The Rutland weekly globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1876-12-15


&" ticipato in the proceedings before any
" business can be transacted or the h1iy
&" can even be organized. If unsettled con-
tests exist in any districts, and no legal
4" certificates have been issued 70 repre-
sentativc5 of those districts, that fact
" does not make it competent for any num-
"ber of members less than majority Of
" the whole to make a quorum or proceed
with business"
This opinion ia batel upon, what we be-
| lieve to be, an erroneous construction of
the constitution of South Carolina. That
instrument fixes the number of represent
atives at one hundred and twenfyfour, and,
in a subsequent section, provides that IA
majority of each house sh9ll constitute a
quorum to do business" II this means a
majority of .faB house, then it would fol-
low that both the Mackey house, aud Tie
democratic house. we're illegal bodies, and
neither Of them tie house OF Representatives
Of the etatc. There is no prettnse that
either of these houses had, a. the time of its
| organization, siXty-thrce members having
proper certificates OF election, which, up
| on their face, entitled the holdora TO seats.
If there was no legal, constitutional quo
rum present to organize, the organization,
without such quorum, would have been
| illegal, aud NJ subs' ielt coming in OF
members-if the number should finally
reach one hundred and twenty. .four-would
date back go as to nabc the organization
legal. In order to constitute legal house,
there must be an organ.z ltion 0e moro.
This, as we understand it, was substln-
TALLY the opinion of Ptcsi lent Grant as
communicated by him t. AbFam S. Hewitt;
aud it IS a justification oi bic refusal TO
recognize the democratic, or Wallace,
house Of representatives, even afilr Hewitt
telegraphed him that siXty-three members
had been sworn into that boJt; bat it did
not Justify the assertion Of Hc@ilt, in the
same telegram, that the Wallace hou:c was
thereby organized in accordance with the
requirements of law as st,ted By YOU
that is, by the president. The first organ
iz1ton being illegal IS held 10y the pros-
dent, the subsequent swearing in Of the
| sixty. third member would not make i ie-
gal. Upon the presidents theory, both
| houses were Illegal, and TO the tape con
clueion, il is understood, lage come the
congressional investigating committee. Be
tween the pce.i lent and the chairman of
the democratic national committee, tle
president YVES the better lawyer and the
most consistent man cf the two
Senator Robert on, The rr5feut United
States slnator from South Carolina, about
whose Ie-clt C ion, if be hsd desired it,
there was no>possiJle doubt, declined to be
: a candidate fir reelection, for the reasons,
as stated by him, as follows 81 can see
"no way in which, consistently with my
"v,ews of duty, could PERMIT myself to
Z" stand as a cand date for reelection by
{" that body. Il has been decided by our
" court of last resort that the body claim
"ing to participate in that election as the
house of representatives is not consti-
"tutional and a legal body, and that II can
"perform no act that can be recognizedby
"the courts. am bound by consi tency
:. with all my past official action, and my
"recent opinions aud convictions, to hold
." that it is the province of my own state,
" having the same iighs as the most fa-
"vored s'a'es IN the Union, TO deielmine
d" for herself the question of the constiiu-
" tional and legal character of her public
" officers, | know of no other way of
reaching fnal conclusion on such a
ga subject but that through the determine
{" tion of the courts"
We will not stop to Inquire how far the
decision of state court upon the conslruc-
ton Of the state constitution, and upon a
mere political question, is Ivalid and bind
ing ; it is sufficient to say that it rests upon
entirely different grounds than that of the
construction of a state law; and, in any
event, is not conclusive on congress, each
house thereof being the sole judge Of the
election, returns and qualifications Of il:
own members. Ia our judgment the
question of the valid ty Of a sta legislature
is one whose decision rests with the polii-
cal, not TIE Judicial pover, Tine sent.-
ments expressed, however, are ininitely tC
the credit Of tie stnltor and we would
that more men, both south and north,
would show the same practical respect fol
the legally constituted authorities of Tho
state.
, We believe, however, as we have had oc
casion to say before, that it did not neces
sarily require sixty-thr6e members to con
stitut3 quorum. In this case, there wert
only one un1red and sixteen memler
elected, and to make a majority of thes
3 fifty-nine members would be Necessary
T aud we believe this number would cOns,i
= tute quorum. The language of the con
stituton of the United States and that c
: South Carolina is identical: "a msjOrit,
G " of each house shall constitute a qporur
! "to do business" Congress, or rather on
t branch of it, will be called upon to cor
i strne this clause, when the question of Cor
@ biH's admission comes up for decision
v They have already construed it. ald hay
II declared THAT a majority of the member
n "chosen constituted quorum to do bus
/. ness" Both houses led upon this coI
structon through three congresses, and
the construction is erroneous, then ii
r thirteenth, fourteenth AMI fifteenth amenC
IT ments to the constitution were never proI
g, erly submitted to the several s'ates, an
a. they are not part of the constitution. Al
N we prepared to go to this length? If v
re are correct, then ff,y-nlne members won.