The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1863-12-24

Butin fnrthe: examining the very woro
OF the Constitution, let US, If we can, arriy
at their meaning. The leading object, ur
doubtedly was to define ,oho should be ent
tied to vote. F;rst-He must be whit
male citizen Of the United States. Second
". the age Of twenty -one years. Third
A resident Of this Stase six months mex
preceding the election. F,urth-A residen
OF the county sixty days Now, IL it be ad
mitted that the incidents OF rcsiden ce in tn
State and county inhere in the voter, in tn
came sense that sex, age and color inner
in the person as well as the voter, it by n
means follows, that the Legislature nigh
not hx, at its discretion. the pla.s wher
those, to whom these incidents attach. O.
possessing these qualiti cations, may ex.r
else the right. For it is admitted ,ha,
when the Constitution says, "white NAL,
citizen" It negatives the right of the Leg
lslature to confer the elective franchise up
on females or persons Of color. So when i,
prescribes . residence in the State al,
months, and the county sixty days, it equal
y prohibits tho comforting the right upon
those hsyinga residence Of three months
and twenty days Tf nothing was said abou,
residence, it would be entirely competent
for the Legislature to fix it, at one day or
i've years. But the constitution in the
language used, intended to declare mho
should enjoy the RICH, Of suffrage. rather
than whers il should be exercised. and tho
incident of place. or the place Of sr.rcising
the right, is not attached as qualification
Of the voter.
1t is said however, that he must claim his
vote in the county of his residence, th.t he
cannot vote unless in the language of the
Constitution he is resident "of the county
in which he claims his vote' and that this
nsce'sarily limits the place of the enjoyment
Of the right. The foregoing views to some
extent answer this proposition. But we re-
mark further that the words of the instsu
ment must not be forgotten, added to nor
changed. What weight should be given
them to the word claims? Does the asser
ton Of this right. or claim to exercise It.
constitute any part Of the qualifica. ions of
the 'otere In other words, # he is Of the
right age, sex and color, and has tie reoui.
site residence, IS he not qualified voter,
though he may not claim exercise that
right? II 40, then how can the clam of a
right, already perfect, add to it's complete.
ness : Or how can the place Of asserting it.
figure in the qualifications Not oniv so.
but to claim thing, is to demand q right
Asa lsnppossd right. When the right is
Or by othaf in 1eala imed- .thanah IL NAV no,
no means implies, that place or presence are
essential to its potency or completeness.
on the other hand to ofe- to do . thing, is
to bring 10 or before-to present Cor aceep-
tance or rejection--to exhibit something
that NAV be taken or received or not And
hence the argument drawn from the case
of Pennsylvania. is not by any means con-
elusive. For while the language of Wood.
ward j. it may be true that to offer to vote
by ballot, is to present ones self, with prop
er qualifications, at the time and place APP
pointed, and make manual delivery of the
ballot, to the officers, appointed Ivy law to
receive it''-it by no means necessarily fol-
lows, that the same would be the meaning
of the word "claims'' as used in our consti-
tuition. The one does not imply SO conclu-
sively a. the other. the idea Of personal
presence IN order to assert the right. But
aside from this. we must not forget that the
language is not that the voter must claim
his vote IL the county, but in speaking Of
residences says that it must be In the county
sixty days. And the persons cannot claim
to be An elector IL any other county than
Dhsrs hs has such reidencs. This in sub.
stance is what is meant by the word claims
If more had been meant or intended it
seems to us thst other and different language
would have been used.
But let US suppose there is doubt as to the
correctness Of the above constructior-t then
what is our duty in the PREMISES The law
has been passed by the Legislature, a coor-
dinats branch Of the government, acting un-
der ike solemn obligations and respohsibil-
tiles with ourselves-has been approved by
the Executive, who has taken like oath to
support the constitution and We are now
called upon to declare it invalid. II it is
so, in our judgement-that il we conclude
that the infraction is clear, palpahle and
plain-then most unquestionably It is ou'
duty to SO declare. On this subject. nc
court should seek or desire to escape re
sponsibiIity. The Consti ution should bs
expounded a. it is found, and never bent o,
wrapped to meet any public exigencv. All
branches of the government, but courts o.
pec,ally, for the welfare AMI pcrpetu,ty o
the government. should carefully ant
strictly adhere to its letter and spirit. Blu
while this Is all true. while we wouli a
we have heretofore done, most unhes,tating
ly declare invalid any law, which in on
: opinion vas clearly obnoxious to the pro
T visions Of the Constitution--and while W
may be permitted to say that we trust tbs
, this power may. in proper cases, be exeu
, cised by the courts fearlessly, independent
: ly. yet always wisely, We cannot forget tha
amoc the fundamentals of the law almol
| is the proposition, that I'VE can declare =