Note 70 — Chapter X · CITY GOVERNMENT

It was understood that by applying a general charter law or municipal code to all the cities of a state, or to all the cities of a certain class, the legislature would be discouraged from enacting special laws for particular cities. But that is not what resulted. Legislatures adopted the plan of passing laws which were general in form but which by the nature of their provisions could apply to some one city alone. For example: The Ohio legislature on one occasion provided that “Any city of the first class, having a population of more than 150,000, wherein a public avenue of not less than 100 feet in width is now projected, to be known as Gilbert Avenue, is hereby authorized to issue bonds, etc.” This law, on its face, applied to all cities of the first class; in reality it gave special privileges to one particular city.