Edward Douglass White

“ It is no longer open to question that where a special assessment to pay for a particular work has been held to be illegal, no violation of the Constitution of the United States arises from a subsequent authority given to make a new special assessment to pay for the completed work. Spencer v. Merchant, 125 U.S. 345, 31 L. ed. 763, 8 Sup. Ct. Rep. 921.
With these two propositions in mind it is certain that if the power flowing from the ordinance which the supreme court of the state of Illinois upheld existed prior to the work, the assessment was valid. ”

“ Where a special tax is imposed under the law of Illinois, it is asserted, no inquiry into the benefits can be had, and, therefore, there arises the question whether the levy was invalid as exceeding the benefits to be derived, since all investigation into the amount of the benefits was, as a matter of law, excluded. But this proposition is plainly an afterthought. ”