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THURSDAY, JANUARY. 22, IMS (AdTertlMncnt) Minutes of Call Meeting of Council January 14, 1925, Containing Mayor’s Ruling Council was called to order by the Mayor and led in prayer. Present: Mr. C. C. Bailey, Mr. L. R. Stone, Mr. T. J. Blalock. The meeting was called by the Mayor by announcement in Council, towards the close of the meeting of January 12th, at which meeting Council had passed Cer tain resolutions and amendments to an Ordinance passed Janury 5th, which Or dinance was entitled: “An Ordinance to prescribe rules and regulations for a meeting of the Council of the Town of Clinton; to prescribe rules and regula tions for quorum; to prescribe the powers and duties of the Mayor and members of Council; to prescribe the manner of pur chasing supplies and payment for the same for tne Town of Clinton; t<k pre scribe rules and regulations for the em ployment of policemen and other town employes; and to prescribe the manner of paying salaries, wages and other ex penditures of said town,” which Ordi nance was amended Janury 12th in oec- •tions 2 and 3. At the meeting of Janu ary 12th a call was issued for a meeting of the Council to occur each morning of the whek, except Sundays and holidays, at 9 o’clock in the Mayor’s office, for the lurpose of discharging the duties which leretofpr* haw? been discharged by the Mayor, out which under these restrictive acts of Council would have to devolve upon the Council assembled. Addition ally 'the meeting was called bv special letter mailed to each member of Council, and a copy of that letter was presented to all members of Council except ,one, who could not be found, through the Chief of Police. The Mayor, in calling the regular morning meeting of the Town Council of the Town of Clinton, declared that in his opinion the Ordinance above referred to, with its amendments and restrictive res olution following, was illegal, and that TH8 CUNTON CHRONICLE. bfCoundl PAGE NIKE “whenever (Not Yet Approved) and together with a resolution of Coun cil passed at the same meeting, entitled, ‘Resolution of the Town Council of the Town of Clinton, 8. O.,’ and pladna various restrictions upon salaries and pay rolls, this said Ordinance, amend ments thereto and resolutions of Council I declare In my opinion to be illegal, and I therefore declare them null and void and decline to put them“nto effect “The grounds on which I have reached this conclusion are: First, the Town of Clinton is a corporation existing by the authority of a charter issued by the State of South Carolina, which charter was issued by J. T. Gantt, Secretaryof State, 24th day of March, A. D., 1^06, and in the one hundredth and thirtieth ear of the independence of the United Itatee of America, in which charter* the following authority is given: ‘Now therefore I, J. T. Gantt, Secretary of State, by virtue of the authority in roe vested by said Article 2, Chapter 49, Code of 1902, and amendments thereto, do hereby certify that the Town of Clin ton is duly incorporated with the privi leges, powers and immunities, and sub ject to the limitations prescribed in said code for towns and cities of more than 1,000 and less than 5,000 inhabitants.’ This charter'refers to South Carolina fode for towns and" cities of more than 1,000 and less than 5,000 inhabitant*,, which' .code together with the charter, represents the constitution of the Town of Clinton, beyond thei limitations of which the corporation has no authority may call ameedi In this iroundsri* paragraph it i* Attempt ed to substitute the judgment of two aldermen for the judgment of the Mayor as to the necessity of a meeting of Coun cil, and while the above quoted paragraph from the code provides Gut “toe Mayor shall have .authority to summon the al dermen” tab amended section of the town Ordinance provides, “that the Mayor or Mayor pro tern, in the event, of the in ability of the Mayor txratt a special meeting of Co “shall”, indicates a meat under which fuse to net. Yet i mandate, a r the Mayfc cam in the Code it shall call 1” which a require- cannot re- is not made mandatory upon the Mayor to call a meeting of Council, though in common necessity it is necessary on occasion to call a meeting, bnt the decision as to that necessity rests upon the judgment of the Mayor in the expression “in his judgment,” and he ia not by the code ordered to call a meeting by the judgment of anyone else, nor at any time other than when he may regard it as necessary so to do. The code doss not say, “The Mayor shall call a meeting of Council,” but on the contrary says, “The Mayor shall have authority to summon the al dermen.” ’ It is therefore, in my opinion, under the code, left to the Mayor to call special meetings of Council which in his judgment he may deem necessary, and the'-assertion of any right on the part of one, two or more aldermen to overthrow the Mayor’s authority as thus accorded him by the law of the State of South Carolina is an encroachment upon his legal official right, and this provision ia made for very good reasons, which are illustrated ip the events leading up to, of said M to legislate or to act in any respect.” The 1922 Civil code of South Carolina, Section 4542, paragraph 5, reads as fol lows : “Council Meetings.