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Show HOOMII HOUSE Li IS DEWED VALID Supreme Court Hands Down an Opinion Setting the Question at Rest. The ordinanco by which Salt Lake City govorns and regulates rooming houses is declared to bo valid by tho supremo court in an opinion rendered yesterday in tho caso of A. 0. Larseu aud Chris Larson against tho citj. Judgment Judg-ment of the district court granting a nonsuit against the Larsens in their attempt to forco tho city commission to grant them a license for tho St. Cecile hotel is aXflrmod. Tho Larsens suod tho city after tho board of commissioners had denied them a license They contonded that tho ordinance or-dinance under which tho commisison .presumed to act was invalid, citing the alleged unconstitutionality of tho law creatiug a commisison form of government govern-ment as tho principle proof of the invalidity in-validity of t tie ordinance. Also they allegoa that tho commisison had disregarded disre-garded aU rules of ovidenco and court procoduro in the hearing which resulted in a refusal of the license. A temporary restraining order was issued directing the city to issue tho li-oonao li-oonao ponding the outcome of the case. At tho trial in tho district, court the city's motion for a nonsuit was granted and the plaintiffs appealed to the supreme su-preme court, citing the samo contentions. conten-tions. As to tho validity of the commission form of government law the supreme court holds that tho argument of the nppeJlants is wholly untenable. It remarks re-marks that tho law has been uniformly uphold whenevor attacked. Powers havo been given the city commission com-mission expressly to enact such an ordinanco or-dinanco as tho ono in question, the court holds, and tho appellants have submitted no evidence or proof to show thati tho ordinance is not valid. The churgo that tho commisison violated vio-lated all rules of procedure in donying the license, and that ouly a mock hear-1 ing was given, is swept aside as hnv-ing hnv-ing no videnco to support it. In tho absence of such evidence tho court holds to tho presumption that tho license li-cense was denied for good and sufficient causes. At tho timo tho appeal was mado by the Larsons morn than a dozen local roomin'g houso proprietors had filod suits against the city on tho samo ground. Practically all of theso havo been withdrawn, with-drawn, however, tho proprietors having sold out or retired from tho business. Tho opinion rendorod yesterday settles set-tles a question that has boon raised every ev-ery time the city commission saw fit to deny a rooming houso license. Tt strengthens tho city's stand in its present pres-ent policy of handling the rooming house problem and establishes a precedent prece-dent that will enable that policy to bo carried out in tho future with less hindrance. The Larsens were denied license on a showing by the police department that the St. Cecile rooming house housed and harbored women of ill-repute, aud that liquor was sold there unlawfully. |