Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1848-01-26

''He shall not be appointed to such an Of
fee; neither can he hold it any more than
though he were an alien; the appointment
would be null and void. His seat in the
Senate would not be vacated, but the door.
to new office would be inpenstrably bars.
red against him. Not the shadow Of i
reason can therefore be deduced from this
section, for excluding the Senator from
his seat here. But the 22d Section de-
clares that no person holding any lucrs-
tive Office shall be eligible 10 the Gener-
al Assembly. The Office of Prosecuting
Attorneyis no doubt lucrative Office Of
the kind intended in this section. Had
the gentleman, therefore, held that Office q
the time he Yves elected Senator, such :.
lection would have been wholly nugatory;
he would have been ineligible. Such
however was not the fact; his election to
the Office Of Prosecuting Attorney having
taken place since he became member of
this body, and since the last session Of the
General Assembly.
Had the Constitution declared that the
holding of an office Of this kind should be
disqualification to holding that If Seha-
tor. the case would have b1sn very diff
ferent from that presented. 1t merely
renders him ineligible; that is 10 say, inca
pable Of being elected; it does not follow
that any circumstances which would have
rendered his election invalid, win III hap
pening subsequently,, work disqu.lifca-
ton. The Constitution does not say 60,
neither does common sense. Inelegibili-
ty is one thing, disqualification smother
Suppose that which rendered person in.
elegible at thssfime of bis election was re-
moved before he claimed his seat; would
he be thereby qualified to take and retain
his seat in the Senator
1.-THE gentleman whose case We are now
considering had held . lucrative Office at
the time Of his election, but had resigned
afterwards, would he have been received
as member Of this body? BY no means!
He would have been ineligible. The O.
lection would havs been nullity, which
nothing bu. another election could have
remedied. f
If the subsequent removal of disquali-
flying circumstance will not do away with
the ineligibilty contemplated by the Con.
stitution, its subsequent occurrence can.
not create that inslegibility. The 22d
section has, in fact, reference only to the
time of the election; for what takes place
stewards, other provisions were made:
If he subsequently received an appoint
poinlment to an office which he has aided
10 create, the sppoiatnsnt is nugatory,
whether madeIwh,le he was member, or
at any time subsequent (during the term
for which he was elected. II his con-
duct is such as to disqualify him from re-
manning member Of the General Assem-
bly,, he may be expelled.
/, But your Committee find no authority
in the Constitution, for declaring a sea,
yacan, aae,- i! has once been filled, and
rightfully fille, u, its incumbent.
The Constitution nicAcs each mouse the
proper body to judge Of the qua ncatlons'
election and return Of its own mcn.'s'
All these matters h.ve been once passed
upon in the case Of Mr.. Baker, and he
admitted to his seat. The adoption by
this body of the resolution referred to this
Committee, would be violation of the
Constitution, Unauthorized BY any law
whatever, and entirely without prsce.
dent in the proceedings Of legislative bo-
ss-s, 1ns scat or = HfemUer VINO posses
ses the necessary qualifications a, the time
OF his election, can duringsthe term for
which he may have been elected, become
vacant only by death, resignation, or ex-
pulsion. These are the only contingent
cies under which seat can be declared
vacant. That Mr.. Baker was duly elect
ed member of this body, is fully shown
by the proceedings Of the last session,
when the committee on the credentials Of
members reported him duly elected, and
that he was thus duly elected is not de.
MED by any one. 1t is not contended that
he is dead, resigned, or has been expelled
or that any reason for his expulsion exists
Legislative bodies have sometimes declar.
ed seats vacant when they have ascertain.
ed that there was no fair or legal election
by the people, or where the person re.
ceiving the greatest number of votes was
not at the time eligible TO the office; bu,
never, SO far as your Committee has been
able to ascertain, have they done so where
there has been an election and no death,
resignation or expulsion. THERE'S no at.
thority 10 exclude Mr.. Baker now, ex-
ceptiby expulsion by two thirds Of the
members Of this body. Had he commit.
ted crime, however heinous, this would
have been the only remedy.
! Will the vote of mere majority be suf-
ficient to expel member for having been
elected Prosecuting Attorney, while i,
would have required vote Of two thirds
10 have expelled him for the commission
Of q felony. No provision is made in the
Constitution for declaring seat vacant in
either case.
Your Committee are therefore Of the
opinion that Mr.. Baker is fully entitled te
continue in his seat.
A-----~---sA-
Report Of Mr.. Benton,
From the committee appointed to take into
!. II II