Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1867-06-08

OF tncSc clauses, we una III eacn Oh tncSc
States host of officers whose status is in some
way to be determined. 1t is impossible here
to proceed by way of enumeration, and to dis
tinguisl by name all those who arc included
aud all those who are excluded All that can
DO doue iy the re-establishing Of some fixed
rule. l feel under the necessity of circum-
| spcction here in saying who are included with
in the disfranchisemepS, rrtshcr than in saying
who are not included for where there is
! 1v~ht, according to tho rule of construction
Whlch has been referred to- that doubt must
De BufvcstTiv si,sr Kan AGAINST the
right of tile voter. The cxclusici is all .Gonl-
prehensivc as to time, and applies not only to
those who were in office when the rebellion
commenced, but to those who held the pro
llibtcd Offices at any time previous, although
they may have ceased to hold such Office an
indefinite number of years prior to the rebel
lion. IL is founded on the idea OF breach
of official trust due to the State as the author
or donor of the trust 1t is founded on the
idea of breach Of trust, not arising merely
from allegiance as citizen but from duty to
the State in direct official relation to that
State, and through that to 5i,e Federal Gov
| crnmcnt. So far as this Act ciesi ehatcs by
name the persons who violate such trust, it
| is to that class to whose Keeping tire trust is
especially couiided-- Shat is to say, the per-
sons who were clothed with the Legislative
power. Whereas, in this instance, there is
purpose OF exclusion ca a common ground,
and one class is designated as coming within
the purpose, and other classes arc left ndcf-
mite, and only to be asccrtaipcd by construc-
ton 1t is allowable to find the indefinite
class by tho rule of assimilation We SEQ,
then, in this law, purpose of exclusion as
to the three great departments of State
legislative, judicial and executive. We see,
further, shas as to the legislative department,
made up Of a Legislative body composed of
members and various officers appcrtaning to
such body as a legislature the exclusion is
only of the higher functionarcs of that body
the mcmbcrs-and is not carried to it's sub.
ordinate officers. The terms Of exclusion are,
not the members and officers of a State
LEGISLATURE" but s;.uply the members of
STATE Legislatures" KS therefore. the exclu
sicn in tho Legislative department. hao eHoo,
only on the highest class in that department,
it is safe to shy that the same policy Of eSclu-
sion attaches rather TO such officers that oXer-
else functions of important trust ia the exc
cutive and judicial departments than, to, these
whose functions and duties are merely iimitcd
and subordinate. have already called at
tcntion to the prehensivcncss OF these cX-
clusio.s as to time. Now to declare them
equally comprehensive a3. to persons, and to
say that they embrace ali officers, large and
small, coming within the DESCRIPTION Of exc
cutive or judicial officers. who have at any
time during their lives held any one If. these
Offices, would have this inevitable result, that
in the formation or constitution for State
by the agency of its own people, {. large pro
portion, perhaps majority of the most intel
ligcnt and capable of the people would be ccx-
cudcd. There is no part Of my duty IL at
tempting to give construction to these laws
in which find myself involved in such pain
full uncertainty as in Determining what Off
GERS outside of the classes designated come
within the just range Of exclusion. | have
who come clearly~ the terms Of the Act
as judicial and executive ot'ccrs, and to those
classes which comprehend militia officers
and municipal officers, who clearly do MT
come within the terms of the Act, there re.
mains vast body of officers whose status is
lin some way to be defined. These arc known
in popular language by such terms of dcscrip-
ton as County, township and precinct Off
GERS" Their name is legion. Their func-
tions and duties are for Che most pnrt strictly
local Somo Of them, such as shcriffs and
justices Of tho County courts, have jurisdic-
ton ovor tho entire County others are ro-
strictcd to the smallest civil subdivisions
| Eave directed abstracts to be prepared for
each Of these States, which Will exhibit all
those Offices and the duties which appcrsain
to them, and the form Of oath required. I
must reserve for future consideration, afDer shc
abstracts are made, the question, whether all
of them, or, If not all, what classes of sEcsc
officers, CONC within the disqualification p
AS to- All other executive or judicial officers
who arc not, in popular language, character.
lied as County officers, incline to consider
them az coninc under tac description of OK
ccutivc aud judicial officers of State, with.
in the meaning Of thcse laws. | deem it
proper here, in rcfeycnee 20 that class of Off.
GERS, judicial or executive, who are, b. the
rule ] have laid down. brought within the op-
erations of disfmnchiscmcnt, to distinguish a
class, whose duties arc not localized, who stand
in direct relation to the State, and who, in
my opinion, cannot properly be designated as
executive or judicial officers of the State. I
mean that class of persons wlo exercise spec
ial public duties rather IN the nature OF occa-
sionaf enployments than general and continu.
ing official duty. This distinction between
office and employment, and between an officer
of a State and an agent of State, is we'll cs.
tablishcd. Chief Justice Tilghmap, in 3
/ Serge and Rawlc 1I0, recognizes it ia the case