The Hawaiian gazette., 1891-03-03

Il
listers shall be removed by the Sow
ereign only upon a Legislative vote
of want of confidence or upon con-
vlction of felony, and also that they
shall be subject to impeachment.
AS to the effect of the death of a
Sovereign upon the status of the
Cabinet, this Article is silent, and
we find nothing in the rest of the
Constitution bearing on this ques-
ton except in the case of the death
of the Sovereign leaving no heir to
the Throne art. 22), or leaving a
minor heir without having provided
for regency by will art. 33). In
the first of these contingencies, the
Cabinet are continued in Office for
the sole purpose of administering
the government during the inter
regnum and of calling the Legisla-
ture together to elect a successor
to the Throne, if we may judge
from the practice under the similar
provision of the constitution of
1864. In the second contingency
the Cabinet are created a provi-
sional council of regency to con-
duct the government until a regu-
lar regent or council of regency
shall be elected by the Legislature
called together for that purpose.
This corresponds exactly with the
requirements of Article 80 of the
constitution of 1864.
If these two provisions, in case of
the contingencies named, have any
bearing upon the question before
us, they rather initiate against
than favor the proposition that I'M
der all circumstance the status of
the Cabinet is unaffected by the
death of the Sovereign, especially
if we consider the practice under
the first, and the necessary inter
probation of the second, during the
period of the last constitution.
The words referred in Article Al
are as follows: "They (the Cabinet),
shall be appointed and commissioned
by the King and shall be removed
by Him, only upon vote of want of
confidence passed by majority of
all the elective members of the
Legislature, or upon conviction of
felony, and shall be subject to i'm
parchment" Apparently the sole
objects of these words, were to de-
prive the Sovereign of his former
power of dismissing his Ministers
at will and to define the conditions
under which the Ministers shall be
dismissed for cause. How then
shall we extract from them the
further meaning that they state
the tenure of office of the Min
listers, excluding the emergency OF
the death of "a Sovereign, which, as
was well known under the previ
Gus constitution, vacated their COM
missions except as they held over
Professionally until the appointment
of their successors? 4r- L.
1t may be argued that the Con-
stitution is great advance upon
the former system of government
and when examined as whole
shows such a consistent intent to
establish government by Cabinet
responsible solely to the Legisla
ture, that the repeal of the old rule
as to the effect of the death of the
Sovereign may be taken for grant
ed. But how shall those whose
duty it is to interpret the Constitu-
ton be advised of the extent of the
intended reform If there are no
words to guide them? So far as the
language goes, it may have been
the intent of the trainers to leave
the old rule in force in correspon-
dence with the practice in Eng
land, or amid the pressure of other
and perhaps more important ques-
tions, this point may have been
overlooked altogether. What may
have been the intent upon this sub
ject, or whether it was thought of
cannot be gathered from the Ian
guage used, and we may not arrive
at an opinion by guesswork.
AS we do not find that the old
rule has been changed or repealed
by the Constitution, or that the
Sovereign has been by it deprived
of the right of selecting a Cabinet
at his accession, we are of the
opinion that the death of His late
Majesty obliges you to tender your
designations to Her Majesty the
Queen.
One of the Justices dissents from
the foregoing opinion.
have the honor to be, in behalf
of the Court, ttBE .5aab
Your obedient servant,
(Signedl A. f. JUDD,
Chief Justice Supreme Court.