Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1865-03-04

- n
sisn % the legislature.
His Ercellency. the Governor. cent into the
legislature yesterday mos, extraordinary mes
sage. which will be found ia the legislative pro-
ceedings he advises the general assembly that
the provision, Of The eon<tiiuiion which reads
"No se.sionof the eepersi assembly. except the
frst sB1er stis constitution. shall ertsud beyond
the tern Of s1ty one days, nor any special ses-
sson beyoni the ter OF forty days" does not mean
sixty -one ecu .e:ative days out that" sixty
peskiag days are mesnt.1 He adds, BY con
mon coosen, In this and osher states, Sunday is
not considered legislative day" And in this
connecsios he argues
"It viii not be denied by any one that the leg
islative term established b. the constitution.
90 heretofore construed. is too short for the
dispatch Of the necessary business Of the state
and IL By proper esssfynefion. IL can be extended
for few days, Is will be Of great importance to
the" public interest A convenient supreme
court, or rather the judges OF such Q tribunal.
ssstsins the governors Interpretation Of the con-
stitu.ion. His EIcellency attempts to further
maintain hs construction Of the organic Law OF
the state upon the plea that rs Sunday is not .
judicial day. hence. by analogy, IL eanpo, be re-
gasded - . legislative day.
Since the adoption Of the present constitution
there have been held six sessions o: the General
Assembly. Article 4. section 3 Of that instru-
ment reads a. follows:
The sessions Of the general assembly shall
be held biennialy at the capital Of the state. com
mencing on the Thursday next after the fret
Monday Of January. in the year one thousand
eight hundred and hi,y three. and on the same
day Of every second year thereafter, unless a
different day or place shall have been appointed
BY Law"
The legislature which assembled in 1855
contained many msmbess Of the convention
which formed tbe constitution. That assembly
a. has every one which has since convened. IN
derstood the term Of each regular session of tho
legislature to be sixty one consecutive days. in
GLIDING Sundays. That was the understanding
Of the members Of the constitutional convention
aud sixty one days was 6xed the time. so that
the session should not expire on Sunday. as
would have done il IL had been limited to siIt,
days.
His Eicellency remarks that Sunday is not I
judicial day. This is true SO far as the trsnsac
ton of business is concerned, but il counts th'
same ss any other day in The terms Of court snt
in the service and life Of all legal documents
And If Sundays are not to be included 10 th,
term of legislative session. can a member o
the Legislature draw pay for the Sundays includ
cd in legislative session. The governor say
sixty-oue Legislative days, sixty one irorkn9 da,
are meant, and hence pay can only be drawn fol
the sixty one working days the Legislature ma.
be in session If Sunday 10 not legislative da.
10 follows that all acts passed by Legislative
bodies on that day must be invalid. Frequent
congress has extended its sessions into Sunday
Jet the legality Of its acts upon such occasion
have never bee0 questioned.
As Colonel DuxHAM remarked in the Hous
ia commenting upon this extraordinary messag
81 ,hc governor. il must be regarded as F" q mos
impudens attempt TO interfere With the indepeu
dence aud dignity of the legislature not onl
90 far as His Excellency is concerned. but also b
the " four judges of the supreme court" tt
opinions Of neither the executive or judicis
branches Of the government we're asked as to III
powers or rights of the Legislature: and if III
members of the General Assembly have anv r.
specs for themselves. any desire TO maintain til
independence and dignity Of the legislative su
thority Of the state. they win return the messag
OF the governor. and promptly adjourn when tn
constitutional term Of the legislature expires o
Monday next.
If"sbs legislative term established BY the CO,
sttution Is too short for the dispatch OF the ne,
esssry business OF the state" the governor bs
the authority to convene special session OF q
general assembly whenever. in his opinion. Il
public interests demand il II the legislature hi
NOT time to dispatch the necessary business
the state At its present session. and such seen
to be the opinion VI His Excelency, he shoul
not hesitate under such circumstances in exc
cising the discretionary powers conferred upc
him by the constitution. and not attempt to avo
aresponsibility by forcing construction Of Il
constitution too palpsbie and unjustihable to d
ceive the weakest intellect.