—The Mayor shall have authority to summon the al dermen to meet in Council for the trans action of bSsiness pertaining to the cor poration whenever in hia judgment it may be necessary.” This section,'in my ■in -r 1 mutually current for light power and cooking purposes and water to the citi zens ns individuals. Section 5 of said Ordinance prohibits tbe Mayor or any other authority of the town, except by approval of Council in Council assembled, from employing in behalf of the town’s interest any em ployee at n salary or wages exceeding $25.00 per month. It must be readily apparent that when the market value of competent day labor ranges from $2.00 to $2.25 per day for common labor as at S resent, it is not practicable for the town y Ordinance to regulate the price of labor, nor would it be in public intereet, nor in justice to tbe citiseus of tbe town, nor in harmony with national and State law protecting labor for any Ordinance to be pat into execution in the Town of Clinton by the Town Council to restrict the wages of tbe people to not exceeding $25.00 per month, of' to enforce service at a wage not exceeding $25.00 per month, and since this cannot be done and is not even attempted in this Ordinance, it must be apparent as a commoiuense principle that the town would be without common labor, and therefore could not maintain its streets, nor sewer system, nor water system, nor operate its water and light plant, nor attend to any of the ordinary work requiring labor without calling Council in session to approve each employment of labor, and since labor is constantly changing this would mean n constant session of Council, meeting at and resulting in the passage inf dinance and amendments restrictive resolutions. thereto Gr and he had not signed the Ordinance, nor at-. opinion, gives exclusively to the Mayor tached the seal of the town, and there-1 of the Town of Clinton the authority to foro had not put it into effect because J summon aldermen to meet in Council for he regarded it as contrary to the law of i the transaction of business pertaimug to the State of South Carolina governing [ the corporation. It given him authority coruoratious. towns and cities of less! to set the time of meeting as indicated than° 5,000 population, which Jaw in ef-jby the word “whenever”. The calling of feet is the Constitution of thk Town of j the meeting is to be done solely when in. Clinton, and restricts the scipe of all action by the corporation. ' The Mayor also declared that in his opinion the restrictions contemplated^ in the law were impracticable, injurious to public interest and detrimental to the service of the various departments of the town government, and that in his opinion the Town Council could not, in its hm- —. . , . , ited normal meetings, attend to all the ; ment for the judgment of the Mayor as his judgment” it may be necessary, and not when it may be necessary in the judg ment of others. The code does not, so far as it appears to me, convey to any alderman the right to call a meeting of of Council, nor does it convey to the Council as a whole the right to call a meeting of Council, nor to set the date of meeting, nor to substitute their judg That a certain number of- the council- men or aldermen of the Town of Clinton assembled without giving notice to the alderman representing Ward 6, and with out giving notice to the Maydr, without whom a Council meeting cannot exist, unless the Mayor pro tern is present un der conditions which make the Mayor unable to act. In this case the aider- man from Ward 6 is the Mayor pro tern, and since neither the Mayor nor the Mayor pro tern were notified of the meet ing, there was no meeting of Council, but merely a conference or a caucus of coun- cilmen, having no legal authority, and having no existence as a legal entity; that this conference or caucus of council- men applied to the City Attorney, in structing him to draw an Ordinance to accomplish their purpose. I am advised by the City Attorney that they did not ask his advice as to the wisdom of their purpose, nor did they ask his advise ns to the legality of the Ordinance when drawn to meet their requirements. They only asked him to draw the Ordinance to carry out their purpose. least daily, and would probably require d efficiency that meet throughout the business for proper economy an Council meet througho hours of the day, and on some occasions require that Council meet at any time of the day or night to meet emergencies. I therefore rule that this section is in consistent with public good, injurious to the public interest, destructive of the or- or 15 items of business of more or less pressing necessity were neglected to the injnry of the town’s intertit, and to its financial loss, but also when immediately after tbe passage of said Ordinance on January 5th the Mavor called upon Council to act upon and decide favorably or unfavorably upon a contract involving several thousand dollars of work to be done Mr. Geo. Odiornc, Contractor, siid contract including abont fourteen pages of foolscap matter, the Council failed to hear the reading of, the contract which the Mayor urgently pressed upon their attention and urged that they have read, and considered and attended to. When he urged that they attend to their duties thus assumed under the above Or dinance they moved to adjourn, thus leaving the matter unattended to, and when the Mayor still called them to do their duty and attend to this function, which the Mayor otherwise would have attended to, the contract having already been approved and recommended by the City Engineer, a majority of the mem bers of Council left the Council room without permission of the Mayor and in contempt of his authoritv, and without adjourning in an orderly and formal manner, constituting a clear case of neg lect of duty, which would, if this Ordi nance had been signed by the Mayor, have been actionable before the Re corder’s