Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1864-01-25
Chr Urn. State Cen. Com.
Isn11s.poL1s. Jan %. 1864

A. 1t conner, ESq.IsCftetIHtUHi &C.
DEAR SIR-In compliance with your
request of the 18th inst, / proceed TO
give nv opinion upon the question,
Z Whether Governor Morton is disquali-
fed from holding the Office of Governor
of the State of Indiana, during the next
four years, by reason of the duties Of
the Office of Governor having devolved
upon him as Lieutenant Governor, on
the occasion of the resignation of the
Hon. Henry S. Lane.
a The facts applicable to the question
are these: or tiftI ..71sH tsa
Atthe general election held in octo-
Der, 1860, Henry S. Lane was elected
to the Office. of Governor, and Oliver P.
Morton, to the Office of Lieutenant Gov
ernor;9 each for the constitutional term
of four years; commencing on the sec
ond Monday'of January succeeding the
election; and they were each installed
in the Offices to which they had bean thus
respectively called by the voice of the
people. Governor Lane having been
elected to- the Senate of the United
States. at the session of the General As
.sembly which witnessed his Inaugural
ton, and but few days after that event,
he resigned the Office of Governor, where
BY the duties of the Office devolved upon
lieutenant Governor Morton. d
The following are the constitutional
provisions on the subject. 4 ~
ARTICLE V. <
"Sec. /. The executive power of the
State shall be vested in Governor. He
shall hold his Office during four years,
and shall not be eligible more than four
years in any period of eight years.
"Sec. 2. There shall be Lieuten-
ant Governor, who shall hold his Office
during four years -
"Sec. 8. The Governor and Lieuten-
ant Governor shall be elected at the
times and places of choosing members
of the General Assembly.
@e"Sec. 4. In voting for Governor and
Lieutenant Governor, the electors shall
designate for whom they vote as Cover
nor, and foriwhom as Lieutenant Gov
ernor.
"Sec. 9. The official term of the
Governora and Lieutenant Governor, shall
commence on the second Monday of
January, in the year one thousand eight
hundred and fifty three; and on the
same day every fourth year thereafter
"Sec. 10. In case of the removal OF
the Governor from Office, or of his death,
resignation, or inability to discharge the
duties of the Office, the same shall de-
volve on the Lieutenant Governor; and
the General Assembly shall, by law, pro-
vide for the case of removal from Office,
death, resignation or inability, both OF
the Governor and Lieutenant Governor,
declaring what officer shall then act &C
cordingly, until the disability be remov-
ed, or a Governor can be elected"
Lean perceive nothing in these provis-
ions, nor in any other clause of the fun
damental law, that would disqualify Gov
ernor Morton Tor the Office of Governor
for the four years next ensuing the expi-
ration of his present incumbeney He
was not elected to the office of Governor;
and the clause in the dissection quoted,
declaring that the Governor shall not be
eligible more than four years in q period
of eight years, does not therefore apply.
It is not enough for those who hold the
opposite opinion to urge the fact that
Governor Morton is to every intent the
Executive of the State of Indiana, and
that as such he is vested with all the
powers that an election by the people
could confer. Noone will dispute that.
But the Constitution has not declared
that the officer who may be called upon
to exercise the duties Of Governor, upon
the happening of any one of the contin-
gencies mentioned in that instrument,
shall not be eligible to the Office of Coy
ernor for more than four years in any
period of eightyears; nor am aware of
any principle in the law, to warrant
such latitudinarian construction. Had
the trainers of the constitution intended
such a restriction, they were quite COM
petent to express it.
l suppose it will not be contended by
any one that Governor Morton is ineligi-
bic by the letter of the Constitution
and if that point is yielded, it seems to
me there is nothing left for controversy,
for disqualifications to Office being in op-
position to the political and personal
rights secured to the citizen by the same
instrument, in various other clauses, they
must, like laws imposing penalties and
forfeItures, be construed strictly
/ entertain no doubt whatever of the
eligibility of Governor Morton to the
office of Governor after the expiration
of his present incumbency.
- 4 am, very respectfully, yours, rs.-
% j. MORRISON