The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-05-19
THE DEMOCRATIC POSITION
Senate Is a Continuous Body
But 1t Takes Eleven to
Do Business
REPUBLICANS DID NOT PARTICIPATE.
Concludes That Adrain and Rogers
Should Have Been Ousted-
Salient Points Of the
Decision.
Special to tho Jer,ev CItv Ns,Os

opeetUG W tHo JSTSSy CHy IS0lts.
TRENTON, May 10, 1s94-Ex- Governor
Leon Albeit has fled his dissenting opinion
in the quo ,oarranto suit brought to deter
mine which of the two contending Senates
was the legal one.
Judge Albeit holds that neither was the
properly constituted Senate and that judg-
ment of custer should be entered against
both. These are the salient points of the
opinion
The Senate of New Jersey came into exist
ence under the Constitution of 1874 1t was
created to take the place of the Legislative
Council provided by the constitution of 1776.
The council was an annual body, its mem
bers being all elected for one year only. The
Senate at its first meeting in 1S45 consisted
of nineteen members, one from each of the
then counties of the State 1t was divided
as equally as possible into three classes.
The seats Of the Senators of the first
class were vacated at the expiration of
the first year, of the second class at the ex-
plratlon of the second year, and of the third
class at the expiration of the third year, so
that in accordance with the Constitution one
class may be elected every year; and if
vacancies happen, by resignation or other
wise, the persons elected to supply such va
cancies shall be elected for the unexpired
terms only. The term of Office of Senators
is three years Two new counties have been
created since 1914, and the full Senate now
consists of twenty one Senators, of whom
eleven are quorum to do business.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE.
AT the election held in November, 1898,
eight Senators were elected to take the
places of the Senators whose terms of Office
would expire January 8. 1894 On january
9 there were existent thirteen holdover
Senators, and eight Senators-elect Nine of
the holdover Senators met in the Senate
Chamber and elected one of their number
Robert Adrain-their presiding officer, and
thereafter claimed to have elected him
President of the Senate, upon the insist
ment that the four other holdover Senators
were actually or constructively present
at the time of his election. The
four, however, insisted upon certain
assurances from the nine as to their
future action, and these being refused, they
withdrew. and associated themselves with
seven Senators-elect. and these eleven organ
lied themselves into a second body, which
they insist is the true Senate of New Jersey,
because, as they contend, the quorum of the
Senate provided for by the Constitution was
present at this organization. This body
elected Maurice A. Rogers as President Of
the Senate" The thirteen holdover Sena-
tors constituting the two classes of the SEN
ate whose terms Of Office had not expired
did not voluntarily act together as one body,
but divided themselves as / have stated
Under the Constitution, the Senate elects its
own President. If either of the bodies de-
scribed was the true Senate of New Jersey
at the time it acted, then the person chosen
by that body is President of the Senate
COURT HAS JURISDICTION.
The questions In this case are: First,
whether this Court has jurisdiction to try
the issues raised by the record; second,
jurisdiction being found, is either of the re-
spondents President of the Senate of New
Jersey? 1t is clear that to elect President
of the Senate, the body exercising such
power must be the Senate. There can be
only one Senate in existence, and the deci-
sion of the rights of the respondents, there
fore, depends upon the answer to the ques-
tion, was either of these bodies the Senate of
New Jerseya
/ have reached the conclusions, for the
reasons hereinafter stated, that neither Of
said bodies at the time it acted was the true
Senate of New Jersey; that the Senate is a
continuous body and at that time consisted
of the thirteen Senators composing the two
classes whose terms of office had not then
expired
The jurisdiction of the Court to try this
controversy is. in my Judgment, clear The
object of the litigation is not to interfere
with the functions of the legislative depart
ment of the State, or either of the houses,
which together constitute that department.;
it is to ascertain whether either of the two
bodies claiming to be the Senate, is really
the Senate of New Jersey. That such an in
quiry is judicial one seems to be established
on principle and authority. McCrary on
Elections, 396; Prince " Skinlin IL Ne.
367; In re Gum, 80 Kansas 155. This
jurisdiction has also been upheld where
it relates to the executive department, and
+ tho inn tvna WI oh Of fc
was Lieutenant Governor of a State. At
torney General v. Barstow, Wis. 567 The
reasons for unfolding the jurisdiction of this
court, stated in the opinion of the learned
Chief Justice, are conclusive. 1t is true that
our Constitution declares that the "Legis-
latiye power shall be vested in the Senate
and General Assembly" but when two bod
les each claim to be the Senate judicial
question is presented.
TIE QUESTION INVOLVED.
This court IN Pangborn ct al v Young,
Vr. ~, 80 says that "a legislative bill
which wanted the approval Of either the
Assembly or the Senate, or that of the Gov
ernor would be SO plainly defective on con-
stitutional grounds, that this Court could not
hesitate in the exercise of its clearly legiti-
mate power, in declaring it absolutely voido
In the same case it treats the certificate sign
ed by the President of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House as conclusive evil
Q6uCe VI bue pdSsetSS VI a DtIA OuSn tuC
two houses. The court may therefore in
quire into the question of title when the two
persons claim to be President Of the Senate,
and to do so in this case it is necessary to de-
eide which body, if either, is the constitu-
tional Senate
This court having jurisdiction, the duty is
imposed upon it of deciding which of the
claimants, if either, has shown title to the
office. This question of Office involves the
inquiry whether our Senate expires annually
in the same sense the Assembly does, or is
like tire Senate of the United States, con-
tinnous, ''ever living body" There is no
such body as .'new Senaten known to the
Constitution of the United States There is
biennially new House Of Representatives,
because the entire membership of that body
expires at the end Of every second year. But
not so the Senate The Constitution re-
plenishes that body every two years by the
election of class of Senators, and
thereby gives continuity to that body.
The debates in the Constitutional Convenr
ton of 1857. and those in the Senate, and the