Daily national Democrat., 1859-02-15
The New Indgeships.

Inc Express Is queer CohSei"'
than ordinarily dull of comprehension and
wholly unable to understand the meaning Of
proposition when it is laid down OF TO iol'
low a course Of reasoning naturally dedueed
from it, however distinctly and clearly ex-
pressed, it yet has the self conceit to suppose
that it really does comprehend everything of
the kind, fully This leads it into many ri
diculous errors, one Of which is, that it sets
forth what it thinks an antagonist has said,
and proceeds to reply to it with extraordn-
arv vehemence. everybody laughing mean
while at its froth and foam over a mere fig
ment of its own imagination. Another error
that it falls into is to attribute the lack of
brains to an antagonist, because it cannot
understand him, owing to its own lack Of
brains in the first place. as though cracked
mirror could by any possibility give back
true reflection or the shell of hickory nut
contain anything more than nature designed
it should hold.
In regard to the appointment of Mr.. Har-
dy to one of the new District Judgeships, we
made the following observations:
"There must first be an election by the people.
If, after that, the office "becomes vacant" then
the Governor may appoint. 1t is impossible for
office TO become vacant unless it has first been
filled. Ii may be vacant at the moment OF It's
creation, but it is wholly improper use of words
to say that, under these circumstances, it has be-
come vacant"
Whereupon the Express, having wholly
failed to comprehend even a rudimental idea
of the reasoning involved for the remarks
quoted were only conclusion Of what had
gone before) comments, with its usual cour
teous grace, as follows
ais not that heavy logic? Again we ask, how
is it possible for an office TO be vacant before 1t
has become vacant? As well might the organ ar
que that because it never had any brains IN Its
head, its Uranium is not vacant now, as TO argue
as it does"
As to whether we have any brains in our
head. we leave others to determine, but we
submit that a crainum is much better with
out anything in it atall than filled with the
stuff which the Express mistakes for brains
in its own head, to.wit: GAS.
The Express Acknowledges, with a frank
ness which does great justice TO its intelli-
gence, that it does not comprehend the diff
ference between thing Uhich lreddy is and
a thing ackieh has become so. This is all very
natural. Some persons have q not much
better knowledge of their own vernacular
than of foreign tongue, and we could scarce
| ly blame man who had not the least ac-
quaintance with Italian, for instance, for fail
ing to understand the difference between one
Italian word and another. We would inform
the Express however, that being and becoming
are not synonymous. Being is simply erist-
ing but becoming is the passing from one
state or condition into another Webster de-
fines the verb thus: "BEcoME--To pass from
one state to another; to enter into some
state or condition, by change from anoth-
er state or condition, or by assuming or re-
ceiving new properties or qualities, addition
al, or q new character-as q scion becomes
tree"
An office, therefore, may be vacant without
having become vacant In the case of the new
Judgeship to which the Governor appointed
Mr.. Hardy, it was vacant at the moment of
its creation. 1t did not pass from the state
of not being vacant to being vacant, but was
vacant at the beginning.
The clause of the Constitution, under
which the Express claims that Gov Weller
had an authority to act, when he appointed
Mr. Hardy, is the following:
"When any office shall, from any cause,
become vacant, and no mode is provided by
the Constitution and laws for filling such
vacancy, the Governor shall have power to
fill such vacancy by granting a commission
which shall expire at the end of the next ses-
sion of the Legislature, or nt the next election
by the people"
The District Judgeships are elective, by
express provision Of the Constitution. The
Judges are not to De appointed, but elected
After an election Fas been held, and the Of
fee filed if it then "becomes vacant" it is
to be temporarily filled by the Governor
But no legitimate construction of the Ian
guage of the Constitution can make it appear
that that instrument contemplated the crea-
tion of a Judgeship and the filling it in the
first place in any other manner than by an
election The very words, "become vacant"
show that its being filled in the first place
was contemplated, before the appointing
power could attach to the Governor.