The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1865-09-12

one-whether officer or individual Thi
is the great principle upon which write
constitutions operate and it has bee
acknowledged as such from the time tn
first constitution was formed in this cour
try to the present day, We do not recoe
nize our Parliaments as omnipotent TIL
very purpose of written constitnti
to mark ont for the Legislature. as vel
as the other departments of gove. nment
| the limit. within which they may act
| When they pass tnose limits, they ac
| without authority. dnd THEN .cTs ar
void
Permit me 10 say that a free govern
lnent cannot long he maintained Jules
these constitutional limitations are heiC
sacred They ale the only protection th'
weak can have against the strong Ia
less they are preserved inviolate, the lib
eriy aud rights II individuals must b III
all times snbiccr II the viii OF the domi
nani party Each parry in its tmru. a.
il succeeds III obtaining control Of the
government, will tyrannize over and pro,
scribe its opponents. The struggle OF
parties will be on one side, for power,
vengeance and plumber, and upon the
other, for the preservation of life, liberty
and property Nothing will preserve us
from such a state of things, if the re-
straints which our constitutions impose
upon the madness ofparty spirit are ha-
btually diSregarded.
But il has been said that the act in
question. whether constitutional OF not
is obligatory until properly adudged To
be nullity, and that il is the duty ofthe
supervisors and inspectors of elections to
execute it. instead of undertaking to rX.
pound the constitution
Such doctrine is nj vaI aIiInCe with all
we are taught concerning constitutional
law None of the cXp0undrrs Of ourc con
stitutions have ever, to my knowledge,
intimatcd the existence of any such rule.
If the act of the Legislature be in viola
ton of the constitution, il is void from
the time of lis passage, and void as to
every person, officer or not. do not COM
prehend how it can be the duty OF the
officers of election 10 execute m uucOi-
act, and at the same time the
luty of the courts when sitting in judg-
nent upon the proceedings of those Off
.els, to adiudge the act 10 be nnllity
Suppose a ease II come before the
'onrts involving the validity ot the act
n question. and they decide il 10 he "A
lullity: what must their judgement be-
The courts Il" not rcprd tn I.nronaiIt".
iOnal act, recognizing II 1S IL tHrr uu- |
il repealed. lfthcy lecld, il 10 be- un-
constitutional, the judgment is ihat it |
lever was in force as law that from he |
ime of p ssage. it was Il MI 'lity that il |
vas not ut any time obligatory on the
upervisors and inspectors, or any one
lse-and that il was the duty of those
fficers not to execute, bur to disregard
t. They will hold that an nnconstitu-
ional act of the Legislature, which Is
lere nnllity from its origin. can furnish
% protection to the officers of election
Or failing to perform their duty accord
ng to the constitution aud the law.
When the Legislature of Old Virginia
d 1861 passed their unconstitutional
cts,by which they attempted to force the
eople of West Virginia into the Soulh,
IN Confederacy, were those acts obiiga
,ry on us until properly adjudged to be
ullitiesl Was it the duty of tho off
,rs of the State to execute them, instead
undertaking to expound the constitn-
on? Fortunately, we did not act on
ny snch principle " then held thai
constitutional Legislation was not oh
gatory on any one.
fit be the dnty of the supervisors aud
spectors to execute this act until it is
'operly adjudged to be nullity, how
IN it ever be SO adjudged2 You sue
lose officers for rejecting good vote
hey allege in their defence that they
jected il pursuant to the act Of the
legislature, aud that il was their dnty
do so, whether the act was conslitu-
onal or nnt If the principle which We
e examining be correct the defence '
nst he sustained; and no question re-
tin 10 the constitutionality of tbo act
Vi rise, because it is equally the duty
ue officers of election 10 execute il,
hether it be constitutional or not
To adopt this principle is to make the
,gislative will practically supreme up
all questions Their acts, whether
OF unconstitutional will !
ntinue obligatory on thr officers of the !,
ate until they are properly aijudged 30
utilities aud they cannot be- brought
the test of such judgment Or if =
ey can, as soon as one act j. a,liddged
be unconstitutional, they have but to
IS another for the same pn,p"S,', 10 :
ntinue in force till il IL properly al
1ged to be q nullity o.. rhry may
IS nyunconstitutional act they please,
d then pass another (uo more uncon- b
tutional than the first) to prevent the
bject being brought before the courts 9
adjudication, and thus override ut
,asure any inconvenient restraint npOD
cir power, "
But it is suggested that the law may
differently construed iii different parts
the State-that the act OF February \
1865, may be enforced in one section .,
not in another True-but this is a ci
fculty inseparable from all new legis- P
ion, even that which is impressions I,
valid The justice OF one township, 2,
the Judge Of one circuit, may cotStrHe r
act differently from the justice or r
lge of another township OF cifc,Gt, v
] often do So The Boarrl oi SItper I
ors of one county may take a very |
ferent view of their, powers anl du pI
, from the Supervisors of another M
Inty This is not difficulty arising
lusively in relation to Supervisors
Inspectors of Election, but it extends
Ill officers acting under the laws OF
State Our laws are new uniforni. \
in their execution is very desirable =,
ect, but it is an object that can ONLY un
attained by the effect of time. az
here is plain way TO avoid such dItfi-
ties in the present instance: Let the
,islature abstain from passing acts of
.btfll validity; OF, if they do, lei the n