Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1891-01-22
Ar THE CAPITOL.

portance was accomplished at the capitol |
to-day. s
Promptly at Il o'clock the senate was
called to order by Speaker pro tenn Read,
and after prayer by the chaplain, Senator
Chase of the Tenth offered the petition Of
William N. Blackstone, asking for the ap-
pointment of trustees to divide certain
shares of stock in the Totoket mills, under
the will of Lorenzo Blackstone. The Pc
tition was tabled.
Senator Pierce offered the following res
olution as regards the action of the senate
in allowing Lieutenant Governor Merwin
to preside over that body yesterday.
STATE OF CoNNEoTIcuT,
SENATE, January Session. 1891.
Whereas, Joseph w. Alsop has been found and
sosernor By the eiecters q the state and On the
Of of
governor, has appeared before the senate for the
avowed purpose of announcing to the senate
gsVei he Would not shrink from evidently in
tending thereby to assert the right and to an
nounce the intention Of attempting to preside
when he shall choose SO to do.
Now, therefore, resolved, By the senate that
said office Of lieutenant governor by the said
cessor as hereinbefore recited and any attempt
by the said Merwin to resume the duties of said
Office will be an act of usurpation against which
the senate will continually protest
Senator Pierce, DEM, of the Fourth,
said, in presenting this petition, ana not
sensitive to any criticisms made by the
press opposed to the majority Of the
senate want the people to understand
the action of the senate, and think the
people of the state do understand it. The
senate has done it's duty since it was Or
gained. In the majority of legislatures
each house transacts it's own business. The
whole never warranted joint action, except
on those matters which first come from
the independent body. Our first duty was
to examine the returns on the first day of
the session, and this we did, thus follow
ing the construction of the constitution as
laid down by the supreme court. The
house failed to do this and set up theory
of continuing the legislative day. Yester-
day, however, they voted for United
States senator contrary to this theory. The
constitution says that United States
senator shall be elected on the second
Tuesday after the first day of the session,
| and according to the theory of the house
| it is still the first day.
We stand, therefore, in this attitude.
| The house has failed to do its duty and
| failed to abide by the records, and entered
| into scheme on their part to cheat the
| people as regards some of the duly elected
state officers at least, out of their just right
As the house refuses to do its duty it
seems to me that the senate should swear
in its officers and do its duty as far as we
can without causing civil war. General
Merwin has declared his intention of some
time occupying the chair, and against this
I protest. The senate will still continue
to do its duty, and it needs no deputy
sheriffs to keep order, and Mr.. Buckley
and the house are the revolutionists, not
the senate.
Senator Shumway (rep.) of the Sixteenth
IL desire to ask the senator from the
Fourth if the resolution has anything to do
| with the proceedings of yesterday.
Senator Pierce (dem.) of the Fourth-It
does not refer to any proceedings of yes
terday, but to the action of man named
Merwin yesterday in the senate chamber.
Senator Mead (rep.) of the Twelfth
would like to know if this is a fact as
shown by the journal that the senate was
called to order yesterday by the speaker
pro tenn.
Senator Pierce, dem, of the Fourth-If
that inquiry is addressed to me, I say Ger
1 oosAAAJ ~ WooJ 10 "O 4CCoSAlACu Ao O40 Dc
calling the senate to order until so called
by the speaker pro tenn.
Senator Shumway, rep, of the Six
tenth, called attention to section 8, arti
Gle 8, of the constitution, which provides
that the legislature shall declare who il
elected, and until then no one shall be de
clared elected; and until they are elected
| the other officers hold over, and by righI
of his Office Lieutenant Governor Merwir
has the right to preside over the senate.
The senate then took recess to meet il
the constitution.
AFTER JOINT SESSION.
At o'clock the senate came to order
again, and Senator Pierce, DEM, of tn.
Fourth, moved that the resolution offered
in the morning, as appears above, be take1
from the table; so voted.
LIVELY DEBATE BETWEEN DEMOCRATS AMI
REPUBLICANS.
| Senator Mead (rep.) Twelfth said: an
not satisfied with the record as it is, al
Speaker Read certainly did not call the
senate to order yesterday, but Lieutenant
Governor Merwin did, and if the records
are to be printed they should be correct
So must protest against them as they are
On motion of Senator Clark, republican
of the Twenty first, the resolution of Sen
ator Pierce was read again, after which the
senator from the Twenty first said: I feel
that we are deviating from the constitu
ton. We, however, have several able
lawyers who seem to show that the consti
tuition is elastic, and have according tc
their idea construed it to fit the action
they have taken since the senate came in
1 10 1a &c
| of my constituents that with fair count
of the votes, according to the constitution,
hundreds of votes can be thrown out
and that the moderators shall not
determine the constitutional rights of the
people. The senate has assumed that VIC
cannot go back of the moderators' re-
turns. To this the people will not agree
as it simply means letting the 100 moder-
ators declare who is elected. Never mind
your lawyers, it is the people who are to
say I protest against this resolution
siding officer of the senate and I do pro
test.
Senator Seymour, DEM, of the Thir-
teenth-The man who came into this
chamber yesterday was not the lieutenant
governor; the people have elected a lieu
tenantrgovernor and we have merely done
cur duty. Does the gentleman say that
the general assembly makes the governors
If they refuse to do their duty, have we
no governor? I think differently. It is
the will of the people that elects. What.
ever we might think as matter of fact,
CARDS the presence of the gentle.
man here yesterday, he is not the
lieutenant governor and he knows his
party is not doing it's duty. They want
the votes recounted. No votes have been
SO counted in ten years. They don't want
to count the votes fairly and they don't
want to act according to the constitution
It is not the final declaration that the
moderator elects the governor; both houses
have final jurisdiction over their OWL
matters for its own members. It merely
sets forth that both houses shall declare
the returns as they are found. The con
stitution commands us to make it and VIZ
have done SO, but the house has failed il
her duty. If final judgment on this
question is wanted it should be brought
before the courts in an action of quo war
ranto. The officers are, on the face of thu
returns, elected and Mr.. Alsop should pre-
side, and let the courts decide the right by
which they hold Office. Some Of
these things have a certain humor
GUS aspect, as for instance the actor
of yesterday, when Mr.. Merwin appeared
and took the chair, and the republican,
thinking he was not at all recognized o.
} acknowledgements or presiding officer O
the senate by the majority. This matter
! l can only be settled in the courts and Their,