The new daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1872-1873, 1873-01-05
The WHITE TINE SENATORSHIP.

LEGISLATURE of Nevada as that which
is involved in the disputed right to
the representation of White Pine
county in the State Senate. Indeed
there has never been any case of con-
test over a seat in either branch of
the Legislature; for the differences
and disputed points which have here
tofore arisen have either been com
promised beforehand, as in the case
Of Doron and Ives, relative to the
short term Senatorship from Esmer-
aida county; or ignored as in the
case of Hazard, the Senator who was
admitted to his seat Notwithstanding
the doubt which arose in view of the
fact that his admission made an ex-
cess of one over the constitutional
| one half of the number of members
of the Assembly. But the case in
hand cannot be, or, at least, ought
not to be compromised, nor should
the rights of the claimants to the
disputed seats be ignored. Every
body knows the status of the matter:
under the provisions OF the act Great
ing White Pine county and provid-
ing for its representation in the
Legislature, there was an omission
made with regard to the long and
the short term of the Senators who
should be elected in accordance with
the said act; and now the GuestioA
comes to be decided as to whether
the two men who hold over from the
session of 1901 be allowed to re
tain their seats. or be constrained to
make way for one or both the Sena
tors elect Cleveland and Mills, the
technical hold overs, deny the right
of any person to the places which
they have held in the Senate: and
Allen and Wagner, the Senators
elect, come to demand that tiey be
admitted to the said seats. This is a
statement of the matter in the rough;
more definite statement places it III
this light: That it is held, with much
show of reason, that the constitutions
al and customary rights of the White
Pine constituency cannot be waived
or set aside by any omission Of, or
defect in. the law by which the said
county was made; that among those
rights is the right to new represen-
tative in the Senate every two years:
that the very nature of the Senatorial
branch of the Legislature makes it
imperative that the system of long
and short terms should be maintain
ed: and that in compliance with this
well established theory, either both
the old Senators should give way to
the long and short term Senators
elect, or that the two who now claim
to be the Senators from White Pine
should draw lots to decide which one
of themselves shall be considered the
holdover, and which the politically
defunct, short term man. There
seems to be some doubt as to whether
the two original Senators should be
ousted from their seats to make way
for Allen and Wagner; but we can
not soc by what course of reasoning
it could be maintained that the coun
tv of White Pine should be denied
participation in the alternating sys
tenn which is as much a part of the
structure of the Senate as the organ
ization of that body itself. That is
to say, we cannot understand how
the demand can be denied when the
county of White Pine comes to the
Senate, presenting person duly
elected to fill the vacancy which she
claims by law to exist and asking
that he he admitted as her long term
Senator. We will be consistent in
stating this phase of the case, even
though it involves an argument IA
voring a Democrat at the expense of |
a Republican. As we understand it,
Wagner, the Democrat elect, was
chosen for the long term; aud Allen,
Republican, for the short term; and
if this be true, then it would seem to
follow that in the event Of the Sen
ate's disposing of this matter by the
adoption of a resolution directing
Mills and Cleveland to draw cuts to
decide which of themselves should
hold over and which drops out,
Wagner would be entitled to occupy
the seat thus held vacant. And so,
to our mind the matter stands. We
cannot avoid the conclusion that
these original White Pine Senators