Semi-weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1852-1853, 1853-01-19

Ibaye oiven it much consideration, and 1t mas cos
me some time and labor, of which am des'fO"' '''
any who NAV choose may derive the beneh'' n
II NAV not convince any one who holds diheIe"
opinion from myself; but it may snggest I ing
to them which might not otherwise nave ~
BY giving II an insertion 10 y'o' P"F''
oblige
our 0O'0'''' ROBERT STRANGE.
Raleigh, January 18Th, 1853.
AN ARGUMENT upoe the question 'ohether
the Esscuti0e of tie State has, uneIer the Con
stitut,on, the poOer Of appointing a Senator 4"
r2Lqcs of one aOhose term has crp're& dur'iS3 NE
recess of the Legislature aOhere the Legislature
has made no appointment IN anticipation; ami
aUhere neither the LsgisIatwre Of tie State nor
Congress has fred BY laO the tf"ae Of appoint
ing Senator's.
Az the last session of the North Carolina Legsla-
ture Notwithstanding attempt was made 10 elect
Senator it was not done because no one cou'd NAYS
majority of both Houses, and the Legislature there
fore could not elect. -.
The question consequently arises, whether the
State shall have only Ole Senator IN Congress uh'i
the next meeting of the State Legislature, or shall
one he appointed by the Executive of the Sta!e
The latter part of the I'd clause of the Sd section
of the 1st article of the Constitution OF the United
States declares: And if vacancies happen ny resI9-
nation or otherwise during The recess OF the Legs!a-
ture of any State, the Executive thereof may make
Temporary appointments until the next meeting OF the
Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.
Now, it would strike plain maa on the 4th ot March
next, when Mr.. Mlngum's term OF oHlce snaIl nave
expired that a vacancy has happened. For there
will be nobody then in the office, and II VIII OF course
be vacant, and the Legislature will not be IN SEES
sion that time, this vacancy Will have happened
during its recess. An unsophisticated mind would
te quite at loss for any argument against PToPo-
ston so plain. But there is proneness in educat-
ed and ingenious minds to exercise their ingenuity In
discovering in language some deep meaning which
ENIaI
and 20 from hidden element to asonIsh
and bewil6er these simple persons. And accordingly
ingenuity has been taxed prove that these lew plain
words Of the Constitution not TO be understood IN
their bvlOus meaning.
In the first place it is said that in the supposed
there is no vacancy-hat there is expiration, and
not vacancy. What has expired? Not the office,
but the of the iEcumbehls occupancy. The
office still exists, but there is no one occupying
it, it is vacant If the Office itself had expired it
could never be renewed, for the Office created By
the trainers of the Constitution, and by them was
made as perpetual as the Constitution Itself. They
did not devoIve upon any body the power OF creating
the office. bat only the power of selecting persons
to ell it, The time for which any could fill 1t,
under any appointment, could not exceed SIX
years, and when that period rolls around the office
does not expire, but the ncumbentS term, and when
that term does so expire the Office becomes vacant
until some else is placed in il. This 1t is true,
is only mode by which vacany may occur
there others, to wit by death resignation and
although possibly mere sui De OncI, IL is
not clearly seen that there be. But these three
cases it hardly possible to doubt all of
vacancy. The two last are admitted to be SO, and
the first must be, unless we insist that office may
exist with occupying it, and yet not be
Besides, why should lie Convention the word
" Otherwise extensive in its Specification, il on
two possible events were contemplated
Again, it is said that the of the word happen -
in this part of the Constitution, instead of or
some other word, for the purpose of excluding
this kind of vacancy from the power Of the Executive
to fill. For, say they, happen cannot properly be
applied to event which will certainly take place
at given time; and when tho trainers of the Con-
sttution used it in reference vacancies they could
not have intended such vacancies would certainly
occur att given time, and pu-posey used the express
sion that their language might only apply to such
vacancies of uncertain occurrence. Now it
may not be amiss to remark, that Constitution
was intended for popular use and although very ac-
curately expressed the language is free and in accord
with popular usage. Every knows that in
popular language, whether occur and happen are
strictly synonymous, they used without much
discrimination. Even in penning this article, the
writer has found himself inclined to use the word
happen in the very places that occur now occupies
and indeed it might probably have been very cor
rect, for becoming recollection Of the instability of
every thing human renders the language of uncer-
tainty very proper in reference all future events
supposlng happen does imply uncertainty. But it
Is remarkable that in relation to such there is
no one verb in our language expressing certain
~ than the word happen. 1t has divers Specifications
some OF them Implying certainty, and some of them
uncertainty.
Thus Bailey defines happen: ITO snatch up
thing, to fall out.''
Walker defines it: :" Fall out by chance, to cons
to pass to light on by accident
Webster defines it 'E To come BY chance 10 come
without ones previous expectation, to fall outs
For example: :" There shall no evil happen to the
just" Prov. 10 chap, 81 verso.
I'd. To come, to befal.
For example They talked together of all these
things which had happened.' Luke, 81 chap, 1
verse;
Sd. To light, to fall to CONS unexpectedly
In Crabbes synonimes it is said in examining the
Sameness OF happen and chance to happen that is
10 TALL ou oy hap Is to chance the genus is 10 the
species. Whatever chances happens but not nice
versa happen respects ali events without including
any collateral idea. Chance comprehends likewise
the idea of the and order of events whatever
comes to pass happens, whether regularly in the
course OF things or particularly anil out of erder
Mr. Cla0be therefore makes happen a most compre-
hensive word
Occur is defined by w alker TO be presented to
Inc memory or attention, to appear here and there
10 clash to strike against, 10 meet.''
BAILEY defines 1t: - 10 meet, to come in the way
OF offer or present itself.''
webster defines it, primarily: "To meet to strike |
against TO clash but this, he saysis ObsoIete)
2. j o meet, TO come hand, to- be presented tn
the mind, Imagination memory
8. appear, TO meet the eve, to be found here |
and there.'' ''O'N "e'e
A. 10 oppose, to obviate"
Cra5be has not the word at ALL
Occurrence, Walker says, I" is incident accident. !
event, occasional presentation"
bailey says. " a casual adventure rencontre or |
conjunction Of afairs-also news''