The weekly standard., 1869-10-06

7gIT-7 J Il7TTT T5T717i yIE m
This il Court week, Jndge Tourges tre-n
siding. = am informed that q Lady from,
New Orleans, Ia, who lost her foot during
1 the war BY an accident On the Richmond 6
| Dahvilie H(Slsoad, sued the Raih6aa' iCSm- o
/ pany, and fot verdict at Ghilford Court
ibE ter tl.aqsandl h dollars An appeala yas
% bus RocKfNaAtAMs:1tH
RoekingAdm county, Sept. g5thd5 1sBesW
,s4<<e- cd :. -.----!.--. -; ani1Iiig 81
bad stlsiEgq sza6s aaFor tke istandafd!A
An Inquiry int61the lenethpflthe terms
Of Office ofithe Members of the pre- nd
n sent GeneSal Assembly. lane i,yi
t NH EnrroR :,rIhea public, will pardon
| me for brpaehipg {, question, that is destined
P soon to occupy a large share Of its attention;
| and although I can bring nothing new TO-
z wards its; solution, yet aareview of the acon-5
I stitutional provisions, bearing upon the sub
! jects cannot fail to be interesting, propose
terms of Sfiae IL Fl t5s %eIbsfsa tEs 4 pftssatl ii l
General,Assemblyi; and, bef0fe I proceed, IL
quote these sections Oof. the Constitution
which are most important,4yo non ,l,n9rjf,
I ssa, "a, rIEeKLATIyE, ARTICLE. reds .V
7 Sec. g. 4 The Senate shall be composed Of
| fifty Senators, 'biennially chosen by ballot.
Sec" 3. The Fl ouse Of Representatives
( shall be composed of one hundred and
| twenty Representatives,, biennially chosen by
ballot &e.dt Uoad esrr .,nisrt y-sys 70,
I Sec ~, The terms, of Office of Senators
| and members Of the House Of Representatives
shall commence at the time Of their election;
.sahdthe, term of Office of those, elected at the
| first election under this Constitution shall
terminate at the same time as if they had
been elected at the first ensuing regular
lIeleetionN ~ saas sleTlH nd - iSi8 !
? Sec. 29.i The election for, members of the
General Assembly shall be held for their re-
spective districts. and counties, at the places
| where they are now held, or may be directed
ITO be held, in such manner as may be pre-,
| scribed by law, on the first Thursday in
August, in the year one thousand eight hum
Idred and seventy, and every two years there
after But the General Assembly may change
the time of holding the elections The first
4 election shall be held when the vote shal be
taken on the fatifcation of this Constitution
by the voters of the State, iand the General
! Assembly then elected shall meet on the fif-.
] teenth day after the approval thereof by the
| Congress of the United States, if it fall not
on Sunday, but if it shall so fall, then on the
next day thereafter and the members then
elected shall hold their, seats until their sue 2
! cessors are elected at regular election.
ii From these sections, which contain the
I gist Of The matter, extract the following
| meaning iiss5Iqmi lstag5g 3tl 9d o. tu-2e d.
The Constitution, providing in Sec. Q of
the. Legislative article, that the General As
bsembiy shall meet annually on the third
1 Monday III November, ,prescribes in general
! tliataits members shah be chosen fby ballot
onceiin every two years rinfthe first Thurs
day in August or such other time as may be
appointed by law: and that the terms, of
4 Office of the members Of the Legislature shall
commence iats theitiHei Of their election
| But the AOonstitution also, respectfully provid-
ed that. the first election held under it for
I Legislators, should be held on the day when
/ itwas submitted for ratification: that the
General Assembly then elected should meet
fifteen ,dsyssafter its approval by Congress-:
| and that after so assembling, the term of
time. as if they had been elected at the first
A
/ should hold slr seats until their successors
| were chosen at regular election. u737ep sdi
F. 1t is plain that the special provisions of
| the Constitution above eleminated apply on
| lylto the present General Assembly, while it
is equally plain that therein the length of
! the term of office Of its members is set
4 forth. If then the term of their Office shall
expire OF the same time, as jfithey had iheen
helected at the first ensuing regular election,
and they shalbholdI their seats until their
| successors are chosen at regular election,
I the questionlnaturally arises what is a regu-
lar election within the meaning of the Com
! stitution g., Ipresume that no lonewill deny
that if once in every two years an election
| is to be had, occurring upon some day fixed
by law, that it is therregular election con-
templatef IN the Constitution If this then
is settled. tits not proper to inquire at what
date do theregnlar elections begin, andwhat
is the meaning of the Constitutional term !.
