Morrison Waite

“ This, when taken in connection with the requirements of the Constitution, cannot be construed as being of itself a grant of authority to subscribe, because it makes a subscription dependent on a majority vote of the resident taxpayers, while the Constitution requires the assent of two-thirds of the qualified voters. In the construction of a statute, every word is, if possible, to be given some effect. Nothing is to be stricken out if it can be avoided. It is not to be presumed that the legislature intended any part to be without meaning. ”

“ It is of no importance that two-thirds of the qualified voters of the city gave their assent to the subscription at the election which was called. It has been uniformly held that until the legislature authorizes an election, a vote of the people cannot be taken which will bind the municipality or confer upon the municipal authorities the power to make such a subscription. The legislative authority to obtain the popular assent is as essential to the validity of the election as it is to the subscription. ”

“ It is an elementary principle that the same statute may be in part constitutional and in part unconstitutional, and that if the parts are wholly independent of each other, that which is constitutional may stand while that which is unconstitutional will be rejected. ”