The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1874-01-21

Mr. Playford, an act to amend the
act Of 1854 and the supplements
thereto, in reference to suits in dover
Mr.. McClure, an act to validate
acts done by corporations created by
courts before the recording os the
char,er.
Mr.. White, resolution of inquiry,
requesting information from the prop
er authorities, of the amount Of le-
gal fees received during 1873 by
county officers in counties having over
10000 population.
HOUSE.
The House assembled this morn
ing at the usual hour, nearly all the
members being present, after the re-
cess
Mr. Mitchell, Of Tioga, offered a
resolution to the effect that the men,
bers were required to be sworn in ac-
cording to the new Constitution.
The Introduction of the innocent
little resolve" created breeze OF
excitement and lively discussion.
Mr.. Orvis, Of Centre, leading the
Democrats, insisted that it was all a
useless work, as they had taken the
oath when the Legislature was or
ganized for the year.
Mr.. Brockway, Dem of Colum-
bia, held to the same view, and
thought it was useless to waste time
over business that once had been
disposed of.
This was the drift Of the argument
on the Democratic side, which indi-
Gated that the Democrats were not so
keen after all, to come under the re-
quirements of the new Constitution
Mr.. Mitchell, leading the Republi-
cans, contended on the other hand, as
they officially had no knowledge of
the new Constitution before it was
promulgated that new oath was
mandatory upon them in accordance
with section 80 of the new instru-
ment. They held in general that the
objection to the resolution was trivial
and that if there was genuine feel
ing among the Democrats in favor
of the new instrument, there would
be no objection.
The discussion took wide range
touching upon the powers of the Con-
stitutiOnal Convention, and offered a
good field for a display of Legislative
elocutiOn. After the members had
exhausted the theme, a vote was taken
and the resolution passed bv vote
of 80 to 10
The oath was then administered to
the Speaker by Mr. Orvis, and in
turn Speaker Mccormick swore in
the members.
Upon resuming regular business,
Mr.. Wolf, Of Union, presented Pc
tition contcsting the seat of Jesse c.
zimmerman, of Montour.
Speaker Mccormick, upon the pre-
sentation OF the petition, said it was
an open question how contests under
the new Constitution were to be set
tied He therefore would refer the
matter to the Judiciary General Com
mittee to establish precedent.
There was no other business of
general interest transacted in the
House to-day.
Attorney General Dimmick has
just given his opinion that the Nota-
rics Public hereafter to be appointed
must first be nominated to the Senate
and the nomination confirmed by that
body, before the appointment can be
made Heretofore they have been
appointed by the Governor, without
any reference TO the Senate. He
further says that they must take the
oath, in accordance with the new
Constitution.
In relation to county officers, he is
of opinion that they do not come m
der the provisions of section 30 of the
schedule in the new Constitution.
There was a joint caucus of Re-
publican members of both Houses
held tonight to consider the proper
course to be pursued in reference to
the Election bill. The caucus was
attended by about all the members
and n general unamity presented-so
far as an outsider could learn, the
general sentiment seemed to be ex-
pressed in speech made by Will
liam T. Mann, of Philadelphia.
who was admitted, and made a
strong speech in favor of having elec-
tions next month-Fcbruary. He
said the people all looked at this, and !
it would he worse than suicide to at
tempt to defeat what manifcstlv |
was their wishes.
The matter was discussed atlength |
and finally committee of five was
to prepare a substitute for
MeClurc's bill on the basis of the |
election law of 1869. This Commit
tee was instructed to prepare their
report at once and have it ready TO
submit ii tomorrow, Thursday.
SENATE.
HARRISBURG, January Is, 1874.
When the Senate opened this
Mr. Kutan led off in business with
I report from the Committee On
Finances, favorabIy recommending
/ bin providing for the payment of
he expenses incurred for advertising
The Constitutional Convention.
The bill was referred under the