The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1875-12-21
GheqnteIIigeuter.
rnr Cn,e Of Senalor Sherrnrtl.

The Case Of Senator SheFFaFtl.
Tho Senate occupied the day yester-
J,y until about four O'Clock in the at-
,,nOon, in discussing the status Of the
S,u,,or from Hardy. Several days ago
,bs Judiciary Committee brought in two
rpor,, in regard to his status, the ma
nrity report signed by Senators Camden,
EoG,ll, McGinnis and Gaston,) holding
,b,, ,na.much as he had qualified him
..I.,. President OF the County Court of
Hardy he had thereby disqualified him
,,lf from holding the office Of Senator.
Tar minority report, (signed by Senators
Efl,hIre, Dennis and Clayton,) held that
,nbough under the constitution Senator
apll not hold State Office, yet the
Constitution is to be construed as its fra
mer, Intended it to operate, as near as
,,ubc a,certaincd, and to this end with II
prorer regard to the distinctions made in
tbe use Of such terms Us Offices and
county or township Offices.
The provision relied on by the.mnjority
rpott i found in section 1907 Art, VIOf
the Constitution, and is in these words:
DSoperson holding u lucrative Office un-
der this State, the United States, or any
foreign government; no member Of Con-
gr@, no person who is Salaried officer
Of any railroad company, or who Is
sheriff, constable, or clerk Of any court Of
record, shall bO eligible TO seat in the
lAgislatTe.'
Ndrst glance this section would seem
to ,Ii.quaIiiy any person from holding
two such Offices rs President Of a County
Court and member Of either house Of the
legiLature. And this is the view taken
BY tie cmajority Of the Senate Judiciary
Committee. On the other hand the mi
nory Of that committee hold that the
Presidency Of the County Court Ia not n
Slabata county office, and "a such Is not
Incompatible with eligibility to the Sen
ate, They ask "why is u sheriff, conSIa-
bic or clerk Of any Court Of record,
specially mentioned and made ineligible,
ndoihcr county officers not mentioned,
Il they likewise are ineligible2 The
principle pprssio UHis ercttSio altcriIs
applies. They also state that the Journal
Of llp late Constitutional Convention
shows that an effort was made to insert
after the words "or Clerk Of any Court OF
record the words cor Prosecuting AttOr'
Rey" but the proposition was voted
down"
Another point in the minority report
vas thi., that Il Senator Sherrard vacat-
eleithcr office he vacated that Of PrcSi'
dent Of the Court, "upOn the principle
that the acceptance Of one Office incOn-
'ltent and Incompatible with one already
hCldyacates the first office"
These points in the minority report
seem to have carried weight with them,
ina'muclla the Senate after hearing a
lOngdebateupon the respective merits Of
the two aides decided by vote Of II to
Senator sherrarl not voting, nndseha.
tor Mcdonald being out that the mem.
ber from the Hardy district was entitled
to his seat on the floor Of their body.
This decision Of the Senate, important
in itself, IL invested with additional i'm
portancc from the fact that twas brought
about by a petition Fent in to that body
by Auditor and Treasurer since their
Impeachment by the House, setting forth
that Mr. sherrard was not qualified to sit
amember Of the Senatorial Court that
would try their cases. They seem to
have taken ii for granted that he would be
sure to vote against them aud hence their
unsuccessful attempt to unseat him.
Among those who voted to tinseat Mr..
shcrrard was Wm. T. l'urlelt, the senn.
lot from Charlrsinn.