Court, and actionable also in damage suits against such councilman by any persons aggrieved or injured by their heglect of duty. As a majority of Coun The facts appear to. be as follows:' ganizatmn necessary to the maintenance daily duties hitherto performed by the Mayor, but on which tne Mayor was re stricted by these regulations, and for that reason he had not put the law into ef fect, but desired that Council should see whether it could function in the place of the authority of the Mayor in those respects in which the Council had as serted an authority and delimited the Mayor; that further, proper service in in these particulars would require daily attention to the duties involved, and hence that daily attendance of Council at the Mayor’s office was required. This declaration was made after an examina tion of the heads of departments to find out how often matters covered by the restrictions would require attention of the ultimate authority, this examination being had in the presence of Council. .-. After the opening of Council on this date, the 14th day of January, 1925, the tbe Mayor laid before Council numerous matters of business, including two freight bills from the Seaboard Air Line for one car of coal each, in each case the bill exceeding $100.00, and therefore being above the limit of the authority allowed to the Mayor under the said Ordinance and restrictive resolution, these freight bills being dated January 2nd and Jan uary 7th, and being overdue. There was also presented a demand from the agent of the Seaboard Air Line for payment, this demand being presented verbally through the' Clerk and Treasurer, Miss Mary Chalmers. There was also pre sented a signed letter from the agent of the Seaboard Line and the Columbia, Newberry and Laurens Railroad, setting forth that the Interstate Commerce Com mission had ruled that railroads must collect freight within forth-eight hours, and could only extend the time for pay ment of freight bill to 96 hours in case bond wefe made. The Mayor pointed out that the bills, were overdue and that as be was restricted in the matter of using the credit of the town in excess of $lQj).00, he was unable to rive bond with out disregarding the said Ordinance. He was also unable to approve for payment the freight bills because they exceeded $100.00, thus coming within the prohi bition of the said Ordinance, and that while the resolution had been passed in Council authorising the Mayor to pur chase necessary supply of coal, the reso lution did not include authority to ap prove bills of coal for payment, nor au thority to buy freight service, nor author ity to approve for payment bills for freight service. He' was therefore tied hand and~foot in the transaction «nd it was made necessary for Council to act, if the said Ordinance and .its amend to the necessity of the meeting. The Section 1 of said Ordinance pro vides, “That on and after the passage of this Ordinance there shall be a regular meeting of the Town Council of the Town of Clinton on the first Monday of each month at such hour as may be de termined upon by the Mayor, provided that when said day tor meeting shall be a legal holiday, the meeting for such mouth shall be on Tuesday next ensuing after the first Monday.” It is my opinion that this section of said Ordinance is illegal and contrary to the civil code of South Carolina, as covering towns with population in excess of 1,600 and less than 5,000, in which class the Town of Clinton exists at the present time, and that this section of said Ordinance is il legal in the following respects: that it undertakes to iet the time of meeting of the Town Council, whether or not that time may, in the judgment of the Mayor, be‘necessary, since it'sets the first Mon day of each month as the time of meet ing, and only leaves to the Mayor the authority to set the horns interposing the judgment of Council in regard, to the day of meeting in the place of the judgment of the Moyar, as provided in the above quoted Section 4542, paragraph 5, of the civil code. t It is my opinion that section 2 of said Ordinance, which reads, “That four al dermen shall constitute a quorum of said Council, and no action on any matter S lating to the affairs of the Town of inton shall be taken by said Council without quorum being present either at a special or regular meeting” is illegal because it provides as a quorum of Coun cil four Councilmen without the Mayor, whereas it is my opiuiou that the civil code of South Carolina, as covering towns of the class of Clinton, requires the presence of the Mayor, or in the ab sence or inability of the Mayor to act, requires the presence of the Mayor pro tem. This view Council approved when in their meeting of January 10th, they amended the above section to read, “that the Mayor and three members of Council shall constitute a quorum, except that in the absence of the Mayor, the Mayor pro tem and three members of Council shall constitute a quorum.” It is my opinion that section 3 of the said Ordinance is illegal. That section reads, “That a special meeting to deter mine any matters relating to the affairs of said Town of Clinton may be had upon the request by the Mayor or any member of said Council at any time, provided notice of the time and place_pnd purpose of said meeting be given to all members arily January 10, 1925, would give to any Councilman, without authority of the Mayor or the Mayor pro tem, authority to convene at S time impossible or incon venient for the Mayor or the Mayor pro tem to attend, and in that meeting, with only four councilmen present, and with of