The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1894-02-02

aside the writ There was distinguish
ed counsel on both sides. The appel
laEts were represented by Gideon Q.
Moody, S. l.. SPHINX and Mclaughlin
and Steele; the appellee by Bartlett,
Trip and Gamble Bros.
The decision written by Judge G. G.
Bennett, is too long for our columns,
being comprehensive review of the
case and the law points involved. But
among the salient points we quote the
following sentences:
go Section II, chapter %, polit ical
code, provides that appointments to ill
vacancies must lie made to continue I'm
til a successor is elected and qualified;
and my attention has not bee called 10
any provision authorizing an appoint
ment to an elective office to extend be-
yond the next general election, when
the people may choose for themselves.
We do not say this could not be done
by appropriate legislation, but it has
not and the courts should not by a
forced and strained construction in an
tagonism to the spirit and letter of gen.
eral statutes, and the we'll recognised
legislative policy OF the territory, do
that which the law making power has
studiously avoided.
"Under Missouri statute, providing
that when any one of the judges of the
county court shall vacate the Office, for
any reason other than the expiration
of his term of service, the governor
shall appoint, until the next regular
election. a suitable person the duties
of his office-it was held that the term
of office of judge appointed by the OK
ecutive con tinues until the next general
election and NOT UNTIL THE NEXT REGU-
LAR ELECTION OF COUNTY JUDGES"
The Oregon court say: The people
of Oregon by their constitution made
their judiciary election, and they gave
their elective power to fill temporary
thcancies, which should occur between
vactions. If the people had intended
to part with this power of appointing
judges, they would have expressed it; IT
CANNOT EE INFERRED. No influence or
amendment is ever presumed against the
sovereign Such is the universal rule
for the construction of statutes, for the
they emanate from the sovereign power
which, in this state, is the people.
They appoint the executive and he only
iacts by delegated authority and author
pity cannot be presumed beyond the ex-
tress words of the grant. And think
he power in this case only extends to
he filling a vacancy until the next gen
eral election, when the people can regu-
larly exercise their authority in electlng
officers | think it is not reasonable to
presume that where the people reserved
to themselves the appointment OF an
officer, they would confer upon the cx-
ecutive the filling a vacancy which
would extend the time beyond o gener-
al election x 81 when they could
fill it as conveniently as they appointed
the original incumbent. ,"
The whole decision is directly appli-
cable to this case. The writ was sus-
tanned and the clerk ordered to order
the election OF county officials.
IF the populists nominate a candidate
for Judge at their state convention and
he republican officials refuse to pla ce
his name on the official ballot, the popu-
list then apply for a writ of mandamus to
require them to do so, they will have
case precisely analogous to this one,
and the state supreme court can deny
the writ only by reversing the decision
of the supreme court of Dakota terri
tory