New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1872-12-26
Arkans
. ,.r., Review Of the situation.


create q disturbance, and are looking to a
s,c;ble Inauguration of Joseph Brooks as
gs.reruor. And particularly for the consid-
vstion Of those well-meaning people, who,
an, their natural and very eXcusable igno-
are of the laws governing the case, are
1Issly to be led astray by the suppression of
i.rbs. and suggestions of untruths by the
ss;ndle organ and its coadjutors. Many
.sons. by reason of the untrue and de!u-
re statements of wrongs, which they imag-
"a have been inflicted upon them, might be,
-,b good motives induced to compromise
,ssmselves by some connection with such
evolutionary movements as are suggested
tho .Jonrary. who would not do so were
Ssv aware of the laws governing the case,
I'd the terrible consequences to ensuc there
srs. The Brooks men contend that he is
..Isrtcd bv upward OF 1000 majority. The
BAXTER men say he is elected by upward of
.all, The Brooks men propose to install
.ss;r leader in any event. The Baxter men
'-onose to inaugurate whoever shall be de-
tsred elected BY the proper legal authorities
srthorizcd by law so to declare. Let us see
that will be the condition OF things upon
rhjch any proposed contest or disturbance
an arise. Upon the assembling of the Le-
stature at the day fixed by law for the meet
.C.thereof, who claim to be elected as men,
bers of the respective houses, will appear in
he chambers allotted to them at the State
house.
pcomplance with law, (Acts 1865, p. SIC, }
shy before each house list Of the members
s,cted acreeably to the returns in his Of
Title persons whose r,ar,es are upon
,hese lists compose the only constitutional
md legal legislature Of the State as pro-
rided for by the constitution and laws. Any
rerson attempting to impede or Obstruct
,heir organization, Or interfere with them in
he discharge Of their duties, will be reyolu-
,;onjsts or breakers of the peace, as the case
nav be, and will be properly treated rs SUCH
The General Assembly thus organized are by
the constitution empowered to judge of the
election and qualifications OF their own men,
hers. lThe large majority on these lists will
undoubtedly be of the ministerial party.l
The prcsiiing officer Of the Senate, as above
composed and ascertained, will, as provided
Nv the constitution, (article G, section 49,
.during the first weeks of the session, open
md publish the returns of election for Gov
srnar and other State officers in presence Of
the members tAen assembled. The person hav-
inc the highest number Of votes shall be de-
dared elected" The highest number of
what votes? Why, Of course, the highest
number OF votes so then and there opened
and published. There can be no doubt (and
We understand the Journal so to admit) that
Baxter will have the highest number of votes
80 opened and published, and will be declared
elected Governor. No special ceremonies
are legally required to inauguratc a Gov
e.nor. All that will then be legally required
toconstitute him Governor will be to take the
oath Of Office, when he will become the con-
stitutioEal and legal Governor Of Arkansas,
Y Ill IL
ers CT the State, authorized to call cut the
militia and suspend the wit of habeas corpus.
Now, Baxter being thus installed in Office,
suppose Brooks desires TO contest his cleo
ton, how must he proceed legally to do so?
There can be no contest until there is some
one filing the contested place, whose right is
Disputed.
In turning to the cons,itui ion we find in
article six, section nineteen, the following:
Contested elections shall likewise be de-
termined by both Houses of TIE General As
sembly, in such manner as is or may hereaf-
ter be determined by law" Now. in turning
to the statutes we find provisions for contest
ing the election Of Governor, on page 479 Of
Gould's Digest, sections loo, lei, l02, 1G3,
To-, and los, which is the only provision of
existing laws On tina. subject, which is as fol-
lows: All contested elections of Governor,
except as herein provided, shall be decided by
the joint vote of both houses of the General
Assembly," The statute proceeds to point
out the manner Of proceeding, substantially
as follows: The contestant shall apply to the
General Assembly by petition, setting forth
the points Of contest and facts he will prove
IN support of them, and pray for leave to in
troduce his proof, and vote shall be taken
in each house on the prayer Of such petition !:
that is, On the question whether he shall
have leave to introduce his proofs; and if a
majority ct both houses are in favor of the
petition, they then appoint committee to in
yestigate and report the facts to the t,co houses,
and by joint resolution appoint day for the
meeting Of the two houses to decide upon the
matter contained in said report, on which de-
cision the yeas and nays shall be called and
entered On the journal CT each house.
Now, we have shown how the Governor is
to be legally installed and declared elected,
and how the Office is to be legally contested
for. Let US now see what will be the legal
and natural consequences to arise from any
forcible means to install Brooks, as advo-
Gated by the Journci. To premise: Hadley
is Governor until Baxter takes the oath Of
office as above shown, when he becomes the
legal Governor, until legally otherwise de-
elared.
BY article G, section 4, Of the constitution,
"the Governor shall be commander-in-chief
Of the military and naval forces of the State,
and may call out such forces to execute the
laws, suppress instruction, repel invasions,
aor preserve the public peace" Article G,
section 5: SIT shall be the duty Of the Gov
ernor to see that the laws are faithfully exc
cuted." And by the acts of 1868, p. 49,,
section l3: SIN time Of war, rebellion, insur-
riection, invasion, resistance Of civil process,
breach Of peace, or imminent danger thereof,
the Governor shall have full power to order
INTO active service the military force Of this
state" Now, in case any attempt should
be made forcibly to prevent the organization
Or interfere with the action Of the Lcgisla-
.ure, as above pointed out, or to thrust into
Inc Office Of Governor any person not enti-
Tied thereto by reason Of the laws and in
pursuance Of their provisions as before re-
cited, it would clearly be a violation Of law,
resistance Of civil process, an Instruction
airy and rebclious proceeding, and nccessa-
MY accompanied by breach Of the peace
an OF which 1t would be the sworn duty of
inc Governor to put down, suppress, and
control by the executive powers OF the State
IN him vested, under the provisions of the
constitution and laws Just quoted, by sus-
pending the writ Of habecs corpus and calling
out the militia to assist him.
And should he be unable, by any Of the
"a - 49,