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - Continued.
and based upon considerations of a moral or
merely honorary nature, such as would be
binding on the conscience or honor of an in-
dividual, is a public purpose, and money raised
by taxation may be appropriated therefor,
although such claim could not be enforced by
any legal procedure.

A proposed resolve to provide for repayment
by the Commonwealth of a sum erroneously
paid as taxes by the New York, New Haven &
Hartford Railroad Company, if the Legislature
determined that the facts submitted in con-
nection therewith imposed upon the Common-
wealth a moral obligation of the character
heretofore recognized, would, if passed, be
constitutional.

526

The purpose to injure or destroy the business
of a rival by competition is not illegal.

•

A proposed act providing that "any person,
firm, association or corporation engaged
in the production, manufacture or distribution
of any commodity in general use, that shall
intentionally, for the purpose of destroying
the business of a competitor in any locality,
discriminate between different sections . .

...

this Commonwealth, or between purchasers,
by selling such commodity at a lower rate for
such purpose in one section
than is
charged in another section. shall be
deemed guilty of unfair discrimination, which
is hereby prohibited and declared unlawful,'
in effect renders unlawful all competition in
any locality entered into for the purpose
specified by a person, firm, association or cor-
poration carrying on business in more than
one such locality.

""

The prohibition in such proposed act is not
limited to discrimination entered upon ma-
liciously or for the purpose of destroying the
business of competitors in order to create a
monopoly or for any other illegal purpose, and
therefore discloses no sufficient distinction
between the acts of discrimination prohibited