and pensions and rewards sometimes have been given to whole classes of persons, of which the statutes of the Commonwealth relating to the "Aid to soldiers and sailors and to their families," and the statutes of the United States relating to pensions are well known examples; but the statute of 1895 under consideration affords the first instance, so far as we know, in this Commonwealth, where the appointing power has been compelled to appoint persons of a certain class to office in preference to all other persons, whether they are or are not thought to be qualified for the office by the appointing power, or by some public officer or some impartial and disinterested board of officers or persons invested by law with the power and responsibility of determining the qualifications of the persons to be appointed. The Legislature, in establishing offices not provided for by the Constitution, has often required that the persons or some of the persons to be appointed shall possess certain qualifications, or that some of them shall be women and some men, but in all cases, so far as we are aware, the qualifications required bear such a relation to the duties imposed that they tend to secure that kind and degree of knowledge, experience, and impartiality which are requisite for the satisfactory performance of the duties, and it is open to any person to acquire the qualifications required. When women are to be appointed, there is a satisfactory reason in the nature of the office or employment why this should be done. In every case some discretion usually has been left to the appointing power in the selection of the particular persons to be appointed. The peculiarity of the civil service statutes and rules, if St. 1895, c. 501, §§ 2 and 6, be enforced, is that very little is left to the discretion of the appointing power in the selection of persons if there are veterans who wish to be appointed. The civil service commissioners, in making up the list and in certifying the persons to be appointed, must proceed in a certain way designated by the statutes and the rules, and the appointments must be made, if at all, from the persons so certified. Before the passage of St. 1895, c. 501, it was in the discretion of the appointing power whether veterans who had been put upon any list without an examination pursuant to St. 1887, c. 437, should or should not be certified for appointment by the commissioners, and it was also in the discretion of the appointing power whether, if such veterans were certified, they should be appointed. But if veterans make application under St. 1895, c. 501, § 2, they are to be preferred "for certification and appointment in preference to all other applicants not veterans, except women," and, as separate lists are made up for the different offices and employments, appointments from each list must be made from veterans, if any man is appointed, and if there are veterans on the list. It is the contention of the petitioner that the privileges given to veterans by the St. 1895, c. 501, §§ 2 and 6, are in violation of the principles which underlie our system of government implied in the Constitution of the Commonwealth, and also are in violation of certain express provisions of the Constitution. Article 7 is as follows: "Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men: Therefore, the people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it." This article is declarative of the ends of the institution of government. It may be said to be fairly within the intent of this article that public offices, which are the instrumentalities of government, ought not to be created or filled for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men, but only for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people, and for the common good. Article 6 is as follows: "No man, nor corporation or association of men, have any other title to obtain advantages, or particular and exclusive privileges, distinct from those of the community, than what arises from the consideration of services rendered to the public; and this title being in nature neither hereditary, nor transmissible to children, or descendants, or relations by blood, the idea of a man born a magistrate, law. giver, or judge is absurd and unnatural." ** In our opinion, the meaning of these words in this article, so far as they are applicable to public offices, is that only on consideration of services to be rendered to the public therefor can a man, corporation, or association of men obtain advantages or particular and exclusive privileges distinct from those of the community. A person may obtain the advantages or privileges attached to a public office in consideration of his performing the duties of the office. It is for the purpose of rendering service to the public in a public office that advantages and privileges distinct from those of the community may be obtained. The meaning of this article was somewhat considered in Hewitt v. Charier, 16 Pick. 353, and it was held that St. 1818, c. 113, was not in violation of the article. It was there held that the leading purpose of that statute was to guard the public against ignorance, negligence, and carelessness in the practice of physic and surgery, and that the exclusive privileges granted to such persons as shall have been licensed by the officers of the Massachusetts Medical Society, or have been graduated doctors of medicine from Harvard University, were only incidental to the leading purpose of the statute. In that case, as in others where a license is required before any one can engage in certain professions or pursuits, a service is rendered to the public by the exercise on the part of those licensed of the