the gdrw-nment of th^ town, and neces sary to the affording of the services of sanitation, water, light, power and heat, therefore this Ordinance would be an abomination if put into actual effect, un less Council is kept in practically con stant session to superintend the employ ment of labor, and when in constant ses sion It would have to employ labor at wages in excess of $25.00 per month. It does not appear to me as clear that the members of Council in Council as sembled could employ labor any more intelligently than the department^ heads of the city organization acting by the authority of the Mayor and with his con sent, and it does not appear to me to be practicable to require and enforce meet ings of Council constantly, seeing that tbe salaries of Councilmen are but $5.00 per month, and they must of necessity sustain themselves from other sources than from their municipal salaries, under which conditions they could hardly be reasonably expected to attend in con stant attendance in the Mayor’s office for the transaction of business of employ ing labor, which might require at any purpo It appears that tne Ordinance as origl u drawn and as originally passed on t j me ^ attention 0 f the ultimate au- It is my opinion that when Council separates between one set of obligations those exceeding $100.00 and those of $100.00 or less, it is making a distinction which would hardly be legal. It is the obligation of a corporation under the law of the State of South Carolina to pay all of its obligations within their legal limits. It is not competent for the Town Council of the Town of Clin ton to make any ordinance which would excuse the Town of Clinton from the paying of all of its obligations when di A motion was made to approve the freight bills for payment. The Mayor asked that consideration of the matter be postponed until he could make a fur ther statement in regard to his attitude on the legality of said Ordinance and Resolutions. He further stated that numerous other items of invoices to be paid, subject to cash discount, and on which the delay in payment would in volve a loss of the cash discount to the town, required attention. Some of these were presented by the Engineer and some by the Clerk and Treasurer. He also presented a requisition from the Engi neer for materials needed in construction of the sewer and water works extension Which he is now superintending, the requisition involving an amount in ex cess of $100.00, and therefore under said Ordinance requiring Council’s attention. A motion was made to authorize the pur chase of this requisition. The Mayor asked delay in the consideration of the matter until he could announce his atti tude on the matter of the said Ordinance and said resolution, as the application of said Ordinance and said Resolution had in practice proven their effect an detri mental to the public interest He then announced a ruling on said Ordinance and said Resolution as follows: MAYOR’S RULING “It is my opinion that an Ordinance nassed by Council in n meeting held Jan- uray 5, 1925, and entitled: ‘An Ordi nance to prescribe rules and regulations for a meeting of the Council of the Town of Clinton; to prescribe rules and regu lations for quorum; to prescribe the powers and duties of tbs Mayor and members of Council; to prescribe the manner of purchasing supplies and uay- ment for the same for the Town of Clin- tion; to prescribe rules and regulations tor the employment of policemen and other town employees; and to prescribe the manner of paying sriarioa wages and other expenditures of said town,’ together with amendments covering sections 2 4nd 3 thereof, amendments were paseed at a meeting of Gonad! held January thority. Section 6 of said Ordinance prohibits the paying of any bills or invoices for purchases or making contracts, for ma terials, supplies, salaries, wages, or any other obligations of the Town of Clinton ,, . , without first being duly authorized (WU nan^I anH thefCUntO b.V the ToWU CoUUCil in CoUU- fho assembled, except that contracts may S it* entered into and payment may be Tnurn 8 nf «n n£«- made 0n * 8Uch obligations of the ToWU of Tow “ Canton Such an organization ( j liutoll wlleu t i, ey do not exwec | $100.00 i e ® R ^ ^ reason of the absrace aud on wa g e8 0 f employees of the Town of X Ibii™ if ftflEyo? p, ,h ' y d ° “““ * 25 00 tem. It would be illegal because called - n by a member of Council, without consent, and therefore without being “in the judg ment” of the Mayor as to the necessity thereof, and this illegally constituted body would proceed to deal with the af fairs of the Town of Clinton with all the authority of a legal Council, thus enabl ing a mere caucus to rob the legal Coun cil of its authority, and to take control of the city property and city interests and of the lives>gpd persons and property of the people of the town, thereby over throwing government as constituted in the corporation by the civil code of the State of South Carolina, thereby exclud ing from all authority and power the Mayor of the Town of Clinton. It is my opinion that from custom and also from necessity the Mayor has come to be regarded as the responsible head of municipal government, and is therefore accorded a larger salary than members of Council. The public looks to him to rectify wrongs, to see that the law is executed. He is the head of the Police Department, and therefore has the power to act and enforce action. He is respons ible under the law of the State and the courts of the State for the integrity of his actiou. The necessity appears in the fact that there cannot be seven