The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1855-12-15
Trumbull's Eligibility.

Inc FUSION press OIL tllls state SET up iuItc
shout when they found that, on the first
day of the session, Judge Trumbull was ad-
mittcd to his seat in the L. S. Senate, and
the oath of Office administered to him, They
supposed this at once disposed of the ques-
ton of his eligibility, and no more would
be said about it, Their tune has been
changed, however, by protest which was
presented next day by Gen. Cass, and on'his
motion referred to the Judiciary Committee.
This protest is signed by all the Democratic
members of our Legislature and sets forth
in clear, straightforward terms the inclgi-
b;lity of the fusion Senator from Illinois,
So Judge Trumbull has only been tempo
rarily admitted, and the question of his eli
Cibility is as open as ever. The judiciary
committee will look into it, and then the
Senate will decide.
Great, now, is the indignation of the fu-
sion press at the presentation of this protest.
They call it impudence unparalleled and
abuse the democratic members of the H.
inois legislature who signed it without inca
sure. Why these very men, say they, voted
for Gov. Mattcson, who labored under the
same disability. Suppose they did, how can
this affect the legal question: They voted
for Gen. Shields until they saw there was
no Nope of his election; and then, as the
next best means to defeat the fusonistS. thev
voted for Gov. Matteson. p-o"'u '"5 "o
Senator at oil rs p.eIcrable TO an abolitlohist
or n n, we have no doubt they would
have voted for Gen. Cass himself could such
a course have defeated the fusionists. The
fact Of their voting for Ma;tcson is no indi-
cation of their private opinion of either his
or Trumbulls eligibility.
The legal question presented by Judge
Trumbull's case is easily stated The con-
stitution of the United States presents tie
qualifications Of Senators as follows:
"No person shall be a Senator who shall
not have attained to the age Of thirty years.
and been nine years citizen of the [ nited
States, and who shall not, when elected, be
an inhabitant Of that State from which he
shall be chosen"
These are merely negative. The question
is, can the States add qualifications to these
If they cannot, then our legislature may in
suit the L. S. Senate by taking a convict
from the penitentiary and placing him in
that body, although by our laws such con-
vict is deprived of all rights of citizenship.
d. =
power in the States behind this general
provision. 1t says "The powers not dele
gated to the United States by the constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the States, are rcserred
t0the StateSresPecttrely, or to the people; and
again, "Thc enumeration in the Constitution
Of certain rights, shall not be construed to
deny or disparage others retained by the
people, The Constitution says nothing
about the manner of elccting Senators Yet
one qualification always insisted on, al.
though it is not in the Constitution, is that
he must be rGgu'arly elected according to
the laws of the States. Suppose pipT0lay
of our legislature should take it upon them
SCiNCS 10 SCnu senator 10 W aSnngtOr, al
though our Constitution requires a majority
to elect, what clause in the Constitution of
the United States would in express terms
exclude him from taking seat? Yet every
school boy knows, in that case, the Senate
would reject him with scorn as not having
been elected according TO the Constitution
and laws, not Of the L. s., but of the State
of Illinois. 1t would be case precisely in
point, where the State had dddcb the gvaii-
,fcd'iO0, not named in the Constitution, that
the Senator must be elected by mgjOrity
instead of plurality Of the legislature,
Judge Trumbull is far from being out of
the woods yet 1t is said Gen. Cass and
other distinguished Senators have expressed
decided opinion as to his fneligibility, and
when such men have no doubts on one side,
the opposite view certainly cannot he as
clear as the fusiol lists pretend it is.