, 1863-11-20

xhe WAbAsh {HorHe) K14I-oud In IL
superior Conft.

1he points upon which the friends OF th
Nnbash expecta decision In their favor. /
b. 's useless. to deny that, dsseryedly couflden
Fas are The antagonists Of that scheme, thos
"ho maintain that the Governors proclama
nation was nugatory, and that the Twenty
fhifd Legislature has still constitutions
exIsteEce, are not less confident Ia their an
t3cipattons Of victory.
AS natter Of interesting information upon
one OF the most important, and believe, the
uost hotly contested and thoroughly dis.
cnssed question that was ever srpued
before d legal tribunal In this Stats. I
Tropofe briefly to state the grounds upon
Which they rest their opinion
.Ihe proclamation Of Governor Yates, ad.
t JouIh1nK the twenty third General Assembly
| of The State Of Illinois, WIS based upon the
thirteenth section OF the fourth article OF the
Constitution, which is in the FOLLOWING
| words:
"sEo. IS. In case Of disagreement between
| tie two hou1B, with respect to the TING of
| adjournment, the Governor shall have 20 wcr
70 adjourn the General Assembly to such
time Us he thinks proper, provided 1t be not
nesting Of the same-''
lie opponents Of the Governor say that an
examination of the relation which the tno
hcnees hu1tained to each other On the quee-
ton Of an adjouEn1ent, at the date Of his
5'G1elam{ation, show 1t to be invalid tor the
First They agree that the word "disaeree.
ue1f," rs applied to the proceedings ct tmo
distinct parts OF one legislative body, has a
ceanlte and HeilEettled meaning, growing
out Of l9ng parliamentary usaya, and Ia that
sense oliy can We Iuppcsa IL to have bean
employed il the Constitution.
n snat sense they say it implies not mere
~ thns the two houses have voted differently
upon the game proposition, bus THAI they
nave carried their difference through various
Stages OF P. ssistency, which have made It ,ap-
parent to them and to all the world hat their
conflict Of opinion Is absol1,e and ireec concl-
able. TEe words used to dea4gnate tbs most
important Of these st.ges are 'insist" and s'ad-
hs'e" when tie tro houses finally "adhere"
!hen and not ILL then, as they urge, the fact
OF ." parliamentary dIsagreem sat'' ma7 be
looked upon as established. But hesc, SAP
she antagonists Of tbs GoVernof, thaie vas
30 "disogreenent' in any such sense. The
Senate voted on the eighth Of June, the
IT. htx O'Clock, P. r., sine die. The resolution
being sent to the House, that body amended
1t By striking out :" ejghth'' and insertinr
"t~enty. second" On It's return to tbs Sen.
ate, they refused to concu1r in the amend.
uent Of the House.
rented by the Senate, and oae presented By
fae House, and neither body had as ret
"agreed" to the proposition Of the other,
but nothing had transpired to show that they
would finally ''disagree, that no other propo.
titton could be found to serve as the ground
So much for the condition Of affairs on the
Stb, the day on which the Senate had voted
to adjourn On the 94h, tbs Senate could not
be supposed to entertain the idea Of adjourn
isg on the sth, and the House had sent in 4
L Meesage, desiring that the 5enate's rssolu-
ton might be returned to them, as they wish
ed to reconsider their amendment. This
state OF affairs continued on the 10th, when
the Governor proclamation was sent in.
How say those who deny the force OF the
proclamation? Can 1t be said there Tas; then
disagreement" between the two houses,
10 any aenee, without reference to the psr.
i;amentarY s'gnidcatIon Of the term. The
proposition Of the Senate Ind become fmpos-
able, and the proposition Of the Houss that
6ody 6y had shown adfsPosition to recede feom.
clamation was unconstltutlo tlonala and M zatory,
But could the oct OF the Legislature in dis |
persiDg after the proclamation was received, |
lend # validity which It would not other
wise have. In o:her words, was the disper.
ancef son o. the ag,,1[e npdsr saca crsa%
says the Wabash men. Why2 Because, say
they, tho Constitution has the following
clause: Neither House shall, without the |
consent OF the other for more than two /
days." Thus as they argue the discontiuu. |
arce Of the sessions Of the General Assembly |
for more than two days, could not, even If it
from the records to have been the /
r. suit Of the separate adjournment of each |
house, be treated under the Constitution "a |
adjournment, but must after the expiration
Of the, tWo' days be regarded as
the act Of the individual members,
Eince, coustitutionally, neither house could /
adjourn for more thsn that time without the
consent Of the other, and no such consent Was
given. But the records do not show that
either house adjourned, and naither house
will be presumed to have done IN unconsti-
tutfonal act. Then It cannot be p1esum.
ed that they adjourned, and the on1y
contingency which could have prevented the
bill from becoming law, on tha failure of
the Governor to return It within ten days,
cannon be presumed to have taken plaza, 80
they argue It must be taken for granted, that
the Legislature continued in bs1cg, without
adjournment, from the 18th to the sd of
June. although 1t could be shoE IA by outside
evidence, that during that time, not single
lrenber Was In hia seat, that the doors Of the
State House were locked, that the members |
mere abeent without any intention Of return
Ing; MD although the journals for the same !
period exhibit no traces Of legislative pres
encc.
These I believe to be fairly stated, the two
rain buttresses Of the Wabash argument. In
putting It, have "nothing extenuated, nor
set down aught In Ea1ice.h You aud yo1r
readers must judge for yourselves Of its
fnrra and anyllfrnhf1ffy