The Railroad Aid Decision

V u uced oitor uo apology to ur rena en f'ir giving sa much sad). i tbi issue of tiio Ahííus, to tlie receot decisión of tbc Supremo Gourt tDvolviov the ooustitutioDslity of the severa) laws ot' t!ie Stuto auihorizine eitics aml towus t loan tlicir credit or grant donatious t niilroail companios. The im por tunee of the decisión is euch, (ho ioteresla iiffocted so great, that we loei warranted in giving altnost cur entire sf ace to the ooncurring opiuiou.3 of Judges Coolet, CaMFBBLL, RDd ÜllKIBTIANCV. It ÍS scaroely nocessary for us to sny that thu deouiOD meeta our hoarty approval, as it munt tho approval of - with hero and thero an exoeption - every intelligent oitizen whu does not let tiis tiupposed iutorests and wiehca run away with his judgmont; fur our readers wül reineni ber that whencver the quostion bas been opeu we have condemncd tho system of municipal iiid by taxation asunconáiitutioual, as unjust, and as destructivo to the rights of minorities. It would be presumption in us to attempt to make plaiuer tho reasoning ot the court, and it iá sufiicieut to say that relyiug upon no teohnicaliües it strikes at the root of the matter, nud dnies the right of the State lo tax one cdizen to give to another or to establith another in biiine) be that businets railroadmg, millitj, printing or anything the. Probibitory clausos even are not relied upon, but it is clearly statod thut suoh taxution s not legitimóte, does not iuhere iu the State, and oaunot bo esircised by it without expres permifsory provisión in tho Constitulioa. Fiom this position the step is natural and neceBsary to the deuial of tlic light oí the State to authorize a town or city to do what it cannot do itse!f,(r a bare nmjority to compel au aowilliog iniuority, not to coiitribnte to tho support of the State or local government, uot toward the building of public bigbwayt?, bridges or buildings, but to the funis of a corpuration to be mannjed by the corporators for the eorporators, firslbj , tecondly, lastly, and all the time, tho puDÜo gettiuíí only iucidental beuefits from its management. The illustrations used by the coocurring judges are conviocing, and the position taken impregnuble. We take t that the opinión of Justico Coolxz will bo comtuended by lawyeri and judges throughout the country as a model of elearness, and that its eudorsement will be general. In these degenerate times, when minorities are fast fiuding their rights ignored by partirán legislators, it is fortúnate that Michigan ha3 a Supremo Court above popular clamor. Even thoso disseniing - save bere and there a crack-brained enthusi ast or rauting dcir.ngogue- will fiel í greater eouadenoo in the security of their ot our lilgbest court grouüded tliuir decisions ou the orgapio law, and the immutable princ'ple underlyhig it, rather than ou ihe cry of vox populi, vox Dei Both our Natioual and State GovernmeütB have drifted so far from ïate auchorage, have ineddled so extensivcly with the legitímate affairs of individuals have so subjected privato rights to illegitimate control, and made party necessi ty the guide to their action, that it is refreshing to find a Supretne Court, a oourt constituted, too, of elected udges reeurring to first principies, denyiug tho omnipotence of Government, and planting itself equarely in defeose of the rights of miuoritits. ïhat the fcober-seconc thougbtot the people will endorse the decisión, and honor the judges who made it, we cannot tor a moment doubt. - We hope that Gov. Baldwin will hesitate long beforo yielding to the pressure lor an extra session of the Legïslature, to reoonstruct the court - a Congressional way of doiDg - or amend the Constitution. It is better to give the people time to consider the decisión and study its reasonings. Besides, the present Legislaturo was not elected upon any (uch issue, and f the court is to be tried, condemned, and executed, in all deeency the legislativo jury should come fresh from the people. We are aware that wild-cat railroad speculators will clamor and threaten, that ruin, dire and dread, will be predictod and prayod for, that repudiation wil! be depieted, and the innocent boudholder ill be bathcd in au abuodanoe of crocodilo tears. Let tho Governor wait whilo the choir sitigs : "We'll stand the storm, it ivoii't be long, We'l] anchor by and by." It tnay be severa on a few innocent boudholdtrs, a very few, for it is known - to every newspaper reader at least - that the vaüdity of the botkís iu question was deuied, and that tbuir legality was sure to be coDtcstcd. It is better thitt a few should suffer than that the riht of two men tbould be eBtabli.-hcd to vote the money from tho pocket of a tliirJ man iuto the pocket of a fourth, the two ruling voters not even being recjuired to be tax-payers. Make haste, slowly, Gov. Balijwin. Detroit, Monroc nncl Aun Arbor are What ;hey are, by reason oí appropriatlona of public moneys borrovvcd many y cara ago by the State, and to p.iy which ve are contrlbitlng i every yeir's tazas, and it is to tbe :revalent lack of public spirit ia these Imu'is that we are to attribute tbis oatrageous decisión. - Jackson Citizen. Will tho Cuiten be good enough to Lell us what " inonejs borrowcd many yèars ego" have been appropriated to build up Ann Arbor ? Wo venture to offer in advance of ita ansivcr, to preve tbut 5100 of tbe peoplo'a money - tbe orooeeds of tnxation - have beeu expended in appropriations wbich have dircctly tended to build up Jacksou, for t'vcry ; singlo dollar of appropriation frotn which Ann Arbor could poseibly derive any local benefit. That is all now.