The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1891-06-17
An Assuming Governor.


Governor HovEY is the first executive of
the state to assume judicial power to pass
upon the validity Of the published acts of
the legislature. His attempt to nullify
one of the laws of the ffty-seventh gen.
eral assembly by appending rider" to
his proclamation announcing the date of
the latest filing of the laws. is a most
extraordinary performance. 81 there
fore regard said pretended published act
as void, and do not embrace 1t in this
proclamation" is the dictatorial way Gov
ernor HovEY wipes out-in his minds
eye-from the statute books of Indiana
the legislative apportionment act OF 1891.
II, by some hook or crook, the case
could be brought before the supreme
court, and three judges of that court of
last resort could be go partisan as to sus-
tain the position taken by Governor Ho-
vEY, then the governor of Indiana would
WELD a power which executives of no
other governments enjoy save perhaps
the president of Hayti and the car of
Russia. To give the governor the power
to pass upon the constitutionality Of laws
and declare them void by proclamation
months after the adjournment of the leg
islature enacting them would be to en-
dow the chief executive of the state with
an absolute veto power unheard OF in the
history OF popular government.
But it is safe to say that TO court would
dare to establish such a dangerous pre-
cedent That part of the governors
proclamation excepting the spportion-
ment is harmless, and the lawyers say
"mere subterfuEe." The proclamation of
the governor does not vitalize the acts
The following section of the constitution
does not give the governor any power in
the matter:
No act shall take effect until the same
shall have been published and circulated
in the several counties of this state by
authority, except in case of emergency
which emergency shall be declared in the
preamble or in the body of the law.
The above provision of the constitution
and the following section (239) of the re-
vised statutes constitute the only authori-
ty for issuing the proclamation:
SO soon as certificates from all the coun-
ties have been received, the governor shall
issue and publish his proclamation an
nouncing the date at which the latest filing
took place OF the facts contained in which
proclamation all courts shall take notice.
The county clerks certificates now on
file in the governors Office show that the
laws have been circulated in all the
counties of the state in accordance with
the provision of the constitution above
quoted. Among these laws published
and circulated. and receipted for
by county clerks to the governor,
the apportiOnment act is included.
In his proclamation Governor HovEY
says: "By said certificates it appears that
the latest filing OF such laws took place on
the third day of June, 1891, at 10 80 clock
D. M. in the office of the clerk of the cir
cult court of Noble county," The statutes
do not require the governor to proclaim
the laws in force, but simply to give no.
tice to the courts of the time when the
last fling took place, and according to the
governors proclamation the last fling
took place in Noble county, June 3, at
1890 D. In, az which time all laws re-
ceived by the county clerks took effect, in
Guiding the apportionment act, which
the governor with the "Napoleonic soul''
vetoed second time.