The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-01-15
N. Y. Times.l
A State Without a GovernmeI

n
The political situation in Maine is wholly
without precedent. At the present moment
there is not Government in that State The
attention of those enemie, of republicanism-
who have uniformly declare that such state
of things must obtain, under certain circum-
Stances and that anarchy would surely result
therefrom- is directed to this fact. Notwth-
standing the interregnum, there is no disorder;
business goes ON as before, and the normal
prosperity of the people is not affected by the
suspension of governmental powers. Undoubt-
edly, there are many peaceful and industrious
citizens of Maine who are going on with their
work secure in their belief that the complica-
ton at the capital will come out all right some
how. Meantime, however, there is no Govern
or. There is no recognized Legislature. The
constitution of the State provides that when
''the office of Governor shall become vacant by
death, resignation, removal from office, or
otherwise, the President of the Senate shall
exercise the office of Governor until another
Governor shall be duly qualified" Like many
other parts of the Maine constitution. this
clause is faulty in its phraseology; but its
meaning is unmistakable. The President OF
the Senate becomes Governor when the Office
is made vacant. Garcelon's term having ex-
pired by constitutional limitation, the Presi-
dent of the Senate, if thsre be such an officer,
should be acting Governor. But there is no
President of the Senate because there is no
regular Senate. There is fusionist body call
ing itself the Senate, but it is not legal or
ganization. Leaving out those members who
hold their seats by fraudulent and illegal GER
tifcates, the Senate ahas no quorum. There
fore, its acts destitute of any binding force
on anybody The Supreme Court has decided
| that the Executive proceedings under which
several so-called Senators claim seats are null
and void. Therefore this is no Senate; and
| there can be no President of the Senate. The
law provides that in case there shall be no
| President of the Senate, the Speaker of the
| House shall act as Governor. There is no
| s ,eaker of the House. The law says. further
more, that, in case of there being no Speaker Of
| House, the Secretary of State shall be acting
| Governor. The Secretary of State hasno ven-
| tured to take the office.
| The so-called fusion Senate has assembled
| and has gone through the form Of electing
| President-Mr. Lamson. This person, assum-
| ing the Senate to be alegal and complete body,
| represents himself as the acting Governor of
/ the State of Maine by virtue of his office. He
must qualify aud fake the oath of office in a
| Joint convention of the Legislature. There is
| not legal Senate. and there is no quorum Of
| the House. He cannot qualify, and his official
| dictum is not worth the paper on which it
| would be written. Should his authority be re-
| sisted, in the least important particular, the
case would come before the courts, and the
| courts have already indicated what their de-
| cision would be. There is no officer OF the
| Legislature qualified to act as Governor, be-
cause there is no Legislature. In whom, then,
| does the executive power reside? 1t seems that
| all executive power is suspended until
the Legislature shall be lawfully organized.
| When it was proposed, the other day, that
| Representatives from the towns and cities dis
| franchised by Garcelon and his Council should
| be admitted to seats under the decision OF the
| Supreme Court, it was instantly objected that
| only the Governor and Council could grant
| certificates and that, as there were no Govern
| or and Council. no members could be legally
| qualified. This wire-drawn decision has re-
turned to plague its inventors. There is no
| Governor and Council, and there is no Legisla-
| ture If persons who claim to be me nbers of
the Legislature cannot be certified because
| there is no Governor, "A person claiming to be
acting Governor cannot qualify, because there
| is no Legislature.
Gen. Chamberlains position is perfectly
| impregnable one. As Major General OF the
| State Militia, he has been left in charge OF the
property of the State by the retiring Governor.