Mayors or seven heads of the Police DepartmeLt, or seven executives who would have equal power to administer the affairs of the city. If such were the case it could only result in chaos and destruction, and the law manifestly does not contemplate chaos, but order, so that under the com mon law the principle of the public’s good is considered, and is dominant and would require unity of authority and or der in administration, without which there would be great detriment to tbe public interests, injury to all the tax-pay ers aud to the city, and to the citizens of the town, so that both on the grounds of the common law, and also on grounds of the code as quoted, it is my opinion that Sections 1, 2 and 3 of this Ordinance are illegal, contrary to the code of laws gov erning tbe corporation of the Town of Clinton, and therefore null and void. The remaining sections of file said Or dinance are not in my judgment in the I public interest, but detrimental to the Siting Stid^cTnSl ^ept^how "(Sn!! «ame, .bein$ impra^ ! resulting Tn delays in attention to the tained 1Un ?.^® .9^ ^ (business of the town, which delays are in- opiniou of the illegality of this section is , j ur j oua and CBU>4e i OB8> and being thus impraticable and pernicious in effect; are opinion of the illegality based on -the fact, admitted by Council in the above referred to amendment, that a quorum of Council cannot be had with out the presence of the Mayor or tbe Mayor pro tem, and that therefore there can be no legal Council meeting without the presence of the one or the other, and only with the Mayor pro tem' in case the Mayor is absent or unable to act, where objectionable to the very spirit of law and order and of principles of economy and efficiency with which government should be conducted. In section 4 the Mayor and all other officers of the tiwn are prohibited from paving any streets or sidewalks or any iiAajur is ttUBCuu ur uiiuuie w act, wc- j a. f Hnv ai* KiHpwulks mifhnr- as this section of said Ordinance makes ; it possible for any member of Connell ‘J* t °' d “I "OP afS other thau the Mayor, or other than tbe ! ^ . “ Z Mayor pro tem, id the absence or inabili-! P r '^ ° Q f nv W J ty of the Mayor to act, to call a special meeting of Council, thereby extending to each member of Council an authority which the civil code of South Carolina in the above quoted section 4542, para graph 5, accords to the Mayor only. It must be clear that if the corporation of the Town of Clinton has no authority to extend its own powers, or the powers of its officers beyond the limit set in the said code, that Council is not competent to give a power to any councilman in ex cess, of the power given to the councilmen in the code, and is not competent to de limit the power of the Mayor as set forth in that code. The correctness of the above point of view is supported by the action of Coun cil in amending section 3 of said Ordi nance at n meeting January 10, 1925, to make section 3 read as wollows: “That the Mayor or Mayor pro tem, in the event of the inability of the Mayor to attend, shall call n special meeting of the Council to consider any matters pertain ing to affairs of the town upon request of any two or more aldermen.” It is my opinion that this amendment is also Illegal as being contrary to the letter and to the intent of section 4542, paragraph of the civil code of South Carolina, quoted. The amended section 3 makes it mandatory upon the Mayor or the Mayor pro tom to call a meeting ef Council when in Che judgment of two or mere member* R may he necessary, wbersas the lew provides that tip Mayor making any purchases of machinery, equipment, trucks, tractors, wagons, elec tric light poles, electric wires, coal, ma terial or any supplies for the Town of Clinton for cash or upon the credit of the said Town of Clinton without au thorization therefor by Town Council in Council assembled either at a regular or •egu thi a special meeting, except that this pro vision does uot apply to purchases 1 amounting to $100.00 or less. This section was later amended by res olution of Council, authorizing the pur chase of necessary coal, but without au thorization to pay the billa for same, and without authorization to. engage the movement of the coal from the mines to the power house of the Town of Clinton, and without authorisation to pay the freight on same, and inasmuch as the railroads are unwilling, and cannot un der the law, permit an indefinite delay in the payment of freight, and would prevent delivery of coal in case the freight billa are left unpaid, and since the Town of Clinton cannot make power, lights, or pomp water, without the coal, and since the public interest would be injured and the people inconvenienced and caused to suffer for lack of water, power and lights, it is my opinion that this section of said Ordinance is illegal on grounds of common necessity because injurious to the public interest and de- of tbe order and system ex- ' under' our organization as n body la which capacity we furnish they are due, but in order to accomplish that result, in accordance with this sec tion, it would be necessary for Council to reinaiu in session continuously or with practical continuity, for when Council would uot be iu session there would be no ultimate authority to act for the town and to perform its legal obligations in the meeting of the payment of wages aud iuvoice» for goods at the time they are due. Iu my opinion the ultimate authority cannot vacate the obligatiou at any mo ment of day oi; night to meet the legal obligations of the town to its creditors, on any account