Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1859-10-22
Contested Election - Report OF tho


The undersigned. minority of the com /
mittee 20 which was referred the contested
election ease from the Eighth Senatorial Dis
trict, bftween William Fl. Tibbs and John A. |
Mihnis. not being able 10 agree with the ma
jority in their statement-of facts, the course
of their argument, or the result of their ex
animation, beg leave TO submit the following
report: .-... --..s-r -.-rsrss
The undersigned have examined, with
great care, the various provisions of the Con-
rtiiution. and the different acts of the Legis-
lature, bearing directly or indirectly upon
the merits of the case. and have ana
lyzed minaiely the testimony offered by the
contestants. Differentiation, begun and con-
Quoted with sincere desire to attain sound
and truthful conclusion. has J. d them TO the
firm Conviction thai William III. Tibbs, and
not John A Minis, is entitled 10 tn" seat on
tins floor as Senator from he Eighth District;
and while il may be that the und rsigned
will not be able 10 e"nvince all the members
81 this body. yet they do expect to satisfy all
here and elsewhere Interested III the matter.
that their conviction has much of sound ar
gument and good sense to sustain it. The
merits OF the controversy tnrn upon the de-
termination Of two question: Were the
voters of the Grundy friction of Seqnatchie
county entitled. n. the late election Tor Gov
ernOr. Congressman, and members of the
General Assembly. 10 vote for Senator in
tue EiR'ln senatorial DlSITlcI. ana III fleY
were not so entitled. wa the election held
and conducted in the Hamilton fraction of
Sequatchie county in reasonable conformity
with our statutory law upon that subject
And to these questions We will direct our
attention in the order they are stated.
1st- Were tn quaiifi volers of the
Grundy fraction of S'quatchie county en-
titled al .he late election 10 vote for Senator
in the Eighth Senatorial District! The ma
- ff,.,
and The undersigned deny this. and insist
that they could only vote with Grnndy
county in the Fourt, enth Senatorial Dis
trict.
By the superintendent law OF 1872. the
counties of Rhea, Bledsor Bradl"y. Hamilton
and Marion form the Eigl IN Senatorial Dis
rrict; at the session of 1856. the General
Asst mbly pas ed M act. chapter l62 to take
effect on the I'd day of September 1857. at
taching the tenth civil district of BIZ dsoe
county and the first ard second civil districts
of Marion county 10 Hamilton county, and
by an act passed on the 4th day Of Novem-
Der 1857. (see Private Acts of 1878. chap.
5,) these civil districts were formed into the
fifteenth. sixteenth. and seventeenth civil
districts of Hamilton. expressly provided that
the justices Of the peace and constables then
in office were to continue to use and exer-
else their power and authority as justices of
until their successors in Office W, re elected,
some other provision made for the en-
fOrcement of law and the attainment of JUS
tice.'
On the 9th day of December. 1857, the
Legislature passed an act TO establish the
county of Seqnatchie. embracing in its desig-
mated boundaries tie three civil districts
taken from BledsOp and Marion counties, and
made a part Of II: milton county AS above
tat nd ~ Au nf
the same Legislature passed an act, by The
terms of which portion of Grundy county
containing. according to tho weight of the
proof, thirty square miles of territory was
added to the new county of Scquatchie under
the pretense Ola change of county lines.
BY the terms and provisions Of this act,
creating the new county. the justices of the
peace, living in said fifteenth, sixteenth and
seventeenth civil districts. were authorized TO
meet on the first Monday in January. 1858,
and organize county court, and elect such
county officers as they are entitled 10 elect;
commissioners Were appointed with power
TO select site for permanent county seat,
and the sheriff of Hamilton county is dir ct
ed to give notice Of and held an election on
The first Saturday in March. 1858. for sheriff.
clerk Of the circuit and county courts. regis
ter and trustee. On the first Monday in
January. 1858. the justices Of the peace met
and constituted themselves county court.
ard in addition to discharging tie duties i'm
posed upon them 10y the act. made temporary
appointments of sheriff. clerk of the cOun-
ty court and perhaps other officers; and be-
fore the commissioners had located a county
seat. and before the Sheriff of Hamilton
county had held tn" elrction for county Off
GERS n hill of Injunction was filed ard a fiat
obtain d. enjoining the commissioners and
tho ooun'y court and sheT If of Hamilton
county from taking any further steps in the
establishment and organization OF the nrw
county II does not appear in proof that an
election has yet been held for county officers.
but il does app ar that county and circuit
courts had been regularly held in the new
county, and that the duties If the different
county officers have b. en- performed by per-
sons claiming 10 b. lawfully entitled to the
Offices IL is satisfactorily proved that in the
original draft of the act creating the new
county Of SrquHtchie, portion of Grundy
county, pretty much the same as the part
subsequently taken. was embraced, hut j;
was stricken out for the time At the request
Of the member in the House from Grnndy,
Coffre and Van Buren, counties, 70 enable
him to consult the people of the portion
sought to be stricken off: hut the new conn
tv did not. until rhc addition Of the Grundy
fraction. have the number at square miles
Of territory or the voting population. re-
quired by the constitution in the formation
OF new counties; and that the active fri"I DIS
Of the new county had the Grnndy fraction
added to obviate constitutional objections,
and with the hone that il would terminate
the existing, and pre'en any further htIga-
ton in the matter. These are all the mate
rial fncts in proof necessary To be stated 10
the full elucidation OF the argument on the
point now under consideration.
Rv the fourth section of the tenth article
Of the Constitution il is provided that new
counties may he established by the Lcgi.la-
turr, TO consist of no less than three hundred
and fifty square mills, and which shall con-
tain population of four hundred and fifty
analiRcd voters" and by The tifi h section of
the same article il is further provided that
1.-The citizens who may be included in any
new county. shall vote with the county or
counties from which they mny have been
strikrn Of for members of Congress, the
Governor and 'or members Of the General
Assembly, until the next app0l tionment OF
members to the General Assembly after the
establishment Of snch new county," IL is
admitted by the majority, aud will not be
controvcrted by any one. that IL the Grundy-
fraction had heen included in the NV county
Of Sequatchie by the act creating and esiab-
fishing IL. the qualified ,o;' Rs OF that frac-
tion could not have consiitnt:Onally voted
for Senator in tho Eighth Senatorial District
The two acts. the one Grating the new
county and the Other adding the Grundy
fraction, were passed at the same session OF
tn" Legislature. and are upon identically
the same suhject matter. IL is a well settled
rule of law, we'll rs of construction OF
statutes that the various acts passed ut the
same or different sessions of the Legislature
upon the same subject matter; or to use the
legal phrase. IN pdri ndtern. ARE To be taken
and construed a. one net Of the legislative
mind and will. The Supreme court of the
Unit d States, in u recent case, states the
rule in these words: at j. an established
rule of law that acts IN pari plIteria are {" he
taken together "a il thrJ were one law
limited States vs.. FIRE., man, 3 Towards
Rep. SOS ] and the binding auihority and
wisdom nf the rule thus broadly stated are
wcll sustained BY LEARNED writ and able
Judges. Kent's Comm. pages 46l 3; Ssdg-