New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1853-10-22
COMMITS SIoNERs OF ELECTION
WHO MUST APPOINT THEM'

At the last meeting Of the Police Board,
that body appointed an Inspector of Election
for each of the precincts in the parish, leav-
ing the remsining Inspectors TO be appoint
| ed by the Boards of Aldermen. Their pre1enueu
authority for doing this is deduced from 'ne Ia"
of 1858, section 4, page 50, which Is aniehun'o'
of the act consolidating the CITY, anu re'ius 'nu
The election at each of said preeinois snai
be conducted by three Inspectors o. 9 p.S ns
enc ~ whom shall be appointed by the boara oi
Assistant Aldermen, one by the Board OF Alder
men and one by the Police Board, composed as
aforesaid, of the Mayor and four Recorders OF
the city of New Orleans Il
Under this law the Clerks are to be appointed
by the Inspectors.
The Police Board have attempted to raise
doubts as to whether the Inspectors or Commits
sioners of Election are required to be appointed
under the amended law of 1858, above quoted.
or under the law of 1S47.
The only correct solution of the question is to
be found by appeal to the several existing Acts
on the subject; and in order to arrive at a con-
cluson, we will refer to the laws as they are to
be found unrepealed on the statute book.
The Act of ls47, page 8, section IL, entitled
" An Act to regulate Elections in the parishes of
Orleans and Jefferson" declares that it shall be
the duty &c of the General Council of the city of
New Orleans to appoint, at least ten days be-
fore the election, three Commissioners to pre-
side at the election, and two Clerks to register
| the names of the voters and sign the returns at
each precinct within their respective jurisdic-
| tion''
| Whether the law of 1S47 is repealed by that
of 1858, is a question that, under the action
of the Police Board, may hereafter give rise to
Judicial condensation. If the new law contains
provisions contrary to, or irreconsilable with,
the old law, then is the old law repealed by
implication but ifnot, it is still in force Whe-
Their the new law is irreconcilable with the old,
is the question, and to the solution of that point
we shall direct our inquiries. The law of 1S47
was applicable to the election of State officers
parish and city officers being chosen under special
regulations Our object will be to show that
the law of 1858 is special, being enacted with
exclusive reference to city affairs, and hence
works no implied repeal of a law in regard to
State elections alone.
The title of the Consolidation Act is indica-
tive of its object, clearly restricting its opera
ton to the administration of the City Govern
ment, and the act itself provides only for the
election of City Officers. 1t reads thus; :" An
. Act to consolidate the city of New Orleans, and
provide for the government and administration
of its affairs" No mention is made through
out the act, or in the act amendatory thereof,
Of any officers save those ordained for the ad-
ministration of city affairs, and it is well
Established principle that when the terms of a
law are inclusive Of any particular class Of
subjects, recited by their designation, they are
Exclusive of all others.
If then the Consolidation Act, of which the
act of 1858 is amendatory, provides only fol
special city elections, how can its operation be
implied to extend to elections or-the parish al
large or for the State The amending act o.
i 1868 grows out of, and is part of the Con.
solidation act, and hence can neither comprise
other objects or have wider range. Its pro-
visions are restricted by the parent law Of
which it is branch or part.
As these are reasons, the strength of which
no one of legal information will deny, the con-
clusion is, (the law Of 1858, having no reference
to State elections and not being irreconcilable
with the law of 1870 that the last named is
still in force
The Boards of Aldermen, in their separate
capacity, and the Police Board, have no right
then to appoint inspectors Of election when the
officers to be elected are fer the parish at large
or for the State.
To show more clearly that the provision il
the Consolidation Act is exclusively applicable
to municipal elections, the 10Th section provides
that the return of said elections shall be made
by said inspectors to the Mayor, who shall in
the presence of the Recorders of said city, etc
etc., "examine said returns, and proclaim the re-
suit of said elections, which they shall cause
to be published under their official signatures
| in the official journal of said Common Council !;
provided, that in the event Of the failure to at
| tend of the Mayor or Recorders, or any of them
at the time and place appointed, the absentees
duty may be filled by any Justice of the Peace !;
and provided. further, that any Justice of the
Peace may take the place of any Mayor or Re
corder interested in the returns"
In the section above quoted, no provision is
made for forwarding the returns to the Secretary
of State, and hence the State Government car
have no means of ascertaining who are the
officers elected to administer its authority
Constituting sections IL and Il of the Consolida
ton Act to apply to elections for choosing off
GERS for the parish at large, or for the Congress
+ sional Districts, would give rise to singular
anomalies.
The Mayor and Recorders of the city would
have, under this construction, the right to de
4 termine who should be Sheriff of the Parish O
: Orleans, and who should represent in the Stat
Legislature, the citizens residing in the parisl
s on the right bank of the Mississippi Thei
a authority in this regard would extend over al
D amount of territory to which their Legitimate
: jurisdiction does not reach, and over peopl
q who had no voice in their election. They woul,
Q also be enabled in a measure to dictate to tn
$ State Government the composition of its Legis
a lature, by deciding who elected the people
Il representatives. In case Justices Of the Peac
should be called to act in the place of the Mayo
d or Recorders, as the law provides, one distric
' magistrate would have To decide on the qualif
cations of member of the Legislature from
another district Not only this, but the Mayo
and Recorders, or Justices of the Peace actin,
r in their places, would have a right to proclaim
who had received the largest vote for Congress
and thus to decide upon the representation il
the National Legislature, to a share of which
the Parish of St James or the Parish of st