The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1867-04-11


another office and = therefore inclu-
ded-r Carry this ideA little further,
Major. and we think yea cannot help &C
knowledging It's absurdity. II "any
other Office" means g. s. Senator, It
also means President, Vice President,
Member Of Cabinet. Judge OF u s. Su-
preme Court, Minister, Consul. Suppose
Gov Baker should be selected during
his present term for one of these offices,
would Major Kinley content that the
State constitution renders him Ineligible
to the, position ? Suppose the Union
party should nominate him as lis candi-
date for President or Vice President, du-
ring the time he is elected Governor,
and the Major should set up the objec-
ton that be was s'ineligible," and bring
forward tina tclause to prove l., would he
not be laughed to scorn, and have his
labor for his pains We think SO.
In reply to our suggestion that the
State Constitution could only apply to
offices pithin the State, the Major asks,
What is the evidence that State Offices
only were intended % For answer, we
respectfully refer our inquiring friend to
the proceedings of the constitutional
convention itself, of which body he was
member. 1t may be that Maj. X $
memory is as short, on what transpired
in that convention, as il was at the time
he pledged himself to vote for the caucus
nominee of the Republican party, when
he subsequently stated he chad not at
the time thought of the ineligibility of
Gov. Norton" and we therefore repro
duce the amendment offered to the con
vention by Mr.. Walpole, to Art. 5, Sec
ton "a:
g. That the Governor shall take an oath to support
the Constitution and laws of the United States made
in pursuance thereof and the Constitution of the
State of Indiana. that he will faithfully discharge the
duties of his Office long he shall continue in such
Office, "and that he viii not accept any other Office Or
appointment under the Constitution of the United
Stated the laws thereof" under the Constitu-
ton and laws of this State during the time for which
he was elected Governor
After being discussed, this amendment
was laid upon the table almost mani
mously (wonder how our friend voted p
and the original proposition was adopted
The question of making the Governor
ineligible to the office of Senator, or any
other Federal Office, was presented d-
rectly to the convention aud voted
down.
inf in his nfa
ries on the constitution, further annoints
the eyes of our State Senator, with
the following salve, which we trust VII
be beneficial to his vision and allay his
State constitutional fever:
"Now it may properly be asked, where did the
States get the power to appoint representatives in
the National Government? Was it a power that
listed at all before the Constitution adopted? If
derived from the Constitution it not be derived
exactly under the qualifications established by the
Constitution, and others /? II the Constitution
has delegated no power to add new qualifications
how they claim any such power by the
adoption of that instrument which they did pos
sess before
+" The truth is that the State exercise no pow
ers whatever, which exclusively spring out of the
istence of the National Government, which the Con-
stituton does not delegate to them. They have just
as mnch right, and no more to prescribe qualif-
cations for representative, they have for FRESH
dent. Each is officer of the Union, deriving his
power and qualifications from the Constitution, and
neither created, dependent upon controlled by the
States.
/" 1t is original prerogative of State power, to
appoint Representative, Senator, President
for the Union. Those officers their existence AMI
functions to the united voice of the whole, of
portion Of the people Before State assert the
right it must show that the Constitution has delegated
and recognized it. No State say that it has
served what it never possessed
The Major says he has endeavored to
"treat the subject logically" Here is
a sample specimen:
"But whatever the convention may have .fn-
tended the Constitution actually DOES render
the Governor ineligible. The convention only
proposed the Constitution to the people 1t is
more question. what the people intended,
than what the convention intended. 1t was
the vote of the people that gave the Consttu-
ton vitality. 1t was they who really enacted
ii, and their intention can be ascertained only
from the Constitution itself-only from the le-
gitirnate meaning of the language of the Con-
Stitution.'
For the sake of the argument, let us
Constitution, in order to illustrate his
logical treatment, logically, of these two
patpable violations of the constitution of
the United States:
The convention only proposed the 18th
| Article to the people. 1t is more ques-
ton, what the people intended, than
| what the convention intended. It was
the vote Of the people that gave the 18th
Article vitality. It was they who really
| enacted it, and their Intention can be as
certained only from. the 18th Article
itself--only from The legitimate meaning
Of the language of the 18th Article
We have endeavored to follow the
Majors logic in spirit and in letter, and
when the fact stares the reader i'm the