Commonwealth v. Stevenson

4 Pa. D. & C. 321, 1923 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 297
CourtMonroe County Court of Quarter Sessions
DecidedJuly 2, 1923
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 4 Pa. D. & C. 321 (Commonwealth v. Stevenson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Monroe County Court of Quarter Sessions primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Stevenson, 4 Pa. D. & C. 321, 1923 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 297 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1923).

Opinion

Shull, P. J.,

— This case comes before the court on a special verdict rendered on Sept. —, 1922. The complaint sets forth that on June 2, 1922, George E. Stevenson was arrested, charged with the practice of the profession of land surveyor in the Borough of East Stroudsburg, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, without first having obtained a license as required by the Act of Assembly of May 25, 1921, P. L. 1131.

It was admitted by the defendant that on the said June 2, 1922, at the said Borough of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, he did engage in the practice of the profession of land surveyor.

At the trial of this case, the jury was instructed to render a special verdict, which was rendered as follows:

“And now, Sept. —, 1922, we, the jurors impaneled in the above entitled case, find the following special verdict:
“On the 2nd day of June, 1922, and for a period of twenty-five years prior to that date, the defendant, George E. Stevenson, and one M. S. Knight composed the firm or copartnership of Stevenson and Knight, and were engaged in the profession of civil engineers, mining engineers and land surveyors. The said firm or copartnership during said period down to and subsequent to the said 2nd day of June, 1922, hadi offices in the City of Scranton, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and carried on and practiced their said profession in said Commonwealth and in other states of the United States, and derived their means of livelihood from the practice of said) profession. Both of the members of said firm were residents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on said 2nd day of June, 1922, and both of them on said date were over twenty-five years of age. The said George E. Stevenson had had forty years of practical experience as an engineer and as a land surveyor prior to the said 2nd day of June, 1922; had attained unusual skill, distinction and reputation in his said profession, and on said date, and for a considerable period theretofore and down to the present time, was and is President of the Engineers’ Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
“Neither of said members of said firm was on said date a person not a resident of, and having no established place of business in, this Commonwealth; nor an employee of a registered engineer or a registered land surveyor; nor an officer or employee of the Government of the United States; nor an officer or employee of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; nor an officer or employee of a corporation engaged in interstate commerce. The said George E. Stevenson had not at any time prior to the said) 2nd day of June, 1922, made application to the State Board for Registration of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors for registration as an engineer, nor for registration as a land [322]*322surveyor, and neither the said George E. Stevenson nor the said M. S. Knight was in fact registered, either as an engineer or as a land surveyor, on the said 2nd day of June, 1922, as required by the provisions of the Act of General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, entitled “An act to regulate the practice of the profession of engineering and of land surveying; creating a State Board for the Registration of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors; defining its powers and duties; imposing certain duties upon the Commonwealth and political sub-divisions thereof in connection with public work; and providing penalties,” and approved on the 25th day of May, 1921 (P. L. 1131); nor had either the said George E. Stevenson or the said M. S. Knight, prior to the said 2nd day of June, 1922, paid or offered to pay the registration fees prescribed by said act. On the 2nd day of June, 1922, at the Borough of East Stroudsburg, in the County of Monroe and State of Pennsylvania, the saidi George E. Stevenson did proceed to make survey of a certain lot of land, situate at the intersection of Crystal, Courtland and Analomink Streets, in said borough, commonly known as the Analomink House property, and did then and there proceed to make the necessary measurements and to take the necessary bearings to establish the boundaries of said lot of land, without being registered as a land surveyor andi without having paid the fees provided for by said act, and without being exempted in accordance with the provisions of said act.
“If the facts above stated and the acts of the defendant above set forth are sufficient, in the opinion of the court, to warrant a conviction of the defendant of the offences charged in the first count and in the second count of the indictment, then the jury do say that the defendant is guilty on both counts in manner and form as he stands indicted, or if the facts stated and the acts of the defendant above set forth are sufficient, in the opinion of the court, to warrant a conviction of the defendant of the offence charged in one of said counts, but not in the other, then the jury do say that the defendant is guilty on such count in manner and form as he stands indicted, and not guilty on the other; but if the facts so stated and the acts of the defendant above set forth are not sufficient, in the opinion of the court, to warrant a conviction of the defendant of the offence charged in either count of said indictment, then the jury find the defendant not guilty.”

This matter now comes on to be heard on argument as to the constitutionality of the said Act of May 25, 1921, P.'L. 1131. The defendant urges that the same is unconstitutional: 1. Because it is in violation of article ill, § 3, of the'Constitution of Pennsylvania, which provides: “No bill, except general appropriation bills, shall be passed containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title.” 2. That the same is discriminatory, and, therefore, in violation of the 14th Amendment of the Federal Constitution.

In this case we are confronted by the act of assembly bearing the title “An act to regulate the practice of the profession of engineering and of land surveying; creating a State Board for the Registration of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors; defining its powers and duties; • imposing certain duties upon the Commonwealth and political sub-divisions thereof in connection with public work; and providing penalties.”

We meet in the title of this act a recognition of the fact that it is the legislative intent to deal with two professions: First, engineering; second, land surveying.

If this can be reconciled with article ill, § 3, of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, this they may do. The test of this is, Does this act contain more [323]*323than one subject? “Few bills are so elementary in character that they may not be sub-divided under several head's,” and the question here is, Are the professions of engineering and land surveying distinct and independent or cognate branches of one subject? If cognate branches of one subject, and this act could be held to relate to a single, general purpose, then it is within article in of § 6 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania.

Section 1 of this act provides: “Be it enacted, etc., that in order to safeguard life, health and property, any person practicing, or appearing to practice, the profession of engineering or land surveying,” thus in the very beginning of the act recognizing the two professions as separate and distinct, and throughout the entire text of this act they are so recognized and treated.

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Related

Commonwealth Ex Rel. v. Humphrey
136 A. 213 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1927)

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Bluebook (online)
4 Pa. D. & C. 321, 1923 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 297, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-stevenson-paqtrsessmonroe-1923.