Nelden v. Clark

59 P. 524, 20 Utah 382, 1899 Utah LEXIS 60
Utah Supreme Court·Decided November 24, 1899·Published·Cited by 22 cases

Opinions

Miner, J.

This action was brought in April, 1899, to restrain the mayor and city council of Salt Lake City, the city en[386]*386gineer and superintendent of water works, under the order of the city council, from constructing about $30,000 worth of improvements to the city water works system, and also the construction of a bridge across the Jordan river at a cost of $3,500.

Plaintiffs claim that under the law, the board of public works were required to make contracts on behalf of the city for the performance of all such work, and the erection of the improvements described in the complaint and ordered by the city council, and that the city engineer and superintendent of water works, under the directions of the city council, had no right or authority to proceed with the construction of said work. The court decided the issues in favor of the plaintiffs, and found among other things, that this right and duty devolved upon the board of public works, as ordered by the city council, and that the city council had no right or authority under the law to instruct the city engineer to proceed with the construction of the bridge by purchasing materials and employing labor by the day’s work, and that the mayor and city council had no authority to direct the superintendent of water works to purchase material and construct the improvements to the water works system aforesaid, nor to employ labor by the days’ work thereon, instead of letting contracts to the highest bidder.

Defendants appeal from the judgment, and claim that the findings of fact are contrary to law. In support of this contention appellants rely on sub-divisions 36 and 76 of section 306 Rev. Stat., 1898, which were adoptod prior .to the year 1888, and which read as follows: “The city council shall have the following powers:

“36. To construct and keep in repair, bridges, viaducts, and tunnels, and to regulate the use thereof. ■

“76. Water works, fire signals, etc. To purchase, con[387]*387struct, lease, rent, manage, and maintain any system or part of any system of water works, hydrants, and supplies of water, telegraphic fire signals, or fire apparatus, and to pass all ordinances, penal or otherwise, that shall be necessary for the full protection, maintenance, management, and control of the property so leased, purchased, or constructed.”

Prior to 1890, section 1 and 2 of the Rev. Ordinances of 1892, page 494, were adopted by the city council, providing that the water works shall be finder the control of the city council who may direct the construction of reservoirs, water-mains, water-tanks, service pipes and fire-hydrants that may be necessary; that the superintendent of water works shall, under the direction of the city council, have charge of the reservoirs, water-tanks and machinery appurtenant to the water works, and shall have the direction 'of the laying of water-mains and putting in service pipes, and the regulation of the water supply, etc.

Respondents rely upon an act creating a board of public works in cities of the first class which took effect May 1, 1890, since the approval of Sec. 206, session laws, 1890, p. 62, being as amended Secs. 283, 286, Ch. 13 Rev. Stat. 1898. These sections read as follows:

“283. Appointment. Term. There shall be in each city of the first class a board of public works which shall consist of five members, residents and free holders of the city, appointed by the mayor, with the consent of the council, for the term of two years.

“286. Duties of board. It shall be the duty of such board of public works, and it shall have power, to make contracts on behalf of the city for the performance of all such work and the erection of all such improvements as .may be ordered by the city council, but all such contracts shall be subject to the approval or rejection of the council; [388]*388to superintend the performance of all such work and the erection of such improvements, except the supervision of the construction of city halls, market houses, jails or other public buildings. It shall also be the duty of said board to approve the estimates of the city engineer which may be made from time to time, of the value of the work as the same may progress; to accept any work done or improvement made, when the same shall be fully completed according to contract, subject, however, to the approval of the council; and to perform such other duties as may be devolved upon them by ordinance.”

No express words of repeal are embraced in the act. If Sec. 286 is repugnant to Sec. 206, or so contradictory or irreconcilably in conflict with it that the two sections cannot be harmonized in order to effect the purposes of their enactment, then the latter act may repeal the former; but one act is not to repeal or defeat another if by reasonable construction the two can be harmonized and made to stand together. When a statute enumerates the persons and things to be affected by its provisions, there is an implied exclusion of others. “If two inconsistent acts are passed at different times, the last is to be obeyed, and if obedience cannot be observed without derogating from- the first, it is the first that must give way.” So, if an earlier statute is impliedly repealed by a later one on account of repugnancy or inconsistency between the two, the repeal will be measured by the extent of the conflict or inconsistency between the acts, and if any part of the earlier act can stand as not superseded or affected by the later it will not be repealed by the later. University of Utah v. Richards, decided at Oct. term, ’99, of this court, 59 Pac. 96, 20 Utah, —; Black on Int. of Laws, Sec. 53; State v. Gray, 34 Conn. 118; Wood v. United [389]*389States, 16 Peters, 343; Irrigation Cos. v. Canal Cos., 14 Utah, 162.

So, also, where the legislature grants the same power over a particular matter to two public bodies, one to a city and another to the trustees of a public canal, and the grants are repugnant, the last expressed will of the legislature will control. Coram v. City of Ottawa, 32 Ill. 121.

In Crane v. Reeder, 22 Mich. 322, it is held that, “ Where there are two acts or provisions, one of which is special and particular, and certainly includes the matter in question, and the other general, which, if standing alone, would include the same matter, and thus conflict with the special act or provision, the special must be taken as intended to constitute an exception to the general act or provision, especially when such general and special acts are co-temporaneous, as the legislature are not presumed to have intended a conflict.”

A repeal of a statute depends upon the intention of the legislature, express or implied. The fact that a later act is different from a former one is not sufficient to affect a repeal. It must appear in addition that the later act is contrary to or inconsistent with the previous act in order to justify the conclusion that the first is repealed. If the later act covers the subject-matter of the former and makes different provisions which are contradictory and inconsistent with it, so that the two acts cannot stand together in harmony, then it may be said the one repeals the other in so far as it is inconsistent and contradictory.

With respect to this case, these statutes should be construed and considered according to what appears to have been the intention of the legislature.

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Nelden v. Clark, 59 P. 524, 20 Utah 382, 1899 Utah LEXIS 60 (Utah 1899).

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