skill, knowledge, and experience required to obtain a license, and by the exclusion of ignorant and incapable persons from the profession or pursuit. But it may be questioned whether this article of the Declaration of Rights was intended to apply to private pursuits and employments, and whether it is not to be confined to political and civil rights and privileges. The purpose of St. 1895, c. 501, §§ 2 and 6, is to make the appointment of veterans compulsory, if they desire to be appointed, whether the appointing power or the commissioners think they are or are not qualified to perform the duties of the office or employment which they seek. The principal question of law in this case, broadly stated, is therefore as follows: Can the legislature constitutionally provide that certain public offices and employments which it has created shall be filled by veterans in preferment to all other persons, whether the veterans are or are not found or thought to be actually qualified to perform the duties of the offices and employments by some impartial and competent officer or board charged with some public duty in making the appointments? If such legislation is not constitutional as regards public offices, the question incidentally may arise, whether a distinction can be made between public offices and employments by the public which are not offices. Public offices are created for the purpose of effecting the ends for which government has been instituted, which are the common good, and not the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men. In our form of government it is fundamental that public offices are a public trust, and that the persons to be appointed should be selected solely with a view to the public welfare. In offices which are created by the Legislature, where the method of appointment is not prescribed by the Constitution, the Legislature, if no limitation is put upon its power by the Constitution, can take upon itself the responsibility of selecting the persons to be appointed, or can confer the power of appointment upon public officers or boards, or upon the inhabitants of cities, towns, or districts; but we think that it is inconsistent with the nature of our government, and particularly with articles 6 and 7 of our Declaration of Rights, that the appointing power should be compelled by legislation to appoint to public offices persons of a certain class in preference to all others, without the exercise on its part of any discretion, and without the favorable judgment of some legally constituted officer or board designated by law to inquire and determine whether the persons to be appointed are actually qualified to perform the duties which pertain to the offices. There are many employments by the Commonwealth, or by the cities and towns of the Commonwealth, which do not constitute the employee a public officer. The work of the Commonwealth, and of the cities and towns, must be done by agents or servants, and much of it is of the nature of an employment. The persons appointed to the detective department of the district police force of the Commonwealth, under Pub. Sts. c. 103, and the acts in amendment thereof, are public officers, and not merely employees of the Commonwealth. They are appointed by the Governor for the term of three years, subject to removal by the Governor, and they "have and exercise throughout the Commonwealth all the powers of constables (except the service of civil process), police officers, and watchmen, and may be transferred from one district to another; and the Governor may at any time command their services in suppressing riots and in preserving the peace." Pub. Sts. c. 103, § 2. They give bonds to the Treasurer of the Commonwealth and receive a stated salary from the treasury of the Commonwealth. They have and exercise some of the powers of government. We are of opinion that §§ 2 and 6 of St. 1895, c. 501, so far as they purport absolutely to give to veterans particular and exclusive privileges distinct from those of the community in obtaining public office, cannot be upheld as enactments within the constitutional power of the General Court. The result is, that the commissioners were not authorized by St. 1895, c. 501, §§ 2 and 6, without an examination, to place the name of Edward D. Bean at the head of the list to be certified for appointment upon the detective force of the district police of the Commonwealth in preference to all other applicants not veterans or women; and that they should be commanded to strike his name from the list. Finality of Judgment of Equalization Board. 92 U. S. 575. 1875. MILLER, J. There is, however, an objection urged to the conduct of the board of equalization, resting on the action of the board in these particular cases, in which they are charged with a gross violation of the law to the prejudice of the corporations, which we will consider. The statute requires the proper officers of the railroad companies to furnish to the State Auditor a schedule of the various elements already mentioned as necessary in applying the statutory rule of valuation. It is charged that the board of equalization increased the estimates of value so reported to the Auditor, without notice to the companies, and without sufficient evidence that it ought to be done; and it is strenuously urged upon us that for want of this notice the whole assessment of the property and levy of taxes is void. It is hard to believe that such a proposition can be seriously made. If the increased valuation of property by the board without notice is void as to the railroad companies, it must be equally void as to every other owner of property in the state, when the value assessed upon it by the local assessor has been |