Askam v. King County

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Hoyt, J.

— The constitutionality of the law known as the “drainage law”(ch. 1, tit. 21, Gen. Stat.) is the sole question presented upon this appeal. The lower court held that the law was unconstitutional, and dismissed the proceedings instituted thereunder. The appellant here seeks to sustain the constitutionality of the law on two grounds — one, that it properly provides for the acquisition of property by the exercise of the right of eminent domain; and the other, that it is an exercise of the police power of the state.

As to the first proposition, it…