whether large or small, and while in actual process of business daily meetings of Council might meet the legal obligations of tbe corporation under these restrictions, it is quite cer tain that daily sessions of Council would be essential to such business manage ment, and daily sessions as above dis cussed are not practicable, are not con templated under the law, and in actual practice have proven a failure by the oreakdowu of au effort to secure a quo rum in daily sessions. It further appears that when the May or called Council to meet at 9 o’clock on each day of the week except Sundays and holidays they failed to appear in the strength of a quorum on the first such business day to attend to the business of the city, that day being the 13tb day of January, 1925, at which meeting only two members of Council were present, so that to secure a quorum at the next daily meeting of Council, the Mayor issued a call by mail additional to his verbal call to Council for daily meetings, and in still further addition served upon members of Council another call for the meeting on the 14th of January, 1925, at 9 o’clock iu the Mayor’s office, through the thief of Police in order to enforce attendance of at least a quorum of Council for per formance of duties contemplated by Council under this Ordinance. Section 4556, paragraph 19, of the civil code of South Caroliua, for towns exceeding 1,000 population and less than 5,000, provides: “Negligence of Officer —For any willful violation or neglect of duty, malpractice, abuse or oppression U the Mayor or alderman so offending shall ' be liable to punishment by a flue uot exceeding $100.00 or punishment not ex ceeding thirty days, besides being liable for damages to any person injured by such neglect, malpractice, abuse or op pression. \ This provision of law is evidently in tended to protect the citizens from in justice aud tyranny and destruction and waste of their joint property by abuse of authority as applying to employees of the town. It is also evidently intended to cover the requirements of the officers that they attend to their duty, which If neglected would make them not only liable to fine and imprisonment up to the limit of $100.00 fine or thirty days of imprisonment, but also provides that any individual citizen may secure dama- cil deserted the meeting the Mayor ex cused the minority until such time as a majority could be secured. This occurred January 5, 1925. A meeting of Council was called for January 10, 1925, at which a quorum appearing the Mayor declared the Cound again is session—not having .adjourned, hut only having recessed by- reason of lack of a quorum. A^ain he urged the atten tion -to this, particular piece of business consisting of a contract with Mr. Odi- orne. Again Council declined to have the contract read,’ though urged for some time by the Mayor to attend to their duty in this respect. Their attention was called to the fact that they had arro*- gated to themselves all authoritv in the haqdlinp: of such contracts and that they must discharge their duty, and the law covering the case was read in their pres ence, and a statement was made that i(: was the duty of the Mayor, under his Oath of office to see that the law of the State of South Carolina was executed. Nevertheless, under this full statement by the Mayor, Council failed to act upon the contract and left it unattended to. The Mayor took the matter up again at a meeting of Council on the 12th oi' January. At this meeting on the 12th of January that contract was taken up, considered, approved without reading and ordered put into effect, subject to the approval of the Engineer, which it already had, and subject to the approva of the City Attorney, but no pro vision was made for it to be sub ject to the approval of the Mayor. On inquiry by the Mayor whether the City Attorney would make an additional charge over and above his retainer fee for the service of going over a lengthy contract, which would take about a half day’s work, he replied that as attorney there would be no extra charge, but the work would "be done un der the general retainer fee, but that he would only pass upon the contract as regards its legal form and that would not require the reading of the contract in its entirety. The Mayor pointed out to Council that what they had done amounted to the spending of thousands of dollars of the town’s money without themselves know ing the terms df the contract under which the expenditure was made, and without authorizing the Mayor to read for them the contents of the contract, and that such inattention to public service consti tuted neglect and that the Mayor would not place a contract without'giving it his personal attention, and that the as sumption of the authority to handle such matters in such a negligent way did not improve upon, but afforded an inferior service to the Town of Clinton, as com pared to the service which was being rendered by the Mayor in close attention to the details of such matters, and was therefore not in public interest but detri mental to the safety of the funds of the Town of Clinton. Nevertheless Council took no steps to inform themselves as to the details of the coutract which they had ordered into effect. and for the preserving the health, order and rood government within the same, provided that no monopoly shall be {(ranted in such incorporated dtiea or towns for the tale of breadatnffs or meats, and the City or Town Council may fix by Ordinance and impose by pen alties for the violation of tbe amid rules, )y-laws, regulations and Ordinances not to exceed the sum