The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-02-20
six years thereafter. Certainly u was not
THE INTENTION or The PEAMsRs OF THE
CONSTITUTIONS

CONSTITUTIONS
that the terms OF The particular Judge ship
might begin and end on d'afient days
They intended the contrary. and fixed upor
the 1st day Of January as the proper oal
Tor that purpose, though that thy was ;
long way off when the Constitution wa
adopted and went into operation.
The result Of my opinion Is that the peti'
toner John T.. Broaddus Is legaSy de-
tanned in custody under commitment Is
sued by Edmund Waddill, Jr., a. judge oi
the County Court Of HeDT1eo. on the 9th
day Of February. 1880, and that The said
Waddill, Jr., was at the Time OF issuing said
commitment the judge of The said coiirt,
duly appointed and qualified as such under
the Constitution and laws OF the State, and
therefore the petition OF said Broaddus to
be discharged from said custody must be
denied. And that the petioner William
Walsh is illegally detained in custody
under commitment issued by Ed
mund {. Minor, styling himself Judge
OF the County Court OF Henrico, on
the - day OF February, 1880; and that the
said Minor was not at the time OF issuing
said aforementioned commitment the judge
! OF be said court, duly appointed and quail
fed as such under the Constitution and laws
OF the state, and therefore the petition OF
said Walsh t. be discharged from said GUS
tody must be granted.
Judge Christian cOncurred in the results
reached in the opinion. Judge Anderson
cOncurred in the opinion OF Judge Mon
cure. Judges Staples and Durks were eX-
cuSed from consideration OF the question, az
they were, to a certain extent, personally in
terCsicd in it.
Views of Judge Christian.
After the reading Of Judge Mcncure's
opinion, Judge Christian read the follow
ing:
| concur in the results OF the opinion
lust delivered by the president OF the court.
| But do not concur in some OF the views
expressed by him or in some Of the reasons
which lead him to the conclusions he has
reached. | Will, therefore, very briefly
state the grounds upon which. in my opin-
ion, the question before us should be deter
mined They are purely legal questions,
arising out OF the true construction to be
given to two clauses OF the Constitution,
which two CLAUSES are in these words. Ar
| ticlo VI, section -, reads As follows " All
+ the Judges shall be commissioned by the
Governor. and shall receive such salaries
land allowances aS may be determined by
/ law, the amount OF which shall not be di-
minished during their term OF office. Their
terms Of office shall commence on the first
dav OF January next following their APP
pointmeni. and they shall discharge the du-
! ties OF their res Eectve Offices from their iii st
appointment and qualification under this
! Constitution until their terms begin"
SECTION - OF THIS ARTICLE
read. as follows:
Judges and all other officers elected or
appointed shall continue TO discharge the
duties OF their Office, after their terms OF
service bave expired until their successors
have qualified"
The only rcmaninc provision Of the Con-
StitutiOn necessary, in my opinion, TO be no.
tlccd is the 18th section Of the same article,
which limits the term Of Office OF the county
Judges except the first term 10 the PERIOD
Of six years.
The Hon. Edmund {. Minor commenced
his second term of Office ~ county Judge OF
the county OF iIenricO on the first day ol
January. 1874. which expired on the first
day Of January, 1850. By the express tei IN
q the Constitution his term end ID on thai
day. But under the provision OF the 2o'l
section, although his term OF service had eN'
pred he was authorized TO hold over untl
tqnd Only untU his successor had quafUed
But il appears from the admitted fact;
that on the 18th OF January, 1880, Edmund
Waddill. Jr., was elected by the Legislature
rs Judge OF said county, and received ht
commission from the Governor and duly
qualified under the same before expiration
OF thirty days, A. required by the statute
so that it is plain that under the twenty
fifth section Minor, whose term OF Office
was limited by the Constitution 10 the Isl
day Of January. 1880, could only hold over
until bis successor had qualified. Now, il
is true that the twenty-second section pre-
Scribes "that the term Of office of Judge
shall commence on the 1t day OF 'nuarN
next following their appointment" ana !
this was all OF the tWenty-s cond section Il
would be plain that Waddill could not entel
upon the duties Of the office until the
1sr DAT OF JANUARY, 1881.
But Immediately following this provision
are these words: "And they shall dis
charge the duties OF their respective Offices
from their first appointment and qualiiica
ton under this Constitution until theil
terms begin"
We cannot ignore these words, nor de
tach them from their connection In this sec
tiOn. Upon the most familiar rule, OF con
struction. we must give to each clause o
the instrument to be Interpreted (upon tn
subiec; under investigation its full mean
ing and effect, in order to carry out the in
teptiOn CT the trainers OF the instrument.
It has been argued, and with much force
that this clause applied solely TO the Judge
first elected under this Constitution. Bu
think this is too narrow view cf tn
question. II that had been the design
would more properly be affixed TO the sche
due and not have had a permanent place il
the Constitution.
OF course
ALL CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
must be regarded as permanent in thei
character upon general princlplts.
And | think it cannot be maintained
either from the grammatical construction o
the language or the plain meaning OF tn
words in the connection In which they ar
used, that il was the intention 10 limit thl
provision so Is to apply 1t alone to lh
Judges first elected after the adoption OF ia
Constitution.
think. on the contrary, it was designed
TO meet contingencies which might arise
and OF which this case Is striking lllustra
ton.
II might often happen that from some un
fOreSCen cause or accident the Legislature
could not, from mere physical impossibility
elect all the county judges before the Is
day OF January, there being about eight.
in all. And this manifest difficulty woul'
often arise. that while their terms OF oflic
all expired on the lst day OF January eac
one would
HOLD OVER ONE YEAR LONGER
than the term liked by the Constitution.
L mimi II l. nllin thai Jnl0e MlnOr COnl