Daily Los Angeles herald., 1880-10-01

January, 1880. That is not the case
with the officers In question, a. was
held in the case of the County
Clerk, one of them. [ses In re
Stuart, So CAL, 745.1 We have no
doubt of the ruling In that case,
and by g parity of reasoning, the
same conclusion must be reached
as to the other officers of the city
and county. The decision in Stu
arts case applies with all its force
to each and every one of them.
The terms of those officers COM
msnoed, as Stuart's did, on the first
Monday In December following
the election. By the general law,
all county and township officers,
except judicial officers and assess
ors, are to be elected at the general
election in 1878. and every two
years thereafter. (Pol. Code,
4,109.) The term of Supervisors is
three years. (Pol. Code, 5024) The
counties are arranged in three
classes. The first class has seven,
the second five, the third three
Supervisors. (Pol. Code, 4022) In
counties of the third class, one Su-
pervisor is to be elected each year
! at the general election when 1t oc-
ours, and on the corresponding
day Of the alternate year,
when no general election occurs.
In the counties of the first and sec.
ond classes, q number Of Supervis-
ors as nearly equal as may be, to
be determined by the Board, are to
be elected every year at the same
time as specified herein, for the
counties Of the third class (Pol.
Code, Sec. 4,1lD. There are spe-
cial laws for some OF the counties,
which were referred to In the argu-
ment. If the terms of these officers
are shortened one year, the election
of their successors must occur In
the odd-numbered years. Having
been elected in 1879, shortening
the term of such officers one year,
the election of their successors
must be held in 1881, for it must be
recollected that in the same SEN
tsnce Of Section 10, Art. XXII., re.
ferred to and relied on by plaintiff,
It is provided that the election Of
the successors of the officers re-
ferred to In 1t must be held at the
last election before the expiration
of the terms shortened by one year.
II, then, they cannot be In 1881,
they would have to be chosen
more than a year before the terms
of their predecessors end. This GER
tainly was not intended. 1t would
be curious problem to ascertain
when the successor to an officer
whose term is one year, when
shortened by one year, Is to be
elected. Carrying out the view
urged upon US, he would have to be
elected at the same time with his
predecessor, and this would be to
introduce system OF rotation in
efIice novel and unprecedented.
The foregoing considerations con.
vince US that the provisions of the
section relied on (Sec. 10. Art.
XXII.) do not refer to the officers oil
the city and county Of San Fran
cisco. The Police Judge is one oi
such officers. (Wrideas vs.. Morrill,,
% Cal. 473. People vs provinces, "a
Cal. 550) We have fully consid.
cred the history of the action ol
the Convention in relation to the
section just referred to, as 1t was
disclosed to us upon the argument
The vote Of rejection on the propo
sition to exclude county officers
|, from this section may, and doubt
less was, had, on the ground that II
, did not refer at all to such officers
! that 1t did not include them. Al
to the address to the voters of tht
State, adopted by the Convention
! its reference to the effect of th'
Constitution, in Eliminating tn,
number of elections to be held, ant
thus saving expence, many VIII
voted for 1t may have supposei
that this would be brought abou
!, by the action Of the Legislat ure, il
causing the election of county Off
bered years at the time of the gen
eral election in those years. The
indirect as we'll as the direct effec
Of the Constitution may have beer
I referred to. If we are correctly
! informed of tho circumstances un
, der which this address was adopted
1t is entitled to but little wIgh
in constituting the Constitution, es
q pecially in such q case as this
1 where a full examination of tn
provisions of the instrument leay
no doubt as to its meaning. w
are convinced that the conclusion
] above stated is correct, and, actipl
upon this conviction, our judg
ment is, that the writ asked fO
must be denied.
The gravamen of this opinion
may be summed up thus-we shal
have no county election this year
As to all else, there is world Of