Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-04-01
WHAT 1T MEANS.

epubIican Paper Ably Defends an Ex-
preston Used by President Cleveland
Newspaper and political wits have
busily, but without much effect, been
poking fun at President Cleveland for
using the phrase 50 innocuous desue-
tude' in his late message to the
United States Senate. The words
are certainly not the most common
IN our language, and they may never
have been before used in such
close connection. But they are very
good words. They possess shades
of meaning which no other words
possess, and no other words would
have expressed the exact logical and
legal idea at the time occupying the
Presidential mind In reference to the
| Tenure-of-O Office act of 1867, and to the
| present act on the sa me subject-which
| had never since it's enactment in its
present form in 1869 been applied to
restrict the Presidents power OF re-
moval or suspension from otlce-he
said:
| And so it happens that after a period OF
| nearly twenty years of almost innocuous
| desuetude, these laws are brought forth, ap-
| parentiy the repealed as well as the unre-
| who is willing, it permitted, to attempt an
improvement in the methods of adminlstra'
| ton.
A critical examination of the phrase
shows the fitness of its use. To com
mence at the last word first, 1t may De
said that the word .sdesuetude,' while
regarded as synonym for .'disuse,
implies considerably more. 1t carries
| IL. A. on1yr of 6ISnSp IN
a hint of neglect and abandonment. L
has a legal significance as quoted IL
Websterfs Dictionary from the writing
of Bishop Taylor, who, in speaking o
an obsolete church regulation. said
..The desuetude abrogated the law ~hlcl
before custom had established" Used Il
| regard to law, it means something NOR
,, than that the law had become dea
= letter. Under the common law desue
tude absolutely repealed and abohshe
a legal rule or custom. Property ma
!, also be lost by desuetude. A man VIII
=, ..sleeps on his rights" in legal phrase
= ology, is regarded as having lost thel
Il by not claiming them. Atrophy OF
. limb is caused by its disuse. Char
cred rights and franchises may be To-
:, bv what the law calls ''nonuser.
~ law is paralyzed and loses its poW'
! nv desuetude. This was the exa
q word to express President Cleveland
70 meaning in regard to the Ienure-o
N Office act, and he put it in the rigt
D. place.
r. s.innocuous'' as qualifying or descrl
If ing the condition of the act in questlt
+ is more open to conjecture and cri
of cism. Yet 1t seems to have meann
&. in this case. Radically, it means
of hurtful. 1t is rather medical than
- legal word 1t properly is more app
. cable to a thing than to aconditlon.
best use is in describing medicine
d. a doctrine, not in describing the qua
of ties of a man, or of an agency or a la
Ie- Still. there is hint, or the shadow O
meaning which it adds to the OIL
,c- word in the phrase, showing I'll
a it was not idly and uselessly
re- piled. 1t adds to the force
We the intimation that the law
on question, through desuetude, n
his become something's more than de
letter. It intimates that the law CO.
M not be restored to vitality, either TO
nd harmful or an aggressive purpose.
bis was saying in substance that the
Is had become absolutely atrophled fr
fiji disuse, had been struck by hopel
Is paralysis, and was dead beyond
possibility of restoration or re-en'
his ment. In this light and intellige1
interpreted the phrase "innocuous
ry. uetude,'' as used by the President,
cal pears to possess peculiar vigor, |
mt. priety and significance. Byron
!, to that sswords are things" and L
and ident Cleveland evidently used then
aid such when he put these two words
the pether in his Senate m essage.-Chat
ak siomr,,nL