The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-01-28
HOLD-OvER SENATORS
The Plan Proposed by the One
Year Men.
RsDlsTRlcT,No THE STATE.
Rival Propositions OF yadrc Turner an4
senatcr whaiiey-relisical Re-
suits Depending.

OIxMprA, Jan o---Thc Question az ho1ik
over senators is attracting some &etuntton
and viii increase in interest ~ Ii is, fron =
political point of view. Of some impurtauoa4
Previous 10 the holiday adjournment, Senn.
tor Whaiiev introduced resolution loOkine
10 the appointment of a conmittee to pro.
pare a plan of redissricfing the state, bnt
the presumed hoid-oyers '.smeit mica
and voted down the resolution. Since -
assembling the subject has been talkpd
about quietly by both sides, and ons nfoAt
last week there was quiet little eather1nr
of i've Of the so-calied hold-overs - diacu61
the situation.
No definite plan Of action has ben d.
termined on yet by either side. The seuA.
tors from meven-nnmhcred districts base their
claim To hold their seats for three years On
section 6. article . Of the constituttotS
which says that: .rhe senator's chosen -
the iirst election had by virtue Of this coS,-.
stitution in odd-numbercd districts shAIl
go out OF Office at the end OF the flrst yer.
and senators elected in even-numberod DIX
tricts shall 60 ont Of Office at The en6
of the third year., They NJ tha1
this is clear and unmistakablo. buH
the even numbered districts are eiehtocns
and the odd numbered only seventeen. u.
therefore, senators from even numboron
districts agreed to stand together thGy
have just the required number to pano =
bill regulating the subject OF redistttclinr.
and . minority could only defeat this u
fiiibustering.
The position taken by senators from ~
even-numbered districts may b. iudeu1
from the attitude OF Senator Whalley, WIZ
has defined his views In letter 70 his locSl
paper. He holds, first, that it ID m eotxnhs
lishcd principle OF law that no ofyice-holdoR
has vested right in an Office; second, th61
the Split OF the constitution IL clearly g
favor of redistricting at this time. He
bases this claim on the fact that the 0nnno1s
tuition permits . reduction Of members e
the legislature at this session, ay1d thlo
would necessarily involve new disfriCtinas
and number Of senators would have g
go out who now claim TO hold oysr.
Again. section 6 Of article 2. says theo
after the first election, senators shall ~
elected by single DISTRICTS" This would
clearly require redistricting at this seosioGk
and this would necessitate The going out q
some of tho senators who claim - ho11
over.
On this assumption, Senator Whalloy ~
CUES that the duty Of this logislaturo 3 ~
vedistrict the state In single senatorial H.
tlkNtSs = IL CANAt Va b&stD WVA40 - "
eighteen Of the present members. juat ~
would be tns case II the stand taktn ~ -
other side prevails. In either caaooovon&|
teen would remain and n would - @
that sixteen would b Rspuhl uhllcons, IT,
being now only one Delnecr@
senate. #
i. "s Es;sub,'ssss ~ MI s'ss y fsso. r.
Of Judge Turner, that ~ aIloeed r. T.
overs I'll resign. bscauss Whallsyss idGa o0
cures at least sixteen Ropuk
hold-ovcrs, while Turner'S r1Sr
would leave the result or
to the hazard of an election. The difsrcnc>
between the result Of the hold-overs, cIo1fm
aud whalley's is that the former retains
present senators from tho present evons
numbered districts. while Whalley = would
retain seventeen from new evcn-numborod
districts, and some Of these would certainly
be senator's from the present odd-nuu1~
bered districts. Tho political roeu11
would be the same, excepting that the one
Democratic senator might happen 70 hold
over, but tho difference would b. In The
men who held over. Some Of the present
alleged hoid-overs would 90 out and somo
of the present senator's from odd-num~
bered districts would stay In.
One argu ment made BY those who claiz1
to be hold-overs Is this: The constituf,un
says in section that they shall hold foe
three years, and in scction6 that after ~
state census of fsG1 there shall ~ uoW
districting. These requirements agree ~
gcther.
II the present members hold thrse yearus
or until 1892. and their successors b than
elected for four years, or until l00Q the1r
terms would expire csncurrentiy WITH IL
new districting required by the constftntlon,
at the first session after state census ol 1e0o