New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1868-12-07
JUDGE LBAUMoNT,s DECISION,

| Ou6 IT'S QuJeOI fSAo WV NstNN SfN''
or cited single authority.
1t is not our purpose to review this
Judgment at length. Divested OF its special
lpleadings, the case presents but one CUES
ton: Does the act known rs the Metro
politan Police Bill contravene any provi
sion of the Constitution of 1868? Judge
beaumont has examined it and says: 1.-The
issue is made and should and must and
shall be decidedw at is unconstitutional,
wholly and thoroughly so, in its sections
and in its entirety"
After SO brave and SO positive an assev-
GRAFTON one might expect vast amount OF
legal acumen; that the subject was to be
examined in the light of Judicial determine
ton, but he would be disappointed.
Judge beaumont says: at violates arti-
Giles AZ, ia and III Of our Constitution"
Article III Is the one under which the OBJ
lection is made that Lieutenant Governor
Dunn can not act as President of the Board.
If the Court is right in this it but annuls
that section of the bill which authorizes Mr..
Dunn to perform such additional duties.
The law otherwise remains in full force.
Article forty-two reads: "No bill shall
have the force of law until on three several
days it be read in each House of the Cen
eral Assembly and free discussion allowed
thereon, unless four-ffths Of the House
when the bill is pending may deem it ex-
pedient to dispense with this rule" Judge
beaumont understands that the four-ftths
| vote spoken of in this article means four
ffths Of all of the members elected to the
House. But as an instance Of remarkable
clearuess in judicial composition, and as
fair example of the elegant diction of the
learned Judge, we can not refrain from
publishing his reasons upon this point in
full:
Four-flths of the House! Do you see
the point? The House, under article
twenty-five of our Constitution, is COM
posed of one hundred and one members,
four-ffths of one hundred and one ID eighty |
and four-ffths; but an eighty and four-fIths |
vote is impossible, therefore eighty-one |
votes is the four-ffths of the House. think
there can be no doubt as to my numerical
Interpretation of the words four-6tths of
the House If there should be, then, to
show that the court is correct, l would
refer to article thirty-three of the Constitu-
ton, which says: Not less than a majority |,
of the members of each House shall form
q quorum to transact business" Now, a
majority of one hundred and one is fifty
one. Whenever, from the journals Of the
House, it appears that at any session Of
the House fifty-one members of the House
were not present, there was no quorum;
and either absent members were sent for
to complete the quorum or the House ad-
journed; therefore in pdri nldterid the same
language, the same words. | say that four
ftths OF the House composed of one hun
bred and one members are eighty one
members, just as majority Of the House
composed of one hundred and one men,
bers is ffty-one members. So much for
that part of the argument.
Do we see the point? We confess that
our mind is not sufficiently obtuse. But
seriously The technical expression the
House" is interpreted to mean quorum OF
the members elected to legislative body
present to do business. When the total
number elected is taken into consideration
rs when a quorum is to be determined, the
language, as in the article thirty-three
lbove cited, is majority, or two-thirds
,r four-fttbs of The members Of each House.
10 reason after the style of the above ex-
ract: If the House of Representatives be
of 101 members, and it requires
'ighty-one votes to make fOur-ffths of the
House, then there must be 10l votes pres
mt to constitute the House, for If eighty
me are four-fifths, not less than 101 will be
lve-fifths or the whole House! This same {
'rtcle forty-two provides that no bill shall
ave the force of law unless it shall have
'een read to each House, etc. The bill is
lot to be read to quorum present, but to
be House. But Judge beaumont declares
hat the House is composed of l0l
MEMBERS. If one member be alb
emit, therefore it is not o
louise, and the remaining members
an not presume to hear the bill read or
ct upon it. And SO, in all probability,
very law which these various legislatures
+ our State have attempted to pass are
Illegal" as worthy citizen would say.
We have thus absurdly followed this
easoning after the style of the learned
Judge, only to show the absurdity of his /
rgument. We fortify our opinion differ '
ntly. A If
A like provision to this in article forty |
wo is to be found in the several constitu-
ions of Louisiana. By referring to the
ules adopted by the several Legislatures
will be observed that they have invaria- I
'ly provided that when the rule is to be
uspended that bill may pass to second !
n third reading that 1t should be i
y vote Of four-tifths of tbe members present. q
The question has never been presented to a I {
.ourt, so far as we know. We never heard .
# any ones doubling the Interpretation i
'laced upon it by our Legislatures, in a
which our most eminent lawyers have sat,
before the present instance.
Section seven, article one, Of the Consti- :
ution Of the United States provides that if E
he President return bill to Congress 2
Without his approval, each House shall
eeonsider its vote, and Il taoo-hirds ofl (
dcls House shall agree to pass the bill it Z
hall become Law. It has been invarl- Q
bly, held by Congress that two-thirds Of a