The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-12-19

BURLINGTON WE.
their residence, on the day of election. they
would PROFESSIONALLY have the right to
vote, if otherwise qualified. II Thus iai,
Therefore there is no difficulty, The inqul-
nv then is, whether the Constitution nAes
the place of voting, lin the county, as
test of oualification-or whether II gives
the qualifications and leaves the piace VI
voting to the Legislature.
And the argument is legitimate that. as
+ our Constitution differs from those Oh othef
States, there was an object IN the phrases
!. ogy Employed. For when it IS rene, my. ,
that yery many States had before 1891, py
their Constitutions, used such express ahu
clear language, prohibiting the exercise OF
the right out of the county or precihct VI
the voters residence, and that our conVen,
! ton had the benefit of such provisions anu
or similar language would have been used,
II if it had been intended to fix the same quar-
, iGcation. The words of the Constltuuoh
r furnish the test to which the statute As W
be brought, and generally all arguLneh.s
: derived from general prlnclpies ihusS ,Ie
q addressed to the Legislature or the people
and not to us. ri Penn. st. K. 49, ana
: when we find two instruments upon CIV
en- subiect-one of which clearly forbios1he
doing of an act or the exercise OF d power
:, while the other contains no such eAp
o nrohibition, but at the utmost can only oe
o claimed to DO so by implication-the lar
. and legitimate inference is that the apoTdS
:, of the latter were not intended 10 have the
!. same force and effect RS the iormer. Ahu
q this is especially true when the latter ~
n made subsequent TO, and IN Inc i'gh' o. 'iie
G former.
i Rut in further examining the very s7ords
If Of the Constitution. let US, II we can, arrive
Il IT their meaning The leading object I'M
IS doubt edly. was to define lcio should be en-
titled to vote. h'iyst-He must bea white
i male citizen of the United States. Secon"
q or the age of twenty-one years. ia"d-
al A resident of this State six months next
T. preceding the Election. FouTth-A resi-
4, dent OF the county sixty days. Now, II ii
IF he admitted that the incidents OF residence
j. in the State and county inhere IN the voter,
/ in the person as we'll as the voter, II by no
r means follows, that the Legislature might
l. not Tx, at its discretion, the place where
T. those to whom these incidents attach, or
L. possessing these qualifications, may eSer-
- else the right. For it is admitted that when
1. the Constitution says, white male citizen.
y. il negatives the right of the Legislature TO
ne confer the elective franchise upon females
le or persons of color. So when 1t prescrloes
e. a residence in the State six months, ana
I'd the county sixty days, 1t equally prohlolis
Re the comforting the right upon those having
I'd n residence Of three months and twenty
IN DAYS. nnothing was said about resi- dence
IN it would be entirely competent Tor the lie
cislature to fly it, at one day or tive years
of But the Constitution in the language useo
or intended to declare 1chO should ENJOY tnt
III right of suffrage, rather than where ii sholc
e) be exercised, and the incident o. rtdce, o.
IT. the place of exercising tie right. IS not al
tached as q qualification Of The voter
he 1t is said. however, that he must clam .n'
he vote ii the county OF bis re- .dence, that h
30 in %
%, Constitution he is a resident "ot the sount,
no IN which he claims his vote anu that I'M
IS, gcccssGrily lnoits the place OF the enjoynlen
Of the right. The foregoing views to SOM
ne extent answer this proposition. Butw we re
wv mark further that the words OF the lIstru
en- ment must nc. be forgotten, added TO no
nd changed. What weight should he glvel
re then 10 the word claims? Does the assef
ed ton of this right, or claim to exercise II
ii constitute any part of the qualifications Q
nj the voter? In other words, Il he IS OF 10
IN right age. sex and color, and has the reqUi
,ed size residence. is he not a qualified voter
he though he NAV not claim to exercise tina
of right? II so, then how can the clam OF
ice right, already perfect, add TO it's complete
is p~-s? Or how can the place OF asserting i
ted ngure in the qualifications? Not Only sc
lily but to ciG,n a thing, is to demand Tigr
T a or a supposed right. When the right
IN asserted, it is claimed, though II may nc
are be granted. 1t may he asserted by "orus
the or by other means. Etymologicaily, 1t
ion no means. implies, that place Or presenc
her are essential to its potency or completeness
ed, On the other hand, to "Ofer' to do a thing
ave is to bring to or betore--to present ior az
the ceptance or rejection-to eXhl DIT soneihlh
e that may be taken or received or not.-
yer And hence the argument drawn from II
yis- case in Pennsylvania, is not by any NEAR
so conclusive. For While, III the language
led Woodward j.. It may be true that 10 ''on,
eo- TO vote by ballot. is 10 present ones sci
yis with proper qualifications, at the time an
and appointed, and make mammal deilEei
in of the ballot to tie officers, appointed |
Y Of law to receive tit by no means necess
Jon rily follows that the same would be I!
ler- meaning of the word ''ciains' as used
rilv our Constitution. The one does not mp
the so conclusively as the other, the idea OF
formal presence in order TO assert the rigi
D be Rut aside from this we must not forge
the that the language is not thatthe voter mu
mot claim his vote il, the county, but IN spea
hus ing Of residence, says that 1t must be
hall the county sixty days. And the perS'
it is cannot cldina to be an e!ector IN any oth
lone countg then Wiere he has Such residence.
that This. in substance, is what is meant by t
at q word "claims'' II more had been maa
Y to or intended, it seems to us that other al
cast different language would have been use
ex- But let us suppose there is oouot as 10 I
i'm correctness of the above cOnnectlon-th
egis- what is our duty in the premises? The IL
BEAT, has been PASSED by the Legislature,
SEM ordinate branch Of the government, act:
not under like solemn obligations and respc
t, or sibilities with ourselves has been app
need we'd by the Executive, who has taker
sion, like oath to support the CONSTITUTIONS
posi- we are row called upon 70 declare it
lined valid If it is so, in our judgment,-tl
last is if we conclude that the infractlon IS Gle
titu- palpable and plain-then most unqnestlt
The ably it is our duty to so declare. On
,ello, subject, no court should seek or desire
escape responsibility. The CONSTITUTE
neral should be expounded as it is found, q
given never bent or warped to meet any pus
1t is exigency. All branches Of the governme
ne Of but courts especially, for the welfare {
tates prosperity Of the government, should ca
that fulN and strictly adhere TO its letter {
g, in spirit But while this is all true, while