dl $100 00 or imprison ment of not more than thirty days, and' shall appropriate all revenues arising therefrom to the use of the said corpora tion.” However, while above authority i* given to the City Council for the making of Ordinances covering the subjects men tioned, the above paragraph of the civil code of South Carolina continues as fol lows : “Provided such Ordinances, rules and by-laws or regulations be not contrary to the laws of the State.” Now as it is not competent for the Town Council to make Laws which are contrary to the laws of the State, nod »* I as ^Mayor of the Town of Clinton, the head of the Council, and the Execu tive Head of the Town of Clinton, am charged by public opinion and by cus tom and by necessity with the responsi- biliy of seeing: first, that tbe laws of the State of South Carolina, as govern ing the legislation of the Town of Clia- top, are observed; and second, as I am charged, as the head of the city govern ment, with myself obeying the laws of the State of South CaroOua, it is my duty, believing as I do that the said Or dinance, its amendments and the re strictive resolution are illegal, to decline to put same into effect, since to do otiier- wise would be contrary to the law of South Carolina, to the detriment of tbe public interest of the citizens of Clinton, and to the injury of the corporntioi the Town of Clintoir; nntf'fco'tne discredit of the Town of Clinton, and it is my opinion that if I should fail thus to fule as null and void an Ordinance so clearly opposed to the law of the State of Soutn Carolina and to public intereet, I would have failed of my duty, and myself be actionable for that failure or neglect of duty. 1 would further point out in regard to said Ordinance that it contains no pen alties and for lack of penalties cannot be enforced, so that while those officers and employees of tbe Town of Clinton who respect the law would be prohibited from acting in necessary matters without injurious delay, others might desregard this Ordinance, its amendments and the resolutions of Council further amenda tory thereof, with impunity since the Mayor would have no power ns head of the Police Dearptment to have such per son or person apprehended and tried for an infraction' of said Ordinance, its amendments and the amendatory resolu tion of Council. I therefore hold that not only is the Ordinance illegal under the code of South Carolina, illegal under the common law, but also worthless and useless as being incapable of being administered. 1 further declare that as public inter est seems to require a statement I will not permit in the future the dismissal of any employee of the city government by arbitrary action of Council without charges being brought against such em ployee apd proper investigation of charges being made, and in the event that such power is usurped by Council and thus abused, contrary* to the public in terest, and to good order, and contrary Moreover, certain invoices were pre sented to Council at this meeting. Coun cil was informed that failure to pay the , . ,. . . .4. ^invoices would forfeit cash discouts; I , r ?*. . RR . ( justice, and of the proper that there was monev in the tren.mirv with administration of the town s affairs, I ary to the rights of individuals so employed, wV that they are discharged without re course, without due process of law and without just reason being given and con sidered, then I declare it to be my duty as Mayor of the Town of Clinton to bring action against any and all mem bers of Council who may by, their vote so discredit and injure any employee of the Town of Clinton, and I further order that no member of Council shall threaten any employee of the Town of Clinton with dismissal on political grounds or without rroimd and that no member of (Council snail intimidate employees of the Town of Clinton against doing their duty an thev conscientiously believe it to be, with threats of having them turned out of office. This declaration I make because it has not onlv been rumored on the streets that a member of Council contemplates dis charging employees of the town, but also a threat was made in Council by a Coun cil member against an employee of the town is such form as to constitute an intimation that his position was en dangered by reason of his displeasing that member of Council, Hence in behalf of law and order and that there was money in the treasury with which to pay the bills, aud that these bills should have executive attention and approval iu order to save the town the money involved in the cash discounts; also that there were freight bills overdue aud requiring payment, the non-payment of which threatened the orderly manage ment of the water and light department. Nevertheless Council adjourned without atttending to these details, to which in the ordinary course of business the May or is accustomed to attending, first by requiring the head of each department to audit the invoices and O.K. same by sig nature of the departmental head; and second, by personal examination and ap proval and signature of the Mayor as an order to pay, after which, and only after which, the Clerk and Treasurer pays the obligations that are due. Council was also informed that^the or derly system in force heretofore.had been in regard to purchases, that requisitions would be made by heads of departments, and if necessary discussion entered into with them, aud if necessary salesmen and others interviewed and careful inves tigations made iuto prices, terms, quality Of all goods purchased, and that no goods were purchased without a departmental head