Daily Richmond times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1849-1850, 1850-04-17
Mr.. Robert A. Mayo's Case,

Delegates under the law of the State as now stand.
in the Revised Code list vol chap o. page III and as
it will stand, after the LIST Of July, under the New Code
little ,chap2 section p puts the case of Mr. Syme
OF Petersburg who publishes in his paper the post office
advertisements OF that ton, and contends if Mr.
Mayo is ineligible Mr. Syme is ase~This is not prov
ing Mr.. Mayo's eligibility the analogy Of
the two cases should beco1ceded but there is an evil
dent and important dissmilarity Mr. Syme admits the
post office advertising ntothe IntSgencer, as he ad-
mts any other advertisement in the course Of his ordi
nary business The Government pays for certain space
in his columns like any other party that wants IT, Mr.
Mayo on the contrary has special contract to large
amount, which constitutes his principal business We
cannot for the life of us, distinction between his
case and that of the mail contractor who the General
Court has decided receives from the Federal Govern
ment an enoument which places him within the proh-
btion of the law.
But the Enquirer apparently sensible of the weakness
OF Mr. Mayos claim to eligibility under the law, takes
what it terms "higher ground" and boldly pronoun-
ces both the old law and the new law to be unconst
tutionaI
The old Constitution of Virginia, adopted in June.
TO provided 1--WE are told that the representatives in
the House OF Delegates should be of such men as ac-
ualy reside In and are holders of the same Teach
county, or duly qualified by lap,' &C. By this proyi
SION. 1t was lett to the Legislature to fix by la,o' the
tuition, the Legislature had right to enact the follow
ing section which is to be found in Rev. Code, chap
~, page II:
H. BE it therefore enacted, That no person holding
or accepting any ofce or place, any commission or
appointment Uhatecer. legislative executive or judicial
c.uil or military, under the authority OF the United
States whether any pay or emolument be attached to
such office, place, commission or appointment or other
wise, or accepting or receiving any emoument whatso-
ever from the United States, shall be capable of holding
any ONCE legislative, executive, or judicial any other
oice place. or appointment of trust profit under the
government of the Commonwealth"
The new Constitution Of 1890, TART. 3, sec ~ con-
tains the following provision:
Any person may be electeda member of the House
OF delegates who shall have attained the age of TWEEN
ty,fve years, and shall be actually resident and free
holder within the county, city, town, borough or cleo
Ton district qualified by virtue of his freehold to vote
this Constitution Provided, That all persons holding
lucrative offices and Ministers of the Gospel and Priests
OF every denomination shall be incapable of being
elected members of either House of Assembly"
The 18th section declares that the Legis allure NAV
provide BY law that every person engaged in duellng
shall be disqualified for holding office."a
The Enqurers argument is, that the old Constitution
authorized the Legislature prescribe the qualifications
of members, and so the law under which the mail con-
tractor was decided in 1873 to be ineligible was con-
stutiona but as the Constitution did not retain the
expression duly qualified by lap or its equivalent
the old law embodied in the revisal of 1919 was abro-
gated, and the Legislature was prohibited from pre-
scrbng any qualification not specially required by the
constitution ITSELF We see, too, by report in yester
days Enquirer that Mr. Mayo himself in discussion at
Alleys" in Henrco, places himself upon this "higher
ground" OF the unconstitutonay of the law upon the
statute book.
Now it will certainly be not little singular, if the
Democratic voters Of Henrico shall generally bring
themselves to the conclusion that law which has been
in force almost since the foundation OF the State Co.
vernment and for twenty years since the adoption Of
the present constitution is clearly contrary to the pro-
visions of that instrument What shall be thought OF
the legal astuteness of Messrs. Patton and Robin
son, who, in the course of their laborous revi-
sal,not only failed to detect the unconstitutional
ty OF the former law, but inserted in their New
Code still more stringent one2 And how shall
regard the grave sachems of the Legislature large
majority Of them Democrats who passed the summer at
the Fauquier Springs touching up, and not often mpro-
wing, the result of Messrs Patton and Robinson's la
bours,c chel amang them, too, taking notes." no
other than the editor OF the Enquirer hmself and yet
gave the people law more unconstitutional than
the unconstitutional one which it superseded For our
own part. we hesitate to take issue on legal point of
80 much gravity, thnkingi better to leave it to the
courts, whose province to decide upon the constu
tonay OF laws But with all proper Difference to the
Enquirers dictu, we must decline to regard the pro-
vision OF either the present the New Code nuity
until the contrary is determined by some tribunal of
more generally accepted authority in questions of law
We have said thus much not because we take any De-
cuar interest in exciting doubt of Mr. Mayo's legal
competency. For, very confident that the peo-
pie of Henrico will not, by their action on Thursday
next make it necessary for the interesting question of
law to be raised by electing him. 1t would probably
never have been mooed but for the exceeding anxiety
OF our Democratic friends give gravity to the doubts
once expressed of DR.. Halls eligibility.