Wabash express. [volume] (Terre-Haute, Vigo Co[unty], Ind.) 1841-186?, 1858-11-17

This j. we'll and clearly expressed, aud no
Demsersi can object e. the authority. u fully
asserts the doctrine that Leg.sl.,nrsmsy de
clare % election Of Senator psia and thus 10
auysrate contest which shaai rsqsire the
senate TO examine behind the certificate and
see whether IL l. 50 or not. tA1d II makrs
such an election r,id where IL Is no. had 10
accordance with the Consultation and laws
Although il does not directly say that there
can be no cantesi Of The seat Of a Senator en-
eept II j. made by LegisIatsr,, yet Il = ev''
d.nt that both Mr. Wright aud the majority OF
the committee we're Of tha, op,uion. isJssd !.
no other o,iaion can be a'sintsned A. San
ators represent the sovereignty Of The states
individual citizens cannot contest their seats
They may respectfully renonsirate Ia the Sen.
..e against lhsm, aud the Senale may or
msy not. a. it piessss. heet what they
.ay. But when the oo1eiga authority
Of a State shall declare that those who
claim 10 be it, representatives IA the Sen
ate are not 30. aud that they are usurpers,
claiming under proceeding, which we're rev
olutionary. illegal and s,olalve Of the Con
s,itution. the Senate Of the United States
would violate the first principles OF govern
ment and strike blow al a Re independence
and dignity Of The States. II they should re
fuse to inquire INTO the facts. and respond 10
the will If the States. There Las been no CON
test Of the seat, OF Bright aud Fitch ia ito
proper signifcaion. The remembrance filed
arsirst them Was not contest. The State
was not party to il. Thrre was pretence
To take evidence by order Of the Senate. but
there was no body authorized to represent the
State Therefore. there could MT have been
such an investigation rs concludes any thing :
certainly not such az conclude. the Legisia
tnrs Of the STATE. Bright and Fitch stood upon
their prina Jaeie case. arising upon the our.
ma, of The House Of Representatives and the
commission OF the Governor. No number OF
citizens can impesch either this journal or
commission and so. evidently, the Senate
thought for the committee on the judiciary
OF that body. made no report upon The facts o.
the case But the Legislature can impesch both
and by showing. a. it can do, that both are
e,se. leave the Senate 10 escape froa thor
ough investigation of the matter. These were
the views of the Senate at the time Of the
+ Rhode Island case, aud there can be no valid
argument against them. II they are not cor
rect, then the Senate may eieef its own mem.
bers and thus destroy all the State soyer
eighty.
The fact that Bright and Fitch have OBJ
tained an - parie decision of their case 10y the
Senate--caunot avail them in a contest with
the Legislature. Even that decision was had
by less than ha.( tic ,oaole Senate. and eau
amount to nothing more than the opinion that
upon the case then before the Senate, they wer,
entitled TO their seats.
The whole matter, then, summed up
amounts to this that the Lsgisiafsre must
contest their seats or. by silence. affirm them
II those who have insisted that their election
was void shal prefer the latter course. it will
be = simple abandonment of the ground they
have occupied for two years. and equivalent
to an admIss that they have, all that time
been merely factions and insincere.