Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-03-15
SATURDAY. MARCH 10. 1890.
An Inferasfinp Question.

On Wednesday last the United States
Senate passed very interesting resolution.
II will operate rs a rule of that body. For
one hundred years the question thus de-
cided had been allowed to remain unset
tied. il indeed it is not still undecided
The resolution is rs follows;
Resolped, That il is competent for the
Senate 10 elect President pro teIlpore, VINO
shall hold the Office during the pleasure OF
the Senate and until another IL elected,
and shall execute the duties thereof du-
ring all future absences of the Nice-Presi-
dent until the Senate shall otherwise or
der.
This is on authoritative exposition OF the
meaning of the following clause of the
Federal Constitution--that is, as the pres
ent Senate understandsit:
THE Senate shall choose their other
officers, and also their President pro
teDpore in the absence OF the Nlce-Presi:
dent. or when he shall exercise the Office OF
President Of the United States"
The question thus decided was stated by
MIR. GEORGE. of Mississippi, to have been
before the Senate in 1856 under the cir
cumstances we ore about to name. At the
time
"Mr. Bright was President of the Senate
,rO fe1npore. and he appointed substitute
on the eth day of June of that year. lie
wrote q letter TO Mr.. Stuart, OF Michigan,
asking him 10 take the chair for the day;
Mr.. Bright was not in the building, and
Therefore not constructively present. and
the Senate held that he could not make
nnv such appointment. andthey thereupon
elected Mr.. Stuart as President pro te7RpOre,
and II was held that Stuart election super
seeded Bright's. They could not have two
presidents pro tcnpOro. As Stuart dld not
want the Office. and as he understood very
well that the Senate wanted Bright to be
the President pro tmp0re of the Senate, he
held the Office about four or five days-l
have forgotten which-and then, Bright
having returned, he resigned, and Bright
was elected
In other words, the question to DO de-
cided was in effect whether the Senate had
right TO elect permanent President pro
TEN. The resolution above quoted shows
that this question has now been decided IN
the affirmative. The fact is that the Senate
was almost compelled to come to that con-
clusion. It would be waste Of time and
an annoyance for the Senate to haveto elect
a new presiding officer every time the
President pro tan. vacated his seat. SO
long as there was 'Vicc-President living
and presiding over the Senate. he and the
President pro tenn. could very easily divide
the duty of presiding to suit their own
convenience II was different, how
ever, when FILLMORE and ANDREW
JOHNSON and TYLER and ARTHUR sue
ceeded TO the Office of President of the
United States. Then there was nobody left
TO preside except the President pro tenn. ::
and if he could not absent himself at all
from the Senate without vacating his Office
and making it necessary for that body to
elect new President pro tenn, the Senate
was in highly-undesirable condition. In
this dilemma. or rather under these cir
cumstances. the resolution above quoted
was adopted with very little opposition.
The language of the Constitution bears
The construction which the Senate has now
put upon it but we cannot think that the
trainers of that instrument intended 1t to
be so construed. They probably never
gave thought to the matter.