The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-04-07
To Cure Irregularities.

~ NaAN AAAN saA@A aaANHs
r.. We stated yesterday that we now had
local civil magistrates in many Of the
counties; and we have 10 hear of the
frst Union nianrobjecting to the hold
: Ing an election last March, and to the
commissioning of-tRe officers chosen,
slsl the Military Governor 4 There were
those who opposed the manner of con-
= dnaing the election wedid this our
selves; but to-sn election itself, none
OBJECTED 6 Aet there was an irregular
ity; there would have been an igregu
larity, even though he strictcst care
had been taken 10 conform az nearly
as possible to the State constitution
not 50 much in the election, as in the
commissioning Of the officers. m
BY the provisions. of the constitution,
= a Governor is to be chosen every two
years and IN case Of vacancy, the
j position. of Chief Executive oftbe State
tdeFolves on, first, the Speaker Of the
Senate, and then Of the House; and it
was never contemplated that al these
m would be vacant at any one time, and,
therefore, no provision was made
against such contingency. Upon the
Governor, who must be one of the three
officers in question, devolves the duty
of granting commissions to justices Of
the peace, sheriff., 6ci and commits
sions granted by any other man must
be irregular; yet not even the most
sensitive advocate Of regularity object
ed to their Issuance A necessity exist
ed for some. one to FIJI the position Of
Governor; all agree to that, whether
friends or enemies Of the present in
cumbent, without such an officer, or
the assumption Of his duties by some
military commander, the State must
continue in a condition Of anarchy for
ever
We are. in this, necessarily compel
led to accept something which is irreg-
ular---perhaps some will think reyolu-
tionary1-in order TO prevent greater
evil; and what is true Of this, VIII be
found applicable to the future, until the
State shall be thoroughly reorganized,
Ia the meantime, We accept these
officers as Legitimate, because chosen
and commissioned as nearly a. possible
in accordance with the constitution;
and they form basis FOR further &C
ton in the premises. .
What next The seventh section Of
the III article Of the constitution pro-
vides that the @frst election for Senators
and Representatives shall be held on
the first Thursday of August, one
thousand eight hundred and thirty-fve;
and forever thereafter, elections for
members of the General Assembly shall
be held once in two years, on the first
Thursday in August said elections shall
terminate the same day while the
second section of the Sd article declares
that the Governor shall be chosen by
the electors of the members of the
General Assembly, at the times and
places where they shall respectively
vote for the members thereof
The election, then to be strictly reg
ular, to be precisely in accordance with
the constitutional that IS for what
those who oppose aconvention contend
Unjust be delayed one year and four
months from this date; and in the
meantime the people must continue to
endure all the Inconvenience Of a
strictly military rule and not only that,
but the legislature cannot be assembled
till the first Monday in the succeeding
October Is that what the people de
sire2 Yet it must be endured, if
strict regularity is required But even
tko they found their elections upon
returns made by an irregularly COM
missionsd returning officer
But this is not all The lar of cleo
tons Cart 9, sec. S7S) provides that
the person receiving the highest num-
Der Of votes cast for members of the
General Assembly shall be declared
duly elected, and a certificate of election
issued TO him, and statement Of tie vote
made on and transmitted iamed.ateh to the
Secretary Of STATE
Tkis PROVISION, too, must he complied
with, if a strict adherence to the con
stitution and laws be required yet we
have no Secretary Of State, within the
contemplation Of the State constitution,
and we never can have, til we have a
General Assembly TO elect one. How
then, do those who contend that moth
ing shall be done, save in accordance
with the constitution and laws Of the
State propose TO proceed
Better Mt once acknowledge that the /
present situation is an anomaly; that
we must extricate ourselves; that to do
50, We must supply that for which no
provision was made and which could
scarcely have been foreseen; and place
the State upon proper basis as soon as
that can be done, 50 that at least 10000
troops doing police and provost duty
can be sent to the front, and aid in
swelling the ranks OF CDR army which
viii be required to do great deal of
hard fighting this summer; which will
be able, IL properly concentrated and
managed, 70 break the military power
Of the rebellion before the approaching
4th Of July. - laI.l4 lo aof9.l
s-f,, .,fs..-l--la.sz -a
a9ais A Rebel 0plhl6R OF Mexico.
The Richmond Enquirer of the 25th !
has an editorial uroh che nfhsanf state