Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-02-05

them out of Office. Under the Constitu-
ton of '34 it was two years before the
| judicial offices were vacated but they
| proposed to come forward and without
any appropriate legislation, Immediately
turn these men out of Office. He was
wiling to compromise on some decent
| time, say two years. Let the present in
cumbents hold Office up to that time.
Mr.. Carter wished to fix this precedent
that when a small minority, aided by the
bayonet, shall gain possession of the State
and enact bad laws, they should be re-
moved and their acts undone, when the
| people should come once more into power
Mr.. Fentress thought there was no
| good argument against turning cut the
present judiciary. That was one of the
things which they had been sent here to
to do. He thought that they could not
| please the people better than to be able to
| go home and tell their constituents that
they had made clean sweep of the men
who had been foisted upon them by a
miserable minority. He should vote with
great pleasure to remove the very last one
| of them. i
Mr.. Turner thought that at least four
| fifths of the Office holders in the State
were incompetent, and not only so, but
corrupt. Especially was this the case
with the judiciary. In the main the
| judiciary was very inefficient. There
were exceptions, but such men would
not be hurt, because they could be re-
elected. He was unwilling, by hasty ac-
| ton, to do what all might regret2 Were
they free yet; were they out of the woods
Before they pulled down the old house let
them ascertain if they had the material to
build new one. According to the argu-
ment of some, it was proposed TO bring on
an election at once for new officers. By
this unseemly haste they might cause all
their work to be rejected. Uuder the
Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitu-
ton, how many lawyers in the State were
there who could take the oath of office Z
The speaker here read section 8 of the
Fourteenth Amendment, as follows:
Sec. 8. No person shall be Senator or
Representative in Congress, or electOr of
President and President, or hold any
office, civil or military, under the United
States, or under any State, who, having
previously taken an oath, as a member Of
Congress, or as an officer of the United
States, or as a member of any State Leg
islature, or as an executive or judicial of
ficer of any State, to support the COnsti-
tuition of the United States, shall have
engaged in instruction or rebellion against
the same, or given aid or comfort to the
enemies thereof But Congress may, by
a vote of twO-thirds of each House, re-
move such disability.
lie would say, without the fear of con
tradiction, that in Middle or West Ten
ncssee there was hardly o lawyer who
was not obnoxious to this provision.
Now, what was propOsedl Turn all
these Judges out of Office and leave three
fourths of the best lawyers of the State in
bonds yet, and with their mouths gagged
by this amendment of the Constitution of
the United States In this state of things,
| if they turned out the present Judiciary,
they would be Obliged, through the dis
qualifications of their best men, to fOist
upon the people men of very questionable
ability. lie admitted all that had been
said about the present judiciary by those
who were in favor of turning them out.
He was in favor of holding on a while
and see if Congress would not pass gen
eral bill to remove the disabilities of those
who were now obnoxious to the -Four
| teenth Amendment.
Mr.. Stephens wanted to know if the re-
moyal of disabilities referred to was to
| turn out of office the friends of the Adj
minstration in Tennessee, how long he
thought it would be before these disabili-
ties would be removed.
Mr.. Turner thought that the present
Congress would remove most of the disa-
| bilities, but he would rather wait two or
| three years for the contamination
| Mr.. Baxter said he had been much sur
prised at the position taken by the Presi-
dent of the Convention, and by the gen
| tleman from Sumner. lie believed that
both admitted the charges of incOmpetency
and corruption. The gentleman here related
some laughable instances of fd1tCpGS made
by Judges now holding Office in Tennes-
see. He instanced the case of man who
was sent to the penitentiary for robbery,
because during the war he was with a
party of men who had captured Union
soldier, disarmed him, and sent him to the
rear as prisoner of war. The speaker
| proceeded to argue that the Supreme
| Court Judges held their offices against the
will of the people, and not legally. These
| Judges knew that the people desired to
get rid of them. lie did think that man
of honor, under these circumstances,
would make his bow and retire.
/ Tho opoaEor hara pntprpI into pointg OF
law to show that the Supreme Judges
held their offices illegally. But the Presi-
| dent of the Convention was willing to
compromise on two years and put them
| out after the lapse of this time. Where
was the difference in this precedent il
| the Judges were turned out of office now
| or in six months. But some might be in
| f1uenced by the remarks of the gentle
man from Sumner (Mr. Turner,
in regard to the disabilities inn
posed by the Fourteenth Amend
ment. But there were many men
| who were not obnoxious to this
| amendment, andhe was not willingtO wait
for the removal or disabilities before get
| ting rid of these obnoxious Judges. II
there was any question upon which the
| popular mind was made up it was in the
| Reorganization of the Judiciary.
| Mr.. Burton, Chairman of the commit
tee appointed to wait on Mrs. President
1 Polk and find out when itSwOuld be con-
| venient for her to receive visit from the
Convention, reported that she had speci
fled tomorrow afternoon.
The Convention then adjourned.