The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1869-06-26

Congress for It's approval.

Congress for its approval.
BY the Act "tO adm thcrStates of Nortl
Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, &c,
passed Jane 2Jth, 1865, Congress provided
for the admission of Louisiana to rcp1 csen
tation, and con1itonally ratified ser Con
stitntion. Acts.R 49, The State, by its
Legislature, waS required to ratit1 the
fourteenth amendment, as a condition pre-
celcnt, and thcrcupon the officers elected
and qualified, were to be inangnratcd; but
Section Sd, proceeds, "no person prohibit
cd from :.oldng office under the United
States, by section three of the AropoScd
amonNncnt 50 the Constitution of the
! United States known As article fourteenth,
shall be deemed eligible to any office in
either of said States, unless relieved from
disability a2proviled in said amendment"
viz: by vote Of tN o-thirdS Of each branch
of Congress. =
In order to carry out the provisions Of
this act, and to enable the State to adopt
the conditions imposed, the Governor and
Lieut.. Governor elected under the Con>ti-
tltion of 1S6S, were installed in office hv
the Military Commander of the District
The Legislature was convened and on the
9th Of July 1868, ratiiicl 'hc proposed
amendment known as article fourteen of
the Constitution Of the United States.
Then for the first time, under the recon-
struction laws, Louisiana became State,
entitled to representation in the national
Congress. From that time. the ConstItu-
ton of 1868 became operative. as amended
by Congress. The clause above quoted, in
reference to the eligibility Of officers, un-
der the third SECTION of the fourteenth
amendment, became virtually part Of the
Constitution, as binding as any other of its
provisions. The third section Of the
fourteenth amendment, thus became a part
of the State Constitution, before itS final rati-
fication by thcrcquisitc number of States, and
fell within the scope ofStatc legislation. 1t
dciGiaed the eligibility Of officers under the
State Cons: :itution, devolving upon the
Legislature the duty of defining the man
ncr in which this eligibility should be as
certaincl and Determined.
The Legislature by Net 10 80, Acts Ct
1868, p 46) provided in order to ascertain
and test tie eligibility of persons elected or
appointed to Office, that the evidence OF
the fact steAIl consist in their affidavits,
according to the third section Of the Act.
In the case Of officers elected and commits
stoned before the passage Of the Act, sec
seven requires that the OATH shall be filed
''in the Office Of til, Secretary of State
within thirty days after the promn! CATION
of the Act, and in the event of their failing
to do so, the Governor sh@ll declare such
persons ineligible to Office, and their Offices
vacant, and tie offices shall De filled as
prescribed by the Constitution and laws Of
the State"
The Constitution, which creates the
Office of Sheriff, makes no provision for
vacancy in that office. Article
120 however gives the Legislature the au-
thority to "determine the mode Of filling
vacancies in all offices for which provision
is not made in the Constitution" Acting
under this authority, the Legislature, Acts
of 1868 p o. provided
"That whenever vacancy occurs IN
any office, State, parish, or municipal, IN
this State, now existing, or which may
hereafter be created, from death, reslgna-
ton. or from any other cause whaterer, the
mode of filling which is not provided for
in the Constitution, all such vacancies shall
be filed if they be State or parish oflces,
by appointment by the Governor with the
advice and consent of the Senate, which
appointment shall be for the entire unex-
pired term of such vacant office. 1T the
Senate be not in session at the time. tnc
appointment is made, t, VACANCY Shall be
filled by appointment by the Governor,
which appointment shall expire on the
third Monday after the meeting of the next
session of the General Assembly thereafter
&C."
The Governor, was therefore, the only
person authorised to fill the vacancies con-
templated by the above Act No. SO.
1t is contended that this law is unconstl-
tutional, and that the Legislature has
transcended its authority. The Legislature
of the State, unlike Congress, which can do
nothing that the federal Constitution does
not authorise, may do everything that the
State Constitution does not prohibit. @
Rob. All; II An. 33s; - An. 169) In
legislating upon this subject, the Legisla-
ture is not prohibited by the State Consti-
tuition, for that instrument as amended by
Congress, creates the disability provided in
the third section. The Legislature, by Act
No. SO, has not created disability in any
officer; but has only defined the evidence
necessary to ascertain the existence or non
existence of disability created by the