Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1827-02-08

A... men acted not b!indly nor iguo.

were eHpdHoSb 49,
known, thai without words restraining
them. the legislature about to De crea-
ted would unqusstionsbiy possess the
mower, aud because there are no such
RESTRAINING words in the Constitution
Surely m this, as in other cases,
,uniform and frequently expressed con-
struc,ion of the constitution, iron the
foundation of the government 10 this
dav and never before disturbed, should
have much wsig ht in fixing It's true mea-
,,no The constitution declares Tor
instance. that the governor shall with
sdpics of council exercise the executive
mowers of government. were th's an
original construction, proOao9 lie"
would deny, that aitao' I've governor
caaIa not exercise executive power
w,ihout the consent oi the council, yet
;f he did not choose tn act at all, Oh eK-
ercise any executive power IN d fafue'
MAR case. then there would DE no heces-
sity for asking the advice oil ms eouhcii.
And vet construction "hch converts
,dv;ee into command, ahd makes the
G.vsrnor act BY advice vi Conncii,
whether he i. disposed to act or not, mas
been sanctioned tom the iouhdaIo" OF
the Government; and a b0veinor "ho
xontd now contend Tor the other,
would incur the lmputatioh ol hlauheSS.
So also. the Governor ahd Iouhch
are empowered, in case OF the deat",
ineapacitY, or resignation oil JUDGES,
Sc. to appoint persons 10 succeed ~
Office. 10 he apProrsd or d'Sptaced 6y
Both Houses. there 1t would seem u De
tba natural construction, that The Go
vernon aud Council should appoint, and
the Assembly, by vote, ei'ner appro-
we'd 1r disapproved sucn arp''ntmen';
il they approved, then there "ould oe
no vacancy, and An election would on
~ take place where they d''approved,
and ,has caused a vacancy; but tue u
n;yersal practice has been, IN all cases,
to proceed Immediately to elect oy
Joint ballot, as If it had been an original
v,caocy. aitbo' there is all actual IN
~pmhent in office, by executive APP
pointnenf, not disapproved OF oy either
House. Other instances might be al
dured in which custom aud long prac-
tice has sealed the Constitution III other
respects. aud why shall we den, ITS au-
tborjty in the case before ust
Let us see then, whether in the case
before US. also, tins uniform practice
has prevailed, By the oonsttutlon.tree-
hold and residence are the only quail
fcations. Now, freehold refers, not to
the quantity, hut the qphiay OF estate,
and a man is as much treeh"ider, IN
the legal Specification OF the word, pos
sessins one foot by freebooter ten
ure "a If ne possessed 1000 acres. Nor
wa. there, either before or alter the !
revolution. until '85, any law Prescri-
bipg the quality OF land the elected
should posses- TAI. Yet, gentlemen can
rrodnce no single Instance Ia which 1t
has been decided by this House, from
The foundation of the government, to
this day, that less quantity OF land, or
a less improvement upon town lot, was
reo,,ired for the elected than would
have entitled him to the right OF suffrage.
Here, then is disqualification, IN add
ton 10 those of the Constitution, exclu-
ding large masses of the community,
thousand times more numerous th6n
The violators OF tins law wall ever be,
commencing too, from the very tounda-
ton Of the government The act OF
l77S, excluding inspectors OF tobacco,
the act of '8S, excluding Members Of
Congress. and the act reported IN '79,
nv Nessrs. Jefferson, Pend.eton, Nytne
and Mason, excluding, Tor three years
for treating at elections, have been al,
ready mentioned, and certainly they
must strongly indicate the cotemporan-
eons construction placed Oh our constr
tuition. In 1888, only7 years alter the
adoption of the Constitution, when, as
has been before observed, the history
of GU. country informs us, that many
of those patriots who formed the Con-
,tituiion. were still Members OF the AS
semblv. an act passed declaring, that
no deo,Ity sheriff shall be eligible to Ell
tber House. until he has been years
ont Of office, and has made his collec-
tons IF the public taxes, and paid INTO
the Treasury all arreaSes, and has OBJ
tanned his quietus tor the same" b J
Here then is disqualification not con-
tanned in the constitution, and embra-
cling another large mass Of citizens; in
NAV 's5 shemtss ard their deputies in,
,o,r. .;ne at elections. so as To show par.