Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1870-01-28
Term or General Assembly.


of Chief Justice PEARSON, in which Justice
DICK concurs, in regaed to the tenure-of-
Office of the members of the present Cen
eral Assembly. He bases his opinion that
there must be an election for members of
the Legislature upon substantially the
same grounds advanced by the JOURNAL in
the several articles which have appeared
in these columns, and justifes his action
in giving his opinion at the request of the
General Assembly upon the precedent set
in the action of the Supreme Court in the
contested election case of Berry and Wad-
dell, in 1949, to which We referred and
from which we quoted.
We suppose if there was one sensible
man in the State who honestly believed
that under the Constitution the members
of the present General Assembly contin-
ued in office until 1872, this very clear ar
gument of Judge PEARSON would satisfy
him of his error. In looking calmly and
dispassionately at the two clauses of the
Constitution which relate TO the tenure of
office of the members Of the first Legisla-
ture elected Hereunder, and see how re-
pugnaut they are to each other, it does
seem that either Judge Tourgee says truly
in declaring that one was so worded pnr-
posely to permit the members to hold over
by q nicely constructed fraud, by a collu-
sion between himself, Sweet and Heaton.
or that he did it himself without confer
ence With others. It does seem strange
that an article so ambiguous and unneces-
sary could have honestly OF accidentally
gotten into the Constitution.
We do not think the letters of Justices
READE, RoDMAN and SETTLE need to be
published. Judge READE argues to show
that the Constitution forbids him to an
swer the question propounded by the Gen.
eral Assembly under the general provision
that the Legislative, Executive and Jul
dicial departments of the Government
shall be forever separate and distinct"
Justice RoDMAN occupies substantially
the same ground. He regards the question
exclusively as a political one, and can never
be made directly or indirectly Legal
question, or a subject of judicial determi
nation. He attempts to please both wings
of his party by telling one that if they edo
hold over, and continue to sit and enact
laws, being de factO, in possession of the
legislative power, and recognized by the
Executive department of the government
[ know not by what authority the Courts
could refuse to obey your statutes" arc
we suppose If this same body should de-
eide to hold over for twenty years, and
should retain Justice RoDMAN in Office and
pay his salary promptly, he could no
possibly see how the Courts or the peopl
could rid themselves of the usurpers. III
J tickles the other by telling the members t.
pursue that course which they may thinl
the people intended when they wer
elected, and that they ought to give tn
} people the benefit of any doubt they ma
have on the subject.
: We have previously thought that Jus
tices RoDMAN and READE do not feel pei
J fectly secure OF their position in the Rad
, cal party. We have too high an opinio
, of their legal abilities to suppose that th
l one could write and the other approve th
I silly trash contained in the Homestead IL
cision. had they not been forced to it b
{ the " unconscious bias OF pressing circun
stances" so facetiously intimated by til
: Chief Justice in his dissenting opinion
r We notice that some Judges grow ver
8 jealous of the dignity and independent
, of the Bench when the welfare of the
s party is involved, but rush into polite
under the excitements of " drums an
. flags when their party is to be benefited
Justice SETTLE does not say much, bl
then Justice SETTLE does not know mucl
1 He is personally interested and probabl
Q ought not to give an opinion. If Il
present Legislature holds over he expec
Senator ABBoTT's seat, and it is expectir
y too much even of such a patriot as JUST,
] SETTLE to furnish stick to break his ov
head. He curtly declines to give q
opinion.