The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-03-12
All Their Partisan Legislation Has an Official
Omission Which Alone Will Probably De-
stroy Every Board and officer It Created.
Citizens Offer the Board of Public Works
and Affairs Words of Sympathy.
Some of Them Look at the law with Reserva-
tiOn, but Believe 1t Is Move i'm the Right
Objectionable Resolution Adopted.
ALL PROBABLY INVALID.
An Important Omission That Affects {
Vetoed Bills.

An Important Omission That Affects the
Vetoed Bills.
The Democrats in their intense zeal,
partisan recklessness and whoOp and hur-
rah in an indeavor to steal all the appoint
i've offices in the State under the cover of
di' graceful legislation, have made mess
of t. AS the shrewdest criminals often
leave clews that lead to their detection, ar
rest and conviction, so the untamed Demo-
cratic Senators and Representatives have
broken into the Constitution and left be-
hind them condition of affairs that makes
all their villainy ineffective so far as their
party's profit is concerned This work of
constituencies political crime has, it
is conconsidercd by good lawyers,
been brought to face Immediate
ly upon the adjournment of the
Legislature series of facts that stamp it
as the result of energetic lunacy. There
were two purposes the Democrats soughtto
fulfill, one to satisfy political revenge on
the majority party in the State, the other
to put the Democratic party in training to
elect Isaac p. Gray as the successor of Dan
iel w. Voorhees,. TO effect this double pol
icy neither the Constitution. statutes de-
cency, right. justice. could restrain the
pirates from creating office after Office, and
filling them with creatures of caucus selec-
tions. 1t required sixty-one days to do
this-days that ought to have been given,
if honesty and conscience had prevailed to
the needs of the people. Now this whole
fabric of political villiany falls to
the ground by their neglecting to observe
constitutional requirement that would
have been carried out had the robbers
vrfrI.f x.E fIa..f
could have been easily met. as it would
have only called for the scratch of u pen by
the presiding officers of the Senate and
House.
When bill came back to the House or
Senate with the Governors veto. il did not
take the pirates long to jump on it and re-
pass it. But in their hurry to make it, as
they thought. law. without the chance of
the passage of the bill was made by Alonzo
tie. and Thomas j. Newkrk, Clerk
of the House, and .sent at
once to Charles + Griffin, Secretary Of the
State: That official. in the course of his
examination of the bills repassed over
the Governors veto, noticed a defect which
he kept to himself.
1T was two weeks ago" said he. yester-
day, THAT l noticed that the Supreme
Court commission bill came to ME without
the signatures of Mason }. Niblack, Speak
er of the House, and Ira j. Chase. Lieu
tenant-gOvernOr, after it had been passed
over the Governors veto. 1t occurred to
me that there was screw loose somewhere,
and found that the bill was defective i'll
that the requirement of Article t. Section
III had been omitted That section reads:
. "A majority of all Ill. members elected to
to pass every bill on joint resolution, ard
all bills and Joint resolutions SO passed.
shall be signed by the presiding officers OF
the respective houses
And it was not SO signed after being re-
passed." he was asked.
mo, sir; nor were any of the other nine
bills, upon which similar action had been
taken, SO. signed. The ten are i'll the same
| category"
Then % veto practically places bill
| back where it was before it was passed."
"Yes. 1t does more: il kills it. and the
authorization of the repassage must be
the same by the Speaker of the House and
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS as when it was orig
| inally passed"
| Have you had any inquiry for these
bills"
| often: but was always careful to keep
the original copy away from prying eyes
and all inquirers were furnished certified
copies"
| "HOw do you account for this OmissiOnr'
1T can only be accounted for ON the
| theory that none of the Green Smith
menagarie ever heard of that clause of the
| Constitution"
Did you notify Green Smith of the Omis-
| "Well. hardly. was never invited into
too modest to volunteer information
fact have not even Informed
the Governor: But there Is another flaw
| that Is equally destructive to Democratic
hopes, and that is the requirement of Sec
ton 1852 of the Revised Statutes of 1881.
| 1t presents another stumbling block in the
way OF the ,conspirators. as that section,
cause all acts and joint resolutions passed
by the General Assembly to be deposited in
| the office of the Secretary of State, and in
form the House in which the same origin
| ated." This section is not directory, it is
mandatory. Now the fact is that the Gov
ernOr never saw any one of these vetoed
| bills after they were recOnsidered by the
two houses. Instead of returning the bills
to the Governor after they had been passed
| over his veto, Representative McGOvney
of the House, and Senator Griffith of the
Senate. delivered these bills direct to me-
| thus giving the Governor no opportunity
to comply with the statute have quoted
to 51 SnS
member of the House of representatives
| etc, SO that the OMISSION appears ON the
face of the bill itself. Therefore. the two
requirement. that the Governor shall first
| deposit all acts. ETC., in the Office of the
Secretary of State, and second, inform the
House in which the same originated. have
not been complied with as to any of these
bills"
The bills thus affected are those creating
the Supreme Court commission, the Indi
annapolis Board of Control the Bigham pc
lice-fire board, the Bureau of Geology
| trustees for each of the additional insane
hospitals, trustees for the old institutions
and affecting the Board of Health, Supreme
Court Reporter, and that bill in regard tt
natural gas, and the one in regard to State
house custodian. But there is still another
difficulty in the way, as Governor Hovey
stated yesterday, that under no considera
ton would the acquisitions of trustees who
held no State commissions be hOnOred, al
neither the Auditor or Treasurer had any
authority to issue warrants or pay money
to- persons other than those duly com
missioned as the proper persons to receiv,
1T. 1t is probable that large amount o.
money will be needed by the State iDstitu
tiOns even before the case of the Suprem,
Court Commission is decided. and il
that court fails to make its de
cisiOn. In that matter comprehensive,
enough to settle the other natter
In controversy it is likely many of tn,
State institutions; pending the settlement
OF the rights OF those seeking to cOntro
them by suits begun in the lower courts
will suffer. The State Constitution pro
vides that the judges of the Supreme COur
shall decide all points raised on the record
but it has been held that such provision
only requires that they shall pass upoI
| such matters as are necessary to decide tn