The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1874-01-08
lcox1rSlcATEn.i
THE LATE ELECTION.


.~----~- Il.
E9iiors Dcsaocnliie S..lsssslia- Since the
/ late election, in which the enemies Of true
/ democratic republican government have
been overwhelmingly defeated, they have
7 pretended to End that the election WAS con
trary 20 the Constitution Of the State and
therefore void. Il IS very remarkable that
these aslute constitutional lawyers did not
observe this constitutional defect before the
terrible defeat they received. The election
! law was approved by the Governor, March
4 81. 1878. and was declared 70 be in force
from and after the fifteenth day of Nav,
/ 1873 They accepted the contest. held
their State. district aud cauaty conventions,
nominated their candidates and rcsorted 10
all the means in Their power to achieve sue
cess and yet during the whole canvass not
a word was heard IN relation TO the uncoR-
stitutiOnaiity OF the election Governor
Dsvis, their defeated candidate for Gov
enoT, eyidenily-did not regar' the election
law unconstitutional, if hc did, he would
/ have vetoed the BILL
Although the ground assumed IS so ride.
ulOus aad absurd and under ordinary cir
cumstances, not entitled 10 the slightest
weight or consideration, Yet in view Of the
assumptions of the Radical PARTY, propose
to examine the section of the Constitution
and the election clause of the LAKE election
law and see If there is any reason or au-
thority for the grounds assumed.
Section SIX article three of the State Con-
stitution reads as follows: 'sAll elections
for State, district and county officers shall
be held at the county seats OF the several
counties, until otherwise provided by law
and the polls shall be opened for four days,
! from O'Clock a. N. until O'Clock p. II. of
each day"
| Section orc of the late election law pro-
yidcs that ach precinct of the justices of
the peace of the counties of this State, rs
a-t..isliTist.ls -l.nit constitute an election
/ precinct, and also provides that the county
courts may divide their respective Justices
precincts ingo rs many election precincts as
they shall deem expedient.
Section twelve provides THAT all the
| elections IL tins State shall be held for one
day only, at each election, and the polls
shall be open on that day from s O'Clock A.
N. to O'clock P. NJ
The point raised is, that section twelve of
the election law is unconstitutional, be-
cause the election is to be held for only
/ one day. II section six of the Constitution
was in full force and effect, the position
would be tonable. 1t is admitted by those
holding to the unconstitutionaity of the
election law, that all Of that portion Of sec
ton six of the Constitution to the word
''lawn is abrogatcd by the election act re-
ferrcd to, and that the Legislature had the
power to do so. In making this admission
they admit themselves out of court, as will
be presently shown. Eminent law writers,
and our highest judicial tribunals have laid
down rules for the construction of consti-
tutions and statutes, which will be of value
IN the present Investigation Judge Cooley
in his work on Constitutional Limitations de-
fines Interpretation as ''the sense which
their'author intended to convey; and of en-
abling others to derive from them the same
idea which the author intended to convey .
Construction he defines: 1.-THE drawing of
conclusions respecting subjects that lie be-
yond the direct expressions of the text
conclusions which are in the spirit though
/ not in tho letter of the text"
/ In common use the word construction is
generally employed in the law as embracing
all that is properly covered by both. For the
present win quote two rules as to the con-
struction Of constitutions: /. ''To give
effect to the intent of the people in adopting
it." Cooley, Const. Lin, page SO. ?.
''Whether we are considering an agreement
between parties, statute, or constitution,
with view to its Interpretation, the thing
which we are to seek is, the thought arhieh
1t expresses" Cooley, Const. Linn, page5 }
Keeping these two rules in mind let us
see IL we can discover the intent of the
trainers Of section six and the thought ex-
+ pressed in that section. The whole of the
section must be considered as being one sen
tence, and each and every part must be con-
strued together. If it had been the in
tention of the trainers of the Constitution,
! that there should be two independent OF
! substantive propositions in the section, in
stead of using a semi-colon after the word
sanl u 49, lrolsl 4 l---.-- --s--a - priv A
seml-colon IS used, says Webster, to indicate
a separation between parts or members of a
sentence more distinctthan that marked by
a comma, and pause in reading usually Of
longer duration. A period, says the same
authority, is a complete sentence from one
full stop to another It will also be OBJ
served that after the word claw" the copu-
lative conjunction ssandn follows. viz. /:
''And the polls shall be opened for four
days, " etc. Now what is the Office of the
conjunction '.and'' If it is not to connect the
remainder Of the sentence with that which
precedes. This is evidently its use, and
therefore, all that follows after the word
''and, " is dependent upon the former por-
tion Of the section. II the Legislature,
therefore, has the power to abrogate or
charge all Of the section to the word law, Z"
by substituting precinct elections for cleo
tons at county seats, the dependent clause
rs to the time of holding the elections can
be substituted also. Again, to what dc the
words, the polls shall be opened etc,
applyY In looking at the section it is read
lily perceived that they apply TO county
seats, where, it is declared the polls shall
be opened. It would certainly be a stretch
of imagination to conceive that the conven-
ton intended them to apply to precincts
or any other place the Legislature may pre-
scribe, and to permit all that portion of the
section IN regard to the length of time the
polls shall be open to stand. If they had IN
tended this, that portion of the section
would have been an independent PROPOSE
ton, and they would have declared 'grhat
the polls, in all elections for State. district
and county officers, shall be open for four
days, from 8 o'clock A. II. to 4 O'Clock P. N.
of each day."
At the time OF the adoption Of the present
Constitution, voting was done by precincts.
It is also known that at that time alarge mum.
Der of persons were entitled TO the elective
franchise who were not entitled to the same
prior to the close Of the war; 4 change
from precincts to county seats for voting
was determined upon, and IN order TO
give all who were entitled to vote
the opportunity to do so, the length |
Of time was enlarged and four days I
instead of one was adopted. From /
the reading OF the Constitution It viii be I
seen that this change was not designed to /
be permanent and Governor Davis (who was
the president Of the convention). in his mes
sage to the last Legislature, advised a re-
turn to the precinct system Of voting. The /
reasons which prompted the adoption Of 4
section six OF the Constitution had disap- 1
pearcd, and the Legislature was inyitcl /
by him 70 return to the old land marks. It /
seems to me clear that tia infent and i
thought expressed in section six is. that as /
long as the elections we're held at the coun. I
~ seat the polls should be opened for 4
four days but that whenever the LcgisIa-
ture saw 1T to change from the county /
seats 70 rrcciuafa then thee ra1fI ahaur,a