The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-02-23
ROGERS TO ANSWER.
Line of Action of the Re-
pub1icans in the Quo
Warranto Suit.
SAY THE COURT HAS NO POWER.
But Franklin Murphy Thought 1t
Best TO Offer a Defense
Heated Argument.
Special to the Jersey City Ners.

Senators and several of the more lustrouS
legal lights of that party held a conference
in the State House last night and resolved to
go into court and defend the quo soaYranto
proceedings against Maurice A. Rogers. As
soon as it became known on Tuesday after
noon that the Supreme Court had granted
the Governor and Attorney General a rule
to show cause why the quo scoi7anto should
not be granted the wires of the Western
Union Telegraph Company began to smoke
with the messages which flew over the State
summoning the faithful to meet at the Capt.
toll last evening. The messages to the Sena-
tors said that it was absolutely necessary
that every Senator should be in Trenton
last evening, and were signed by Franklin
Murphy, Cortlandt Parker and Joseph
Coult.
Every Senator responded to the urgent
call except Senator Ward of Salem. n with
them came Franklin Murphy, Chairman of
the State Committee. Joseph Coult and the
two Parkers, father and son, OF Newark;
Samuel H. Grey Of Camden. They were
joined by Barker GuInmere, Jr., OF Trenton,
and all journied to the State House, followed
at a discreet distance by a small mob OF local
republicans. Owing to the absence OF Sen
ator Ward no meeting OF the Senate could
be held, but, nevertheless, they went through
the form of calling the roll and adjourning
for want of a quorum just like the Demo-
Gratis have been doing during the past six
weeks. Then the public was invited out, and
the doors locked. Two stalwart doorkeepers
kept all the curious at a safe distance, but
not entirely out of earshot of the heated dis
cuSsion.
ooRHE OPPOSED TO QUO wARRANTo.
The conferees were by no means unani-
NOUS or harmonious. Foster VOORHEES, did
not favor the idea of participating in the
proceedings. He said:-
81 have been reluctant to believe that the
Governor is a willing pdrticepS i'll the con-
spiracy to battle the people in their efforts to
rid the State of the domination of bosses,
gamblers and rings; but the evidence that he
is, has been accommodating rapidly of late,
and | cannot help regarding this quo fcdr'-
ranto proceeding as an effort of the Gov
ernor TO get another opinion or decision
from which he can quote passages now and
then to give a plausible air to his efforts to
support his friends. TIL opinion of the At
torney-General served that purpose for a
| time. until it was made clear that it was
based on a forged journal, and a pack Of
lies, and its original force was dissipated by
| the destructive criticism of Mr.. Cortlandt
Parker and others.
siThe purpose now seems to be to work up
| an artificial case, present it to a court which
| cannot aud will not attempt to decide the
real controversy and get some sort or a de
| cision to the effect that the Senate is a con-
tinuous body. That is not the point.
"While the majority do not believe that
| the Senate is a continuous body, we have
offered to waive our opinion on that subject,
| and while we believe that the present organ
| ization of the Senate is perfectly legal, we
have offered to go through the formality of
organization again, provided the rights OF
all Senators are respected as in former years.
l - f1.nxo1%fa, &c W.
| the question. The question, SO far as there
| is any question at all, is whether Senators
| elected by the people have any right to enter
| upon the discharge of their duties until the
! peoples decision has been approved by DAILY,
| McDermott and Adrain.
COURT Has NO POWER TO DECIDE.
9TH Supreme Court has no power to de-
| cid that question. l do not understand that
there is any intention of submitting it to the
court.
aIf the court has any Jurisdiction of the
! matter, it may decide that the organization
| of the Senate, as effected by the majority, is
legal. We do not need any decision from the
court to that effect. The court may also de-
eide that the Adrain so-called Senate was
legally organized. That would, in substance,
\ be a decision that Senators elected last No
vember must supplicate Adrain and his asso-
| ciates for permission to obey the mandates
of the people.
1 ~ uQ " ACS1OdUC ~ a hOAi1NlA W obJ
| that if the latter conclusion should be
reached by the court I would not conform to
| it. and | feel confident that no other Repub-
| hcan Senator would do so.
~ do not think We should volun-
tarily take part in the proposed htiga-
| ton, for if we should do SO, there would
arise an honorable obligation, at least, to
abide by the result.
ave are all willing to submit our title to
office to the Judgment of an organized Sen
nate proceeding iii the regular course of
business established by fifty years of prece-
dent; but we will never submit our right to
| represent our constituents to the decision OF
| a disgraced and ~repudiated minority of the
| Senate.
ssIt seems that no Republican member of
| the Senate has been made a party to the quo
1arrdnto proceeding by name, except Presi-
lent Rodgers. His title to the presidency of
| the Senate depends entirely on the title OF
| all the Republican Senators to office, and for
that reason every Republican Senator is in
| substance a party to the lawsuit. President
Rogers was elected by a majority Of all the
| Senators. The Constitution declares them to
be the sole judges of their qualifications.
| Besides. the third article of the Constitution
| says:-sThe powers of the Government shall
be divided into three distinct departments
| the legislative, executive and judicial-and
no person or persons belonging to or consti-
tuting one of these departments shall exer-
else any of the powers properly belonging to
| either of the others, except as herein ex-
pressly provided
ssThe court has no right to make a decis-
ion which, in effect, ignores or reverses the
Senate's Judgment or selection. The election
| or removal of a President of the Senate is
the exercise Of a power that belongs to the
| Senate itself and not to the court.
LEGISLATE, NOT TO
ave are sent to Trenton to legislate, not
to litigate; and the necessity for reform leg
| islation is being made to appear more n
more clearly as the desperate character of
this conspiracy is developing. The only
| obstacle to the orderly course of business of
the Legislature will be removed shortly by
the Legislature itself, and the wishes Of the
people, expressed at the last election, will be
| recorded in the form of statutes. In a word,
the majority in the Legislature will do their
duty and the people will dispose of their en-
emies in their own way.
II do not wish, in my remark on this sub
| ject, to intimate any disrespect to the Su-
preme Court. That court and the Court of
Chancery is about the only one of the princi-
pal departments of the State government
| that has maintained its title to respect dur
ing the past few years, and the only way to
retain public confidence is to keep out of a
controversy that the court cannot determine"
SENATOR sKrsM'S POSITION.
Senator Skirm conceded with Mr.. Voor-
hees and favored ignoring the court and the
quo a0uTrdnto proceedings entirely. He
advocated maintaining the stdtn quo and
protested strongly against surrendering the
principle for which they had been contend