Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-09-11

FentreSs, Morgan, Scott, and Cum.
berland, one additional member In
the House of Representatives"
We have here the authority Of the
"official report of the proceedings u
of the Convention for the statement
that 1t was the purpose Of that body
to increase the number of members OF
the House of Representatives to
eighty, but the official report does not
show how this WAS to be done. An
other report which does not profess to
be official does though, and from 1t
we copy as follOYsi
"Mf. Maynard, of Knox, asked
general consent TO introduce sub5ti-
tute for the motion before the Conven-
ton.
1.-THE chair decided the motion out
of order, unless the amendment
adopted last evening should be recon-
sidered.
" a motion to reconsider prevailed,
and Mr.. Maynard introduced his sub
stitute as follows:
"' Provided, That said appointment
be so modified as to give TO the cOun-
| ties of Johnson and Carter, and Camp
bell and Anderson, and Union, and
| Sewer, and Macon, and Feutress, each
one member in the House of Repre-
sentatives, and that Macon shall be
entitled to the member therein pro-
vided for the counties of Macon, Sum-
ner and Smith"
"Capt. Garrett, of OvertOn, offered
an amendment that the counties of
| Morgan, Fentress, Scott and Cumber-
land be entitled to another Represen-
tative.
"a gentleman offered another
amendment proposing Representa-
tive from Hancock county.
1.-The amendments to the amend
ment were then adopted, and then
Mr.. Maynard's amendment as amend
ed was adopted"
Mr.. Maynard's amendment, which
was amended and adopted, was sub
sequently changed In its phraseOlogy
so as to read as given In the official re-
port. We now see how it was pro-
posed to increase the House of Repre-
sentatives TO eighty members. Carter
and johnson were to have each one,
instead of one jointly; Campbell and
Anderson were each one, instead of
one Jointly; and Union, Sewer and
we have the increase of members,
making the whole number of the
House eighty" as set forth in the
official report of the proceeding"
of the Convention, for Macon was to
have the member to which the
counties of Macon, Sumner andSmith
are entitled under the apportiOnment
act of February l9, 1852. Subsequently,,
Mr.. Maypard's amendment was so
modified as to give the member he
proposed for Fentress, to the district
composed of the counties of Morgan,
Fentress, Scott and Cumberland. His
amendment was further amended so
as to give a Representative to Han
cock. The purpose of Mr.. Maynard's
amendment was to create five addi-
tional members of the House of Rep
resentatives, as is clearly shown by
the "ofhcial report OF the pro-
ceedings" of the Convention, and
1t is stated there as having that effect,
How that amendment got into the
shape In which 1t appears In the
" official report" is not shown in any
OF the reports OF the proceedings Of
the Convention. Even if we accept
the eighth section of the schedule, as
law, there have been two, If not four
bogus members in the House of Rep
resentative5 since the reorganization
of the State government. The "offi.
cial report of the proceedings " of the
Convention states distinctly that after
the eighth section of the schedule had
been adopted, il was recOnsidered "in
order TO add members from certain
counties, mot now allowed q full
representation, making the whole
number of the House eighty" This
clearly indicates the presence In the
House of Representatives of four Bo-
gus members. But take the prOVisO
as printed in the :" official report F" and
in the acts of 1865, in connection with
the proceedings of the Convention,
and Ii is clear that there have been
two bogus members in the House Of
Representatives The proof Is very
clear as to the extent and intention Of
the modification of the apportion-
ment act Of February l9. 1852, so far
as relates to the counties of johnson,
Carter, Campbell and Anderson. They
were each to send ona member lin all,
four) to the House of Representatives
instead of which they have each sent
one, and johnson and Carter jointly
one, and Campbell and Anderson joint
ly one, making six, instead of four
which the " official report OF the pro.
ceedings" of the Convention shows
they were only to have. But the
whole eighth section of the schedule
was temporary affair, as is clearly
shown by the fact that no effort was
ever made to elect members of the
Legislature by a general ticket"
after the election of March 1, 1865. TIE
first vacancy that occurred in the first
Legislature under the reorganized
government was filed by an election
by the qualified voters of the county
or district. The bogus members were
only tolerated because they belonged
to the party in power. 1t is a fraud
upon the State which can be Justified
upon no other grounds than that of
party expediency, and werepeat what
we have heretofore said, that we
greatly mistake the character Of the
new Legislature if this fraud shall be
permitted to disgrace the legislative
department of the State,