Bryan

This is an appeal from the judgment of the superior court of San Diego county denying a peremptory writ of mandamus directing the defendant to pay into the county treasury of said county money received by him as a justice of the peace for solemnizing marriages.

The only question presented upon the appeal involves the right of the defendant as such justice to retain as his own such fees, it not being disputed that if such fees belong to the county the proceeding sought is an appropriate one. The defendant, a justice of the peace, .was elected and inducted into office since the adoption of the County Government Act, as amended in 1909. San Diego by said act is made a county of the ninth class. Section 4238 of such County Government Act [Pol. Code] provides: “In counties of the ninth class the county officers shall receive as compensation for the services required of them by law, the following salaries, to wit: . . . 15. Justices of the peace, in all townships having a population of sixteen thousand or more, one hundred and fifty dollars per month, in full of all compensation in both civil and criminal cases.” The answer admits that the population of San Diego township is such as to…