The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-03-29

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it was as his ow1 successor, and without
regard to the .ilsegality Of the body he
appeared before I an, of opinion from
the analogies Of the law. that he abant
doned the constitutional right to hold
over until his silccessorl had qualified !;
and, in the language; Of Lord Somers, ia
King. James case, "disowned, and abdiss
7 tccated"' his former Office, to all intents and
purposes, and was thereby estopped for
ever after from questioning his fown del
liberate act. Bigelow on .Estoppel 5O2;
Bank U.S S. VS.. -Lee,, 13; Peters, 49,, Sth
Cranch, Cir. CT, p. 319'; Vermont vs..
Society for Propagation, of Gospel, 2
Paine, $40. - 9n!'Stif |!
J, If this be trues Wade Hampton who
had been elected by a majority. Of the
yotes cast, would, from that moment,
upon taking the oath of Office, have been
Governor de taesoif not, de jasre, without
regard to any formal declaration or in
stallation. But has Hampton, at any
time, been lawfully inducted into Office,
and is he now Governor de jure of the
State of South Carolina? On the 18th
December, 1876, the body which had
been adjudged by the, Supreme Court to
be the Constitutional House of. Repre-
sentatiyes, aa is in proof before me, sent
formal notice to the Senate, which was
placed in the hands of the presiding Off
Ger, (who for. some unexplained, reason
failed to publish it, that they would on
the next day, 14sh December, at 2 p. M,
proceeded to open and publish the returns
of the election for Governor. The Senate
did not attend as a body on that occasion,
but number os the members were pres
ent and as the notice was published in
the journal of the House for that day, it
| is fair to presume they all had actual mo-
tice, as they certainly had of the Illegally
of the House they had before, been acting
with. At the hour appointed the returns,
which were sworn transcripts from dupli-
Gates of the originals which were with
held from them, obtained, from the offices
of clerks of the court where they are filed
by constitutional direction, and also q
certificate and statement Of the votes cast
from the Office of the Secretary of State,
as taken from tho originals, were opened
and examined, when it was ascertained
that Wade Hampton had received ma
iority of 1884 votes, as before stated,
whereupon he was formally declared
Governor of the State of South Carolina.
On the same day he was duly qualified
and entered upoa the duties of the Office,
which he has continued to discharge 80
far as permitted by surrounding adverse
circumstances, Up to, the present TIME.
Il has been stated that the returns used
by the lawful Eouse of Representatives,
in ascertaining and declaring the result
of the election for Governor, where trans
cripts from duplicates fled in the offices
of clerks of court, and it does not appear
whether any effort was made, by. process
Of attachment or otherwise, to compel
the persons claiming to be officers of
what is popularity known as the Mackey
House to. deliver the originals. It is
possible that by such proceeding, which
was legitimate and proper, after the de-
Pcisioni Of the Supreme Court had deter
mined the lawful House; the primary
evidence of the election might have been
obtained, which would have avoided one
of the objections raised to the declaration
of Hampton's election. / suppose, how
ever, that the state of affairs existing in
Columbia at the time was q sufficient ex-
cuse for ,resorting to secondary evidence,
and therefore j,astifes the action taken.
Howeyer,that may be- I do not regard it
as affecting. the result. The transcripts
of duplicate g returns, with the: official
certificate of the Secretary Of State, al
though secondary evidence, was, it may
be presumed, the best that could be had,
and am of opinion was sufficient under
the terms of the Constitution. And 80,
too,i with, regard 10 the presence of the
Senate at the opening of the returns. II
not actually, it musthe held to hagesbeen
constructively present. Otherwise, after
the recognition of the lawful House by
the Supreme Court, it would have wilful-
ly ignored a. plain constitutional duty,
thereby giving sanction tota great wrong,
and tending to defeat the will OF the
electors as expressed through the ballot
box, which would have been irepugnant
alike to good law and good morals. To
enforce right or prevent a wrong the
law. will. as to details and mere matters
of form, presume that to- have been done
which ought to have been done. y
I am of opinion, therefore, that Wade
HAMPTON was made Governor in and
over the State of South Carolina, through
the ballot-box, in accordance with the
Constitution, at tie election held on the
7th November last.c That he qualified,
4 If not following the letter, in the spirit
and intent of fhe Constitution on the
l4tha December last: That he has been
since that time, and is now, the lawful
4 Governor of South Carolina, and should
| be obeyed and respected accordingly. Il
follows from these views that ID? tH.
Chamberlain was not Governor on the
3rd January, 1877, che date of the COM
mission of w. F. Dover as a; trial justice
for the City of Charleston,, and that his
appointment and comnissionl were with
out lawful authority and void. a. 80. ..
It is, therefore, ordered that the relator,
James Flynn, be discharged and 60 hence
without day. 80 j. r. REED.
March 90, 1877. - ."'' '''" -" - ,
- !: = % 60
| t no &g!;tE. ~ =
BENEFIT OF BEING KNOCKED ABOUT.
-Itis a good thing for a young man to
be "knocked about in the world, al
though his soft-hearted parents may, not
think so. All youths, or if not all, GER
tainly nineteen -twentieths OF the e sun sum
total, enter life with a;snrplusage OF seh,
conceit:, The, sooner they. are e relieved a1
with, wiser and older men than them
selves, they discover it is unwarranted,
and get rid of it. gracefully and OF their
| own accord, we'd 9and9 good;.i notSitiis
desirable, for their, own .sskeo that it
should be Knocked out of them. z. zi5oa,;
A boy who is sent to a large Ischool
soon finds his level. His will @maJrhave
been paramount at home; but school
| bor, - in tf orr Sdeoa and If