The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-02-11
The County Judges.

The Constitution OF Virginia co"''''' '"'
following provision:
a. section %. An the Judges shall be COM
ruISsjopcd by the Governor. ineh
ferms of Office shall commence On the Isl
dsv of January next following their ap-
noin,men,. and they shall discharge the du-
lies of their respective offices IRON their
ART appointment and qualification under
this Constitution until their terms Dey'n''
The words "frst appointment ana qiaIi-
f7cation under this Constitution were
nut into that instrument by men who knew
that IL had been the almost iuvariable Gus
tom I'm this State to reclect Judges 'Sben
their terms expired; and those words
plainly exclude any Judge reelecte 10 be
h,s own successor. The words .'tneir Grst
election and qualification under this ConstE
tutionv cannot be tortured into ans shape
or given any reasonable constr action that
will enabe them 10 include Judge SHsR-
RAgp, Judge BeAzLty. or any other Judge
whose election and qualification this year
were not "their first election and cluaIifca-
ton under this Constitution" An n these
words cannot be made 10 cover those cases
they were not intended 10 apr .ly to any
Judges except those elected in 1870; for.
as we have said, II was so univ ersai GUS
tom 10 reflect Judges that the convention
which framed TIE Constitute IN could not
have intended 10 have this Ian guage applied
10 any but the Judges last me ntiened.
But we were not left in doubt upon
this point by the trainers of the Consti-
tuition. On the contrary they passed
m election ordinance W hick as con-
temporaneous exposition shows e.
actly what the section abOv geqgaoted was in
tended 10 mean. That or dinence provided
FOR the election Of Gene raj Assembly and
s.oT all. STATE officers N the I'd OF Jane,
1868. IL also provided tbst the General
Assembly should assems lie in Richmond on
the oath day Of June, sGs- Thus it was
clearly the intention IL lat this General AS
sembly should elect atU the judges at once,
andtha those judges ndthcse only should
" discharge the duties OF their respective
Offices from their is st appointment and
qualification under Ii lis Constitution until
their terms shoutj bcgin.'' This is
evident from the words "under this
Constitution" Thes words show that
only the judges first elected were
meant. II. howeyer the Convention left
any room for doubt, they proceeded in the
same ordinance TO make their meaning so
plain that nobody go n doubt it. We quote:
1.-the officers elee ted Jon the % Of June,
aS6S) shall enter Ipon the duties OF the
offices for which Oh ey are chosen as soon as
elected and qualf led in compliance with
the provisions of this Constitution, and
shall hold their re spectiHe offices for the
term Of years pres ,crIbed by the Constitu
ton. counting fro IN the1st day Of January
next, aud until tib eir.sRccessors are elected
and qualified"
Whatever this angUase means the Ian
guage first above quoted means; and it
means nothing lse The carpet. baggers
aud scalawags wal ite6 TO get into Office at
once, and had mol nOre idea 81 making those
words apply to an.giudges exec pt thosesrst
to be elected than they had Of making them
apply to any other State officers than those
first TO be elected.
III the new county Judges can take Office
before next January it viii be be cause their
term has already commenced.
Again: IL there we're vaeancie in the
judgesbips, then the new judges ought to
have been elected TO ill vacancies and not
for full terms. Being elected for full ! terms,
they have no right TO serve out an unex-
pired term.
We would add that II the old la W re-
auirlng the judges to qualify within thirty
DAYS after their election could have Il lie ef- |
feet Gas it cannot) TO give newly-eT scted
Judge title to enter Office at once, then |
that law would be unconstitutional, and
would have been repealed by the mere att
fcation OF the present Constitution.
Again AS to the grammatical eritich SIN
OF the words call the Judges" we mt st
think that the Lao JOaroat has misunde r.
stood those words entirely. They occur in th e
d" General Provisions OF the Constitution
They are the first words used after the sec
tons concerning the government Of cities
and hwns. Hence, IL seems to US TO be clear
that the phrase "all the judges" means
"the Judges Of all the courts" County,
City, Circuit, aud Court OF Appeals. So
that the section means this aud nothing 4,
more:
Section %. The judges Of the City. Coun-
ty, andCircuit Courts and Court Of Appeals,
shall be commissioned by the Governor. {
- The term of office OF all those |
Judges shall commence on the lst day OF
January next following their appointment.
Aud theu Judges Of all those courts shall dis
charge the duties Of their respective Offices
from their first appointment and Qualitica-
ti0n under this Constitution until their
terms BEGIN.
The words. irrespective office" show that
"al the judges was phrase used to de- {
scribe the Judges OF all the courts.
There are ,many other interesting points O
which we might notice; but will not. We y
had our attention recalled 10 the subject by :
reading in advaaced sheets KINDLY fur
nshed us by the editorl Of the Lao journal I
for February u long and interesting article
taking the opposite view from that herein
taken by us.
The Other Case.
We expressed yesterday wish that the e