The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1878-11-01

tnct ciassosg Il there eny moaning IN ths section
Seeond-Has the state two hundred thousand peo.
Third-who has taken the census TO knowf
Eoerth-Nhen party elects men 70 office Is Il ex-
pesSsd eSsss taey VIII eonsorm TO their wishes
men whom In office that do not conform 10 their
Nishesi Now hope you win answer these questions
and obige VOTER
ANSWERS
Our correspondents questions, in
the main, answer themselves. lie has
correctly quoted the section and article
of the Constitution which provides for
a separate Supreme Bench, and his
subsequent questions fully show up tho
unconstitutionality oE the late act of
the Legislature. Clearly the Constitu-
ton provides for separate Supreme
Court when it is ascertained that the
State has two hundred thousand of a
white population, and there is only one
way of ascertaining this--by taking
the census in the manner prescribed by
law. This has not been done since
1878, when the returns showed pop
ulation of little over one hundred
thousand inhabitants, including Chi
nese and Indians and all the other riff.
raf that so to make up an untaxed
floating population of n new country.
There must haze been at least 10000
Chinese and the Indians included in
this 100000, whereas the Constitution
provides that only ,chites shall COM
promise the population necessary to
create this Court. Who will presume
to say tina. the white population of Or
egon has increased an hundred fold
has doubled itself in the past three
years. 1t is simply preposterous.
And even if it had, the late Lesisla-
ture had no lawful knowledge of it.
But some may say they guessed at it.
They had had no right to guess. The
Constitution provides for ascertaining
the population of State as we'll as for
establishing courts, and there being no
other mode prescribed or recognized for
such purposes, why not respect that in
strumenti It will not do for answer to
say that our State Constitution has
been over-ridden, heretofore. Possibly
it has; but is this thing to continue
forever and under "a reform govern
ment," tool
But there is another feature of this
late law that strikes us as contrary to
the spirit of the Constitution, if not to
the letter-that is, legislating men out
of an Office to which they have been
elected for certain term of years by
Constitutional provision. This GER
tainly is unwarranted, and any of the
Judges so disposed of could beat this
law right on that point in any court in
the Union.
But what are we to do about it
The bill passed, was signed by the Gov
ernor and his appointments made under
it, and there is nobody to appeal, and
nobody to appeal To- Our eorresPon-
dent asks, "Can they do this p which
can be answered by the story of the
poor devil who was put in jail and sent
for lawyer to get him out The law
yer went to the 'Jug" and asked him
what he was accused Of, and after be-
ing informed, he promptly says:
'FWby, my good man, they can't put
you in Jail for that !" Whereupon his
client replied, FYes, but d-n it,
they hare done it, and want you to
get me out p
One would think that legislatures
and law making sharps can't do this,
that or the other, but they do do it,
and the only remedy we
know of is to rebuke such men and
such measures at the bar of public sen
timent or at future elections.
The fourth and fifth questions are
hard to answer. Individual response
Dility is one thing-party fealty an
other 1t is understood that a party
if elected strictly on that
basis, will stand by his party measures
and respect the wishes of his constitu-
snts in all honorable ways, and that if |
he fails to do this he is recreant to
,he trust reposed in him by his
party when they nominated him in
Convention, and supported him at the
POLLS But sometimes parties, like men
n other lines of life, "get left" in their
,alcul lations; and perhaps our cores
"voter," could name case
n point.
We have answered our correspon-
lent'S questions briefly and hurriedly
md t rust he is satisfied with what we
AVE said. His queries touch peril
lent and vital questions and we would
Ike to see them discussed in some of
,ur more cotemparaneous journals.
CIRcTTIT CoTrRT convened at PandIa-