The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1875-01-21
recommen dation,. to the wisdom Of the General 9
! a ssethnh1vH 80 = ~ = 80 - ' I
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE AND CogsTABLEs.,

rec0mmenGaClOn,t 10 tne W!So0m ~ t4e OenSSifHi
Assembly, ,.., -. -. -, ,.... .,f,.,r.,g
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE AND CoEsTABLEs.,
In my inaugural address, L recommended that
the provisions Of the State Constitution, which
require the election by the people in each
County of "a competent number. of Justices OF
the Peace and C6hstabies, should be enforced
z7ithoatfu deiay. 7Considefa able discussion
has sihcetzten eirespectins nstbe0wisdom 81
that recommendation, and | pawiyenture, al
renewing that + rNecom,m9s9datllon, IS e REe:ensr my
Sy S5s fSa tq| hs SSG sigsGg sa Jy iSa
aueGple, h rreasSh0 Rb7eh7 should sdpersede The
Necessity offuther' discussion, acknowledgement,
is that such lis the positive requirement Of the
Constitution; do not think the general PoliII
cy or result of the system, nor especially any
question of, party advantage or. disadvantage,
has any any proper place in the Consideration of
this question. I understand that Constitutions
sre made to be obeyed and execGted. under
stand that this principle applies to all parts
and provisions of the Constitutions. am aware
that there is a certain. lstitudinariani rule of
construction, q sort. Of questionable, Judge
made law which enable Courts, at their dis
cretion, to hold that's statute which Says "shallI
only ;frieans Wmay v;"i But Know Of no respect!
taBleatthority which permits such rule to be
applied to Constitutions p:Allthe requirements
of O. Constitution are mandatory, and ifithis
particular requirement of our, Constitution can
be set aside then there is no such thing left, as
far as can see, as Constitutional obligation in
our State. The whole question is, therefore,
settled for me by a simple reference to the Con
stitution But, if this were a question of policy
merely, my judgment and experiences woufd
lead me to the same ,o5nclhaon.v 1t IS pracT
tical impossibility, in my judgment, for any
Governor to appoint, $50 Trial Justices, l3 alG
parts Of the State, SO as to secure, to q proper
'degtee, the Interests Of the people affected BY
lthessappointments This iLiposibility becomes
more apparent when che Governor finds him
self surrounded and tramneled in the dis
charge his duty in this respect, BY what are
considered his obligations to the political party
to which he owes his election, The: people of
the several Counties are certainly better quail
fled to select THESE officers than any central ap-
pointing power can be, and they are more GER
tain 10 act in the spirit of desire to secure the
welfare of their local community than any Gov
ernor can be expected to be- Their knowledge
is greater, their interests is greater, and hence
their selections will be better. . It is sometimes
suggested that If these officers were, elected by
the people, their removal, if found unworthy,
would be too difficult Tie answer is, that the
fact of the difficulty in procuring their removal
would, in the first place, produce thatvery eau
tion in making the selection which lis needed |
But in the second place, there need be. no un-
due delay in procuring their removal Of un-i
worthy Justices of the Peace. They can under
tie Constitution, be removed by the process Of
Impeachment or address; and / see lro difficulty
in providing by statute that an indictment tor,
any misconduct should work the suspension
and conviction of such offence should work al
forfeiture of the Office. No officer ought GER
tainly to hold his Office by: q weaker tenure
than this, If the constitutional system shall,
after fair trial, prove to be Objectionable, the
Constitution can be SO amended as to put an
end to the system and substitute better sys-
tenn Ny deliberate conclusion, after careful
consideration, is that the General Assemblyis
boundby the Constitution to provide, for the
election bJ the people Of the several Counties
Of Justices of the Peace and Constables, and
make that decentralization without hesita-
ti0dn.. Z - '7'.'-'
., ~ REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS.
!, In INV inaugural address, recommended
that the, provision of the State Constitution
which makes it the duty Of the, Gener-,
al Assembly "to provide, from time to-
time, for the registration of all electors" should
be no longer disregarded. have observed the
discussion which this recommendation! has oe-
casioned, but anu unsb]eto feel the force OF
any arguments drawn from considerations Of
political policy, when opposed to g, plain re-
,quirement of the Constitution II it were ~ de-
monstfabte that party advantage would arise IL
from the neglect Of this requirement. OF the;
weight in deterring me from carrying Into.
effect the Constitution which L have sworn to-
support. But 1T, is idle TO urge that regstra-
tion of electors will help or hurt any party,
which relies upon proper means to sustain its
supremacy. 4 registration Of electors Is AM
Obvious measure Of justice. It Will hdt prevent,
all election. frauds, bit It Will 60 far towards
; that end, and Will tend to give degree Of con-
fdence in the result of.our elections, which
has sometimes been wanting. e. ~
In conclusion, feel warranted in cOngratu-.
lating the General Assembly and our fellow
citizens generally, on the, evidences already
presented of purpose on the part Of all good
Citizens to aid the present Administration in
/ its efforts to restore and enforce good govern,
ment in our State. Tt is not too muGh''to say
that every substantial interesteof our people
has already revived, under the belief that our
public trusts will be honestly administered
I acknowledge with gratitude, in the. common
interest of onr, whole people, The many proofs
which have received of the sincere purpose
Of those who did not support me in the Late
election to sustain the measure and policy an
nouhced in my inauguration address 1t be-
tokens practical uni6cation, in its best sense,
of our two. races. So long as i can be the in
strument by which such results are promoted
/ shall net be disturbed by the unfriendly crit
iicisms Of the few who may charge me with
lack of partisan zeal. My political principles
will never be concealed nor compromised, but
whenever the necesities.of any political party
require me to dssgata or abuse 1v pub
cease. Alllmy recommendations nowand here
tofore made in the direction of public econo-
nv. have been made in good faith, nor shall I
be satisfied, to borrow. the language of another,
with "that vague and verbal economy which
public men are 50 ready, to express with regard
to public expenditures, but only with that ear
II zxx.,. lscl- - L