Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1831-04-21


is uul,uuwn aud nncertiiu,
/, Bot 4 we could refer this term " happen
which denotes casually only, To the Occurrences
III events prenrdanrd by the Cons,itut on II.
sell, still the harpeni0g oi such events must
Take place during the recess of the Senate, TO
enlargs ,be general power of lhs P,es'dsn'
Then IL we could adopt as real this mere vislon
oi exiting vacancy III non sAlttng but pos
siblt Offices, VIZ should not AM hun much by
such "a subtle refinement. For even II the
Office alNays existed potentially. IL Was alsa,,
actually vacant until II was Unce hliud aud
who can properly Affirm of such an original
and oternal vacancy, that u happened during
the recess ofthe senate, rather than during -
session. Unless II happened during tue recess
of The Senate however, the President has no
power TO till 1t up without their advice nnd
consent
MI Presflen', ihis question i, much too I'm.
portrait, a. have shown tbink, Tor mo To
permit It 10 rost even mere. WHAT have said,
| should consider as sufficient upon an, oid,.
nary occasion bu, | will endeasor 10 make u
SO PLAN. that there shall not remaia a loop
wherron 10 hang n doubt.
II IL a sound aud obvious rule for the CON
strncllon OF every instrument, that where the
same words are repeated IN u, they must NJ
| way receive the same Interpretation. lheI.s
lore whenever We Can fix Their Specification be-
You'd doub', IN any one instance, TINT nran'ng
nust ever afterwards be attached 10 them,
when they again occul, unless the CONTEXT shall
plainly show, that they were used IN dll-
ierent sense. Now an inspection of The Com
stituton will show, that the words used III
the clause am nov examining have been osed
twice before IN The same inst ulncnt. They
/ are there used TOO, under circumstances WHICH
defy doubt Us In ihfr signlication and Their
true Interpretation has been fixed and settled
not only by the decisions of ihis body, but by
the uniform and anvary,ng practice IN all the
States, from the yeur 1889 10 lhs hour. In
tins practice, every one. aud nj all times, has
a quiesced and # there can be my tn og ser.
tied under written Constitution, Itls the nieah-
ing oi these words.
IL Is the purpose Of the very first Article OF
the Constitution, 10 create u House Of Repre-
sentaiivcs, rs one OF the branches of The Legls-
latve Department. Therefore, IN the btst
part Of the I'd section Of that Article, il pre-
scrbes the rule Tor hscerianing the number et
which this House shull conshi aud by whom,
aud (p, what term, hts number shall be chosen.
Having thus provided full aud complete House
oil Representative, the authors OF the insro-
, ment forrseeing lhAt casualty might vacale The
\ Seat, SO filled, and this during the term Tor
winch their incumbeuts had been elected, pro-
+ coed IN the ath paragraph Of the same SECTION,
Ia proyide for such events, by these words,
/ when vacancies happen Ia the representa-
, ton fiom ANY State, the Executive authority
thereof shall ISSUE wriis Of election 10 I'LL sneh
; vacancies Here then IL nh olhco created by
the Constitution itself, which tine Executive o1
every State is impeIously required 10 I'LL ia the
mode prescribed, akenever vacancy snail nap
pen ia Il. Then, the moinea, tins Constitution
was adopted, thare was not merely pos'ble
Office bni one of actual existence, ~ to the H.
| al ted 10
this O ricinal vacancy could he considered asr =
ferred Ia bv the terms have iead. But never
did nny Governor OF Any State conceive, thu
hi, provision gave 10 him any authority 10 issue
vriis Of electonto supply thtse original Va.
canciss No such example exists ana such u
procedure would he 50 obviously absurd, tina,
nny Governor Who should have altenp ed H.
would have bean cOnsid red as deserving "a
, straight Jacket. Yet the power conferred upon
lhe Executive Of any olafe, by The words here
, used, !. precisely that conferred upon the Pre-
sident, by the same WORDS, Ia mo case 10 whiCh
have before referred.
Il So too. the members OF lhe House OF Kepr-
ntatiyes are directed by this Constitution To
be CLIO sen for Two years. Disnnally then, all
the seats in that II euss are made vacant 10y the
Constitution Itself. Here then are actual va
cancies, In established Offices. that have been
once filed. But no Governor ot any State hns
ever felt himself authorized To issrr wits oil e.
lection. TO hll eveu these vacancies. And
why Because ali such vacancies b.ing eau
sed by the Constitution itself, were therefore
lo,eseen and foreknewn, and cannot properly
be sad 10 happen. Hence they hre referred 10
the general rule. and not 10 the exception,
which applies to CASUALTIES only.
Agniu. The Constitution having provided
House OF RcpresentatIves,u elfprOcctoo 10 pro-
vide II senate, AS The either branch Of the Leg
| lature. This 10 dOnc by the 81 section of the
same article. This section commences ms IN
the her case, by declaring oil whal number
| the Senate shnll consist aid by whom, aud ior
what term he memt eTs shall ba chosen. Ha.
wing thus provided foil aud complete Sehai'
ihf autnuts OF the instrument foresc eing that
vacancies might occur during the term prrscfi-
! oed ~ the seats uuce filed for that term, pro-
coed. IN the next paragraph Of tins section, 10
provide tor supplying such vacddcies, by these
words, " il rdcancieS happen by resignation o.
otnerwsc, during the recess OF The Lugslai ure
| uf an, State the Executive thereof may make
! temporary appointments until the next meeting
! of the Legislature, wAIcb stall Then III sbch
vacancies" Here again,we have Originally acAn-
| cIes 10 otIoe creHted by the Constitution. 10
IN, &c vacancies no Governor Of any 5 ate ever
/ presumed 10 make any temporary appointment,
because they were original vacancies, and Their
| fore were not embraced by the "oId5 OF this
exception.
Here also are presented tho cases Of other
vacancies, occurring after the place has been
once ii led, produced not by any casually, but
by the t0reseen aud ioreknown etilux Of time.
Our Journals show us cvo attempts by the
Governors oi States TO supply vncahcirs oI this
sort One rs the case Of Mr.. Johns, from Del
aware the other Tint OF Mr.. Lanuan, from
Connecticut In both these cases, the seats
were vacated by the ,Glu1 Of the time for which
their former incumbents had bern elected. Ia
zach case the Legislature OF tae State had
ade Intellectual effort to appoint a success
sor. but had failed, not being able 10 agree ~ a.
! choicp Alter the Adjournment OF the Legsh