Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-24
STATUS OF GEN. SICKLES
The Second Controller Holds That Con.
gress Has Decided.
When He Was Admitted to the House
tiOn Was Then Settled.

Second Controller Mansur has decided
that there is no legal objection to the pay
ment of Gen. Sickles pay as an officer On
| the retired list of the army while he is
drawing salary as a member Of Congress
| from New York. The decision is based on
| the ground that as the House of Represen-
| tatives has admitted Gen. Sickles as a
member the question has been practically
| decided by that body, it having the sole
power to determine the qualifications of its
members.
The question came before the second con-
! troller by reference from the Secretary OF
| War, to whom the paymaster general had
addressed a letter touching the right of Gen,
| Sickles to receive the salary appropriate 10
| his army rank. because he has been elected
| member of Congress
In the decision the second controller quotes
from the Constitution the parts bearing on
| the question.
Nothing is here said" he adds. .of in
| hibitinS person from holding two offices
at one time, nor the vacation of any uffice
held by any person prior to his election and
qualification as a member of Congress. On
the contrary. the inhibition is against any
person that holds any office of any grade
or class under the United States who is
| thereby absolutely disqualified and inhibit-
| ed from becoming a member either of the
| Senate or the House of Representatives
during his continuance in office.
The question of who shall hold a seat in
II is provided, as above cited, that each
House shall be the judge of the elections
returns and qualifications of it's own men,
bers, not the controller, not the Judge of
any court. not the President nor any off,
cial of the land outside of the conjoiat ac-
ton of the members of the House 10 which
the member may be elected. Gen. Sickles
was rot an obscure man when elected TO
Congress 1t is fair to presume that a large
part or his co-members of the House knew
his rank, and knew that he was an officer
of the army on the retired list.
have already shown that on August
Z, lS93. Gen Sickles appeared in the House
presented himself for qualifica ton, his Ca Sc
was before the House. the House, in its
organized capacity. acting through the
Speaker, took from him the required con-
stitutional oath of Office, and he entered
upon the discharge OF his duties as a mem
Der of Congress. and has continued to act
ever since.
I'm doing this the House was necessarily
compelled, under the constitutional duty
as the judge of the qualifications of its
own members, to pass upon the fact as to
whether or not Gen. Sickles. by virtue of
being upon the retired army list, was hold
ing any office under the United States
and By their determination found that he
did not.
Decision OF Congress Conclusive,
The second controller then proceeds to dis
cuss the question of jurisdiction and reaches
the conclusion that 1T will not be claimed
that the controller has power to review and
reverse a decision of Congress. The de-
cision of Congress was supreme and final
If, as Judge Swayne states. the settled
rule of law is that jurisdiction having at
tached in the original case, to wit in Con-
gress, to determine the qualifications of
Gen. Sickles, nothing done within the limits
of that jurisdiction can be reversed in a
collateral proceeding, such as the one now
pending before the controller. and the de-
olson of Congress must be held to be con-
rights fi.aC
Every intendment will be made to sup
port that decision, and the decision of Con-
gress must be regarded regular in all things
and irreversible by any authority in this
land. for error, IL any, in its proceedings.
1 can entertain no question collateral to
the proposition passed upon by Congress,
when Ii decided that whatever might be
the place. the position or the rank held by
Major General Sickles upon the retired
list of the army. still II was not, I'm the
language of the Constitution, any Office
that could or did inhibit him from
becoming member of the House of Repre-
sentatives.
Gen. Sicl>les' Army Place.
Il must, therefore, hold that the action of
the House of Representatives in seating
Gen. Sickles as a member thereof, with or
without objection. is an adjudication by that
body; that Gen. Sickles does not hold any
office under the United States:' that the ac-
ton of the House of Representatives binds
every department and officer of the govern
ment SO far as this one case and the one
question under consideration is concerned.
Retired Officers Status.
I'm conclusion" he says, II sum up the
status of a retired army officer to be as
follows, to wit: He may hold any civil office
under the government save and except those
of a Senator or member of the House of
Representatives. which by the Constitution
are inhibited to him. or to any officer civil
or military, under the United States; that
he can draw his pay a retired officer, and
also draw the salary or compensation of
any civil office or employment he may hold
under the government assuming always
that the duties of the civil Office are per-
formed under and by virtue of a commits
sion appointing him to that office which he
holds in addition to his rank as a retired
officer