The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1873-10-02

stitution was ratified, were not also elect(
TO the same fragmentary terms and TO ia
terms respectively, next succeeding the te
} mination OF said fragmentary terms.
And here l submit that the even sta
which the State officers and Legi>latu
had taken at the date of the first electio
with the congressman elected at the sam
time in CONNECTION with biennial geuer;
elections and two and four year terms
office, would alone have been sufficient [
establish the logical Necessity for thei
Keeping pace for the remainder of the traC
tional term which was then passing, To I'll
commencement, and thence to the com pie
ton of the next full term. But we no
left TO depend on mere logical inference:
| however clear and indisputable they ma
be.
/ | will not refer TO either the journals o
/ debates of the Constitutional Convention
| though these are universally held admis
/ sible as aids in Interpreting and construin;
! doubtful or am bigiuus Constitutional pro
visions; and though know that in thi
! case they would abundantly confirm M
/ position. But inaSmuch as it might be SAFE
/ that the current OF debate il such Assem-
bIlrs sometimes runs one way AID the cur
| rent of voting the other, and that eve.
those who vote they speak sometime
suppress their real motives, prefer 10 pro
duce the action OF that body as expressed
by a majority through its Ordinances n
we'll as through the Constitution. l quote
from the "Ordinance and Schedule being
part OF Art. NH, as framed by the Con
Vention:
Sec. 6. In order to establish a civil gov
ernment, as required by the act Of Congress
approved March ID, 1867, and the acts sup
Elementary thereto. election shall be
held at the same time and place at " hich
the Constitution is submitted for ratitica-
ton, for all State officers, including mem
members of the Legislature and for Repre-
SentatlyeS In Congress; at which election
the electors who are qualified under the re-
construction acts of Congress shall vote,
and none Others"
Sec. 8. The first terms of all civil officers
elected at the same time this Constitution
is submitted for ratification, shall COM
mence on the second Monday after their
election shall have been officially promul-
gated. and shall continue to hold from said
time until the expiration of the first full
term succeeding said election"
These sections lose none of the signti-
canoe for which they are here cited, by the
fact that they are Ordinances of the Con-
vention and not part of the Constitution.
Admit if you please, for the sake of argu-
ment, that they have no intrinsic authority.
They are none the less part of the original
Constitution and were cotem poraneous
with the other parts Of that instrument.
They are historical and explanatory of
those provisions of the Constitution which
relate to the same subject matter. They
are of the res qeStde, and throw flood of
ilRul UPON NiIdb iSc SCCHl
doubtful, obscure or liable to dispute in the
more vital provisions. In word, they
prove the intention OF the trainers OF the
Constitution. Nay, more. These Ordi
nauceS we're accepted as authority by both
the friends and opponents of the proposed
new Constitution, by Congress, by the mill
itary commanders and by all the people of
both parties in this State, from the begin
ming; and similar ordinances have always
been regarded and treated as law by all the
The Constitution was at first rejected by
the people, aud, on re-submissiOn, was
afterwards ratified. But at both elections,
all the officers required by these Ordinances
TO be elected, were elected, and no others.
And Congress concurred in these cotempo-
raneous practical construction of and ODE
dience by the people to the Constitution
and ordinances OF the Convention.
Thus it appears that all the State officers,
members of the Legislature and Congress
men were required by the Constitution TO
be, and they in fact were elected all at the
same election; that that election was to
hold good in an their cases for the unavoid-
able fractional term, and also tor the ''suc-
ceeding full term - and that they were all
to go forward together, measuring their
full official terms by the intervals between
general elections, ''all' of which are to be
held, as we have seen, every two years"
Now. turning again to section 25 of ar
tlcle MI, above quoted, it will be seen that
Tue OOu RFOSSlleu eject 1T INaC time were to
ill the existing vacancy" and THE full
term next succeeding their election;' and
that the first congressional election should
be in November next preceding the eXpi-
ration OF said full term" The expira-
ton of said full term" was on the I'd of
March, 1873; and, therefore, this first con-
gressional election was intended to occur
AS it did, in Novembe 1872. In other
words, this section fixes the congressional
elections in this State henceforth in the
even years of Grace. And it is equally clear
that the State officers and Legislature start
ing in at the same time. both as All histori-
cal fact and as legal requirement, under
the ordinance above quoted, each for the
same fractional term, and each for full
terms, respectively, of two or of four years,
they must all inevitably measure their full
terms by the biennial general elections.
But while the full term" of Representa-
tives in Congress is only two years, the fulh
term of the Governor and other State officers
in this State is four years. Consequently,
while the congressional electiod properly
occurred in November, 1872, the election for
State officers cannot occur till exactly two
years later, to-wit: in November, 1874
But there was a class of officers that the
Constitution did not permit to be elected at
the election for the ratification of the new
Constitution in 1869. [ allude now to Dis
trict Attorneys, Clerks of Courts, Sheriffs,
Assessors, COroners, Board of Supervisors,
Justices of the Peace, Constabes, etc. Ii
was to this class that the following section
of the Constitution was intended to apply:
Sec. 6. The term of Office of county, town
ship and precinct offices shall expire within
thirty days after this Constitution shall
have been ratified, and the Governor shall,
by and with the consent of the Senate.
thereafter appoint such officers, whose term
OF office shall continue until the Legislature
shall provide by law for the election of said
officers; provided the present incum bents
of all county, township, district and beat
officers shall hold their respective offices
until their successors are legally appointed
or elected and duly qualified.
1t was, OF course, intended that all the
gubernatorial appoint ments thus authorized
to fill elective offices should be merely tenn
porary. 1t is contrary to Republican the
cries and To ali the theories OF this Consti-
tuition, To suppose that these aPpuintees
should holl office any unnecessary length
of time, and such was certainly not author
lied. They were not to continue till the
next general election, but only until the
Legislature should provide BY law for the
election OF said officers" 1t is manifest that
according to this section an election of these
officers should. have been held earlier than
it was. Ii might and ought to have heen in
1870. a it WAS not, il was well that the
elamors OF the people forced it in ISL. But
in any event that election was not general
election, but special election, for said Off
cerS-for the District Attorneys and Clerks,
as much for all the rest who had been so
appointed and so elected at that election
1t is true that the members of the LcgiSla-
ture were also elected at that same special
election; but this. though needed, was not
required by the Constitution or ordinances
of the Convention. The people clamored
for it, and the Legislature yielded; but am
now satisfied that it was Constitutionally
premature. But be this as it may, that
election was nevertheless only special
election, because it was held out of the Con-
stitutional order of general elections Ii
was held, a. all elections are, to meet a spe-
cial emergency.
All elections are either general or special.
The phrase general election as used in
the Constitution, is intended to indicate
those elections which occur and recur at