The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-02-03
WHO SHALL HOLD OVER.

!
More Complicated.
Views upon the matter OF the terms of
nold-oser senators are various. and the
question continues 70 Be discussed gener-
ally Senator kinnear. chairman Of the
judiciary committee, has given the prob
lem great deal Of study within . few
days. and his ideas, obtained in IN inter-
view, are Is follows
The question OF recistrieting the state By this
legislature 50 that senator's may be elected next
fah By single districts. certainly pe-plexinx
one The ditacalty grows oaf OF the provision OF
the constitution tnafsThe senators chosen AZ the
mt election had By virtue Of this constitution,
IN 0dd numbered districts, shall go cut Of once
- the end OF the first year, aud the senators
eiecsec In the even numbered districts shall 90
oar of once NJ the end OF The third year
II has been claimed by some thst the hrst
election held under the constitution. within the
above provision. win be the one 70 be held this
!a. that the election Of senators last fall 20 this
legislature was held pursuant 70 the enabling
aef- and that there IL as YET no hold-ovcr seDa-
fIss. and that this Legislature may create singse
districts and provide sor elections In each dis
trics this fall do not. however. agree with
this view OF the case, but am of the opinion that
the FIRST election referred to and intended by the
trainers OF the constitution was the election of
last November. snd consequently the senators
for three years.
II has also been suggested that an easy solu-
tion Of the difficulty would be for the senator's
elected for ave years TO resign their seats upon
the close OF this session. the state be redis-
triefed BY single districts, aud senators be
elected iron all the districts this fall. one half
retiring every two years. This plan would no
doabt work wen and solve the difficulty. bat
the long term senators viii NOT likely want TO
resign their places, aud consequently that plan
will not In rny judgment meet with favor or
suceess.
think this legislature must divide the state
Into single senatorial districts of convenient and
contiguous territory, to be conseeutiveiy NAM
bssed. ana IN the division provide for At least
suilicisn, number of even Districts. in order
that each hold-over senator may be assigned to
an even district, and new election be held In
the odd-numbered districts. AN unable 70 see
how the present 0umber OF the Senate can be
REDUCED, If We conceGe that we have seventeen
hoid-over senators from the even districts to he
provided for, uoless some OF them may be
assigned TO odd single districts, which, TO say
the least, il extremely doubtful.
think then, in forming single districts for
the fan election. there must be at least thirty
Eve Of then, in order to provide before
stated. district for each of the hold-overs
as the constitution declares that the districts
SO formed must be coDsecufively numbered.
speak OF this, because 1t 10 claimed by some that
the number of the Senate may be diminished.
Were there no hold-overs. OF course the number
OF districts could be lessened.
The serious trouble ARISES in forlning single
districts, rs none of the hold-overs will repre-
sent the same constituency by whom they were
elected. aud they can now have no definite idea
jHst what their district viii be. Certainly the
single districts must be of contiguous territory
and eonsecutively numbered. Must they also
be OF adjacent territory; II 50. win there not be
at least two even districts ia King county to
which two hoid-overs, perhaps from East OF the
mountains. may be assigned TO I'LL. King having
n0hod-oven for the places.
In my judgment. however, this apparent diff
deulty need not occur, because these single dis
tricts need not necessarily be adjacent to each
other, the only requirement being that they
shall be OF contiguous territory consecutively
numbered, and l think may be scattered
about 70 snit, 70 that the 6vc distr5cS In King
county may he odd and five senators elected
tbereffom this fall. and the same thing may be
done In other counties airnilarly situated II
there we're no holdsver senators. the districts in
King Whitman and other counties should be
ostd and even. so that the senators from the odd
should retire in two and from the even districts
in four years. but that cannot be done now. un-
less these counties are willing that the even
districts be filed with holdover senators elected
from other places.
It Is impossible TO tell what solution win
eventually be made OF this question, as IL viii
likely grow more complicated and unsatisfac-
tory with time, and viii probably have to be
met with a constitutional amendment