It Is Bad Law

New York, 1895

In a case at Flushing to test the validity of the wide tire law, Justice Connorton has decided that the board of Supervisors have no right to enact a road law applicable to the streets within the incorporated village of Flushing. He bases this decision on a provision of the village charter which says that "the streets and avenues shall be under the sole control of the village trustees."

There is no conflict between the village charter and the wide tire law. On the contrary, they are perfectly harmonious. The Supervisors have not sought to acquire "control" of the village streets. The legislature, which granted the village of Flushing its charter, has seen fit to extend the powers of the board of Supervisors so that they may regulate the width of tires on wagons as a means of preserving the highways and curtailing taxation. The legislature had ample power to do this, and in giving effect to the statute the Supervisors are but the agents of the Legislature.

The wide tire law may be invalid, but not for the reason stated by Justice Connorton.


Lawyers

It is surprising what highfalutin eulogies the Bar Association pronounces over dead lawyers whose corrupt records were the distinguishing features of their lives. If the Bar Association was true to itself two lawyers at least would have been dishonorably dismissed from its membership and disbarred from practising.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, March 1, 1895, p. 4.