People ex rel. Attorney Gen. v. Johnson

Mr. Justice Heydenfeldt and Mr. Justice Terry concurred.

The facts of the case are agreed on, so that the single point presented for our consideration, is whether the Act of the 8th of April, 1855, is in contravention of Article VIII of the Constitution, or not. The language of the Article is as follows: “ The Legislature shall not in any manner create any debt or debts, liability or liabilities, which shall singly, or in the aggregate, with any previous debts or liabilities, exceed the sum of three hundred thousand dollars, except in case of war, to repel invasion, or suppress insurrection, unless the same shall be authorized by some law for some single object or work, to be distinctly specified therein, which law shall provide ways and means, exclusive of loans, for the payment of the interest of such debt or liability, as it falls due, and also pay and discharge the principal of such debt or liability within twenty years from the time of the contracting thereof, and shall be irrepealable until the principal and interest thereon shall be paid and discharged; but no such law shall take effect, until at a general election it shall have been submitted to the people, and have…