f"The first ensuing regular eiectionY"
Pc The Constitution, ,preseribes that the elcc
tion for members of the General Assembly
shall be held on the 1st Thursday in 1870,
and every two wears thereafter The fact
that every two, years after August, 1870,
such elections are to be had, sustains the
j the position already assumed that these are
the regular elections contemplated in tire
\ Constituiiong and it alsn gives the starting
| point for them7-a point which being once
given is necessarily OF the entire number
II the first Of the regular elections, and in fol
lowing The adoption qof the Constitution,
not only the first, but the first ensuing regu.
| lar election, which is, as has been shown,
f..kl n h., l,,l Ev,% ,1orx
q August, 1870.
EAKe It then that ''the first ensuing regu-
larfaeetion'' means the election of August,
| 1S70.saIf this belsoy the1 solution of the
question is easy, for find that section 81
saws Hthe terms Of office of those elected at
the fist election under this Constitution,
sha aIl terminate as ifsthey had been elected,
at the first ensuing election,'' and further
that the concluding clause of section 30
g reads, "fhat the members elected q. e., at
the first election) shall hold their seats until
their successors are elected at regular elec-
tiah.nd Therefore, if the members of the
present General Assemblyhad been elected
at the first ensuing regular election, which
lis contemplated to be had on the first
II Thursday in August 1870, their term Of
office would expire on the 1st Thurs
= day of August, 1872, when their successors
u would be chosen at q regular election; and
L this is the term Of Office oil" the presen
members, until the first Thursday in Angus
1S72.as Of tsDi r9rp fgtii difrii 1ti ii5t 81 Z
1'm Having arrived at this conclusion, it ma,
/ Be well to remark that this close construc
tion in no way idisturbs the harmony of tht
reghlaf elections It were aslifi the iLegis
/ latire now inl being, instead of dying on tn
/ first Thursday ,9f, August next, received ney
! life from the provisions of the Fundamental
, lawL atid moved on for two years longer il
J full strength and vigor. Then, its caree
being terminated, o regular election is ihel,
and q, second General Assembly called int
: being in due time and in regular order.
Il However, if it be objected shat for a n
/ dreSs of gsiefances, and for amending an
strengthening the laws, elections shoul
be bften held,2 1 answer, that the twent
Thousand majority which carried that sectio
n of the Bill of Rights confirmed the whol
instrument, and that it is but poor metho
A Of strengthening the laws by ymisinterprctin
thee Constitution, and counselling the abridg
Hie3t Of the rights of the law-making powt
l. Of The Government itself. 'A" ,
:, l9a.AndlifI it Jbeicfdrther objected, that II
!, | construction herein given is new and une.
pected by the people, I answer that it is NJ
! new, but as old as the Constitution itsel
and that if any portion of the people r
r nained uninforrhed concerning it during tt
i canvass, 1t was because those who atldresst
J ! theh-E -Estrainedn at a 1gnat and dlswallowed
g caAelsn and byi attempting toirouse the
8 pfeIudices against the poor negro, to ,purs
q otiIelscriptual smile still further, ''neglect'
$ theIweightfer matters Of the law" F'1.' y
II &fT5 tsgL .i508el.G sSPARTACUS.