Davies

— This is an action by the respondent

against the city of Los Angeles and W. B. Morford, street superintendent of said city, to declare void an assessment made against the respondent’s property for the payment of the expenses of opening and widening a certain street in said city, and to enjoin the enforcement thereof. There was a demurrer to the complaint, which was overruled, and, the defendants standing on their demurrer and refusing to answer, judgment was rendered accordingly, and the defendants appeal. The proceedings complained of were had under and in conformity to the act of the legislature of 1889, providing for the opening and widening of streets. (Stats. 1889, p. 70.) It is not only contended that the statute referred to was not fully complied with, but the statute itself is attacked on the ground that it is unconstitutional; and it is further claimed that, as the special charter of Los Angeles contains ample provisions for the opening and widening of streets, the statute is not applicable to that city. The *40 latter of these propositions is mostly relied upon, apparently, hy counsel for the respondent, as it is much more fully and elaborately argued than other…

— I concur in the judgment, and in the main in the opinion of Justice Fox. For the reasons set forth in the dissenting opinions of Justice McKinstry in Thomason v. Ashworth, 73 Cal. 73 , and in People v. Henshaw, 76 Cal. 453 , I think those cases, and the case of Ex parte Ah You, 82 Cal. 339 , were erroneously decided, and that the provisions of the charter of Los Angeles with respect to the opening and widening of streets apply in that city, to the exclusion of the statute of 188.9. I think, moreover, that the statute *58 is unconstitutional on two grounds: 1. It does not, when tested by the liberal doctrine of Lent v. Tillson, 72 Cal. 404 , provide for any proper notice to owners of pro'perty affected; and 2. It permits assessments upon the property supposed to be benefited in excess of the benefits.

— I concur in the judgment, but do not concur in what is said in support of the proposition that the act of 1889 is in force in the city of Los Angeles. Of the written laws of this state there are four classes, each established in a different mode, and by a different body or branch of the government, and each equally binding upon the courts within its appropriate sphere.

1. The first of these is the constitution. This is established by the people of the whole state, acting in their collective capacity, and as to all other state laws is the supreme law of the land. The mode of establishing all other written laws of the state, or of any part of the state, is that, and that only, which is prescribed or permitted by this supreme law so established by the people. This law, in its operation upon the people as individuals, and upon every department of the government which is established by it, is made by its own terms mandatory and prohibitory, except when otherwise within it expressed. (Const., art. 1, sec. 22.)

2. The general statute laws of the state. By the constitution it is ordained that these must be established by the legislative department of the state government. The mode and…