The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1885-05-28
A judicial yindication.

AuulbOl W pay Illiil LIS SdltIS .NlbHuelu uil-
der color OF the authority Of an act of the
Legislature. Since then we have read the
text Of the clear, able opinion of the Court
delivered by Judge Fauntleroy i'll the case,
ordering peremptory mandamus
The grounds of the action of the Audi
tor were that the Attorney General had
collected fees to the amount of upwards
of $1,000 which were not properly his. as
assumed by q majority of a committee Of
three appointed by the Legislature to en-
quire into the conduct Of the Attorney
Generals office. The report OF the Com
mittee was not acted upon by the Legisla-
minority report so overwhelmingly Iefuted
all of its assumptions that it would have
proved offensive to the common sense and
| common justice Of the public to have done
so. The detailed facts revealed in the mi
nority report. lis we remember it, reclted
numerous cases i'll which the Attorney
General had appeared. outside Of the spe-
cific requirements of his Office, in behalf
of the State. and by which large sums
had been saved to the Commonwealth,
| which otherwise would have been lost
The fees charged and collected 10y the At
torney General on the certificates OF the
clerks Of the several courts in which the
cases were adjudicated and on the war
rants Of the auditor. were of similar ma
ture to fees paid by former Auditors to
former Attorneys General. There was
nothing anomalous or new in the claims OF
the Attorney General and heretofore fees
of like character had never been ques-
toned The last Legislature, however, in
this as in all of its acts was governed by
political necessities and partizan aims and
the whole purpose contemplated in the ap-
pointment of the committee and the in
veStigation Of the conduct of the Attor-
ficer of the State Government and thus
not only assail his character, but reflect
upon the party to which he belongs.
The opinion of the Court presents
the case with marked ability and clear
ness. 1t states the fact that the Office of
Attorney General is a constitutional office
that the stated salary is fixed by legisla-
tive enactment, and that it is not in the
bpower CT a ministerial officer OF Of the
/ Legislature to withhold his salary, upon
l any such tiimsy pretext as that assigned in
the action Of the Auditor. The report of
the majority Of the committee, wherein
it was assumed that the Attorney General
!, ] had collected fees to the amount of
S., 000 to which he was not entitled, had
, 4 no more effect than the partiZan opinion
, of any other two men, inasmuch as the
Legislature had not adopted it, but ad-
: journed, after it had been submitted. with
out action on it.
II Care was taken, however, to give this
| report to the press, even before it had
! been submitted to the Legislature. Par
TITAN journals took it up and spread it to
t the four winds that the case might be
| Eprejudged by the public and the charac
) ter of the Attorney General damaged
} | Not one of them, that we can now recall
published the exhaustive minority report
| which clearly vindicated every claim Of the
S / Attorney General and showed the large
| benefits which the Commonwealth had de-
: rivel from his industry and labor in hel
/ behalf.
Il Had there been any real foundation fol
the Investigation ordered and the report
: of the majority of the committee, the du
Ity would have been imperative to have
D impeached the Attorney General and dis
{ missed him from office. Not only was
Q this not attempted, but the majority re
! port was not adopted by the Legislature
| thus virtually confessing that there wa!
] nothing in it that would justify Legislative
action, OF that implicated the Attorney
General in illegal acts or conduct unbe
coming his office.
The action of the Legislature in this
case was not strange, when we consider
thai it arbitrarily deprived fifteen Repub
licans of their seats, whom the people OF
their respective districts had elected, and
seated fifteen Democrats whom the people
had rejected. in order to get two-thirds
majority, and thus practically null,fy the
authority of the Executive and usurp his
functions. When it was known that the
F Democrats had elected q majority OF the
Legislature it was openly announced that
the necessary two-thirds would be secured
without knowing whether there was a case
Of legitimate contest or not. The Exec
utive was in the way of unconstitutional
or ill-advised or purely partiZan legisla-
tion, and to remove all restraint from the
Epartizan ends in contemplation. the great
outrage was perpetrated upon the consti-
tuition and popular rights of reversing the
verdict of the people at the polls and
clothing with legislative authority those
whom the qualified voters had not dele
gated to represent them.
There never has been in any State OF
!, country amore revolutionary body than the
last Legislature of Virginia. 1t hesitated
at scarcely anything to accomplish it's par
: titan schemes 1t tied the hands of the
Executive and even threatened the Su-
preme Court, in the frenzy of party re-
venge, and yet the party it represented
and which is called upon to sustain it, will
have the audacity to again ask for popu-
lar approval.
In contemplating the acts of this Leg
islature, there are interests suggested
higher than party success or party de-
mands. They implicate the very exis-
tence of free government, as well as the
liberties of the people. If lisurpations
and wrongs of so fragrant nature as those
which marked the action of that body, are
to be tolerated and the people rest in a
condition of indifference with a full know
ledge of the offenses committed, we may
well fear for the perpetuity of Republican
institutions and tremble for the rights
which the constitution guarantees.
Perplexities of Power
There is necessarily perplexity and wor-
ny in connection with every station of re-
sponsibility, and especially where vast pa
tronage is to be dispensed. Even where
one administration succeeds another of