Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-05-19
SPOFFORD-KELLOGG.
MIR. Carpenters Speech on the subject
...Sharp Hits Upon HILL.

---Sharp Hits Upon Hill.
In the senate, Thursday, the Spot
ford-Kellogg business was again up.
After Hampton's speech, Mr.. Carpenter
took the floor. He understood the SEN
ator from Georgia (Hill) to argue that
after the senate had seated q person it
would have to unseat him if the state
recognized another legislature. This
would make the state. not the senate. the
judge Of who shall be senator's. Sup
pose Louisiana should get another legis-
lature next year that would say, Packard
was governor and not Nichols. Then, if
we have seated Spoford, he must go out
and Kellogg come back. The senate
would have nothing to say about it's own
members. MI. Carpenter said nobody
denied that the senate could not 90 be-
hind the returns to determine whether
the members of q legislature that chose
senator were legally elected themselves;
but where there were two bodies claim
ing to be legislatures, the senate could
not decide for itself. The general gov
eminent has to interfere to preserve Or
der and decide which is the legislature,
and that settles the matter for the gov
eminent OF the senate's action. Two
things enter In the election of senator.
He must have been chosen by some body;
and that body must have been the legis-
lature of a state; and when the senate
DEGREES that man is entitled to his seat
on the merits it DEGREES that both those
requisites have been observed. Mr..
Carpenter quoted from various legal de-
cisions, some of them the same as those
quoted by the senator from Georgia yes
terday, and held, that, taken in all points,
they defeated the latter's argument as to
res a0{judicata. That senator had read
much to prove what everybody knew,
that judgments made against jurisdic-
ton were void; but he skipped the cues
ton whether the senate had jurisdiction
in this matter. The senator had become
facetious and told the Republicans that
in their doctrine, if boy ten years old
were seated, he became by that action
thirty years old; and if woman were
seated she would have to stay. And
here the senator's apprehension seemed
to reach it's greatest height. Laughter. ]
The senate was not likely to admit a
woman, but it would be hard to show
that the word "persons in the consti-
ouUlOA LhOo1lo DuOi OulJ ttuu IL d poISOu
were presented to the bar of the senate,
accredited as senator, and the senate
should ignore the question of sex and
declare the person entitled to a seat,
that action would be res adjudicata
and not reversible, even though it at
terward appeared that the person was
female. The senator from Georgia
might investigate the matter for his
personal satisfaction. but the senate as a
body would not. She would be in law a
man. The logic of the argument of the
senator from Georgia was that the SEN
ate's action was res adjudicat0 if the
majority was satisfied to let it alone; if
not it still was all open question It was
tried to be made out that the words 'ton
the merits are insignificant, but they
embraced the essential features of the
constitutional qualifications. Mr. Car
penter read further legal decisions, show
ing that the decision of a court of final
jurisdiction was irreversible though it
made black white and white black Mr..
Carpenter did not wish to be understood
that making judgment final made it
right, but it made it res adjudicata.
The doctrine of res 0djuoicata was
founded on the necessity that there
be an end Of litigation some time.
Mr.. Pendleton obtained the floor, and
after an executive session the senate adj
jOurned.