requisitioning same und approving of the purchase, and no goods purchased without the approval of the Mayor after intelligent apprehension of the trans action, and therefore no bills paid with out the O.K. of the departmental head and the approval signature of the May or; that Council was unable to perform such service unless it remained in coh- mt session. Nevertheless, with .all this information before Council of the necessity of a con stant session (if this Ordinance was to be effective) Council failed of attendance at the first daily session required by the Mayor. It is therefore my opinion that the said Ordinance with its amendments and also the restrictive resolution, restricting pay rolls. are illegal because contrary to the make the above declaration of policy, be lieving it my duty as the Mayor to so declare. I further declare that it is my ruling that It is improper for any member of Council or group of Councilmen to so licit of the City Attorney, acting as the City Attorney, the preparation of any ordinance which tends to disturbance of the peace of Council and the orderly pro cedure of the business of the Town of Clinton, unless such request is made by Town Council in Council assembled and legally constituted, and I further declare it Is my opinion that the City At- been legally retained un- | ;es for any injury lesulting from the neg- ect of duty, malpractice, abuse or op pression on the part of a mayor or aider- man. Under this provision of the law had the Mayor signed and put into effect said Ordinance, it would have been in cumbent upon him to have brought act ion against all member* of Council who absented themselves from tbe call meet ing which he had called, and at which be intended to give them tne opportunity of discharging those functions which by said Ordinance they had withdrawn from the Mayor and from all other officials, and assumed ns their obligation. They clqarly failed to perform those functions not ohly in nqo-attendhacJe at said call mfcetn^, thereby leaving the business of the town unattended to. and at least 12 convenience of the said Ji. ■- ~ public interest, injurious to the orderly conduct of the town’s business, detri mental in the loss of cash discounts aud in the threat of a possible inability to serve the people with water and electric current und in other respects. I, therefore, J. F. Jacobs, Mayor of the Town of Clinton, decline to sign said Ordinance and decline to affix the seal of the Town of Clinton thereto, and de cline to put into effect the provisions thereof, and the provisions of the resolu tions restricting payrolls. This action is taken, as the Mayor be lieves, in public interest and in accord with law as provided in the Civil ('ode of South Carolina for towus having a population of more than 1,000 and less than 5,000, section 4544, paragraph 7, which rives the Town Council of thd Town of Clinton authority to make Ordi nances regulative of the affairs of the town in the following sentences: “Policy Powers—And the said City or Town Council shall have full power to make, ordain and establish nil such rules, by-laws, regulations, ordinances respect ing its roads, health, and for streets, markets, police, the security, welfare rnd 'W that torney, having der a retainer fee by the Town of Clinton cannot, with due respect for legal ethics, serve under the leqal retainer fee, or otherwise, any individual whether in the Councillor out of the Council, whose pur pose it may be to disturb the orderly government of the town and to restrict the authority of its chief executive, heads of departments and its other employees. It is my opinion that the City Attor ney owes allegiance to the Town of Clin ton as represented legally by the Mayor, who is the chief executive, the Town Council^ which is the legislative body, the Chief of Police and the Recorder, who are in charge of the law and order, and to no other as regarding the town’s affairs; that advice required by the Council canpot be so required except by majority action iu Council duly assem bled and legally constituted. Signed: J. F. JACOBS, Mayor.” During the delivery of the above rul ing by the Mayor Councilman Blalock asked if he might speak. The Mayor de clined to he interrupted, but advised Mr. Blalock that he would be heard imme diately On the completion of the ruling. Later he again interrupted and was re quired by the Mayor to keep sileut. Oth er interruptions occured by Councilman Stone and Councilman Blalock, leading to the Mayor’s statement that he would have to cull the police to keep order. As the interruptions continued he sent for the Chief of Police and on arrival of the Chief of Police, as the interruptions still continued he ordered Mr. Blalock under arrest, and as Mr. Stone asked to be put under arrest he was also ordered under arrest for contempt of Court, or disor derly conduct in Council, interrupting proceedings and disturbing the Mayor in declaring a legal opinion. y. Immediately thereafter a motion was made to adjourn, affording no opportun ity to consider the earlier motions which the Mayor had asked permission to hold up until he could get his ruling full/ be fore Council, which declaration of the Mayor’s opinion would make the motions unnecessary. Council then adjourned and the Mayor ordered the Chief of Police to release Messrs. Blalock and Stone, and to enter no charge*. The above information 1* published by Mayor Jacobs and paid for out of per sonal funds, as on advert!—ment. on hie opinion that the public should have the Information, bat that the town treasury ~ * 1 exVeam. \ or Town, cannot afford the Y