Middletown transcript., 1895-03-23

one of it's representatives in the Senat e
of the United States. AS a matter of
| fact, the Legislat ure twice before failed
to elect. The first instance was III
1894, when the Legislature failed to
elect Senator to fill a vacancy caused
by resignation; and The second instance
was in 1889 at the beginning of term
when no election took place Th.
latter CASE will present an exact paral-
lei to the condition which will prevail
should he Legislature now in session.
fail to elect Senator.
The former gave rise TO the famous
Johns case, when the Senate first de-
cided that a Governor cannot fill a
vacancy when the Legislature of a
State has been in session and failed 10
elect. 1t did not occur to us at the
time of writing our editorial of last
week, and of the latter case we confess
that we had no Knowledge. In view
of the present condition of affairs and
If the unceri ainty as to the out come,
it may not be amiss to give brief ni--
tory of the WI CASES III question
On the IS day of September. 1894, J.,
George Read. one of the Senators from
this Stue, resigned his seat in the
Senate, having been appointed Chief
Justice of Delaware by Governor
Joshua Clayton. On the IA day of
January, 1874, the General Assembly
in joint session took ballot for the
office of Senator to fill the vacancy.
That ballot resulted in tie vote be-
tween Kensey Johns and George
Mitchell, each OF them receiving four
teen votes. The two Houses then
separated, and no other ballot Was
taken during that session OF the Legis-
lature. Governor Clayton entertained
douL Is as to whether he could make
an appointment to fill the vacancy,
and he consulted Chief Justice Reed
and Nicholas Ridgely. They both ad-
vised him % make the appointment,
and he appointed Kensey Johns. Mr..
Johns appeared in the Senate on the
Oath day of March, 1874, and produced
his credentials. The credeI tials were
referred to the Committee on Elections.
Three days later this committee re-
ported that Mr.. Johns was not entitled
to a seat in the Senate, a session of
the Legislature having intervened be-
tween the resignation of Mr.. Read and
the appointment of Mr.. Johns. The
Senate adopted the report by a
vote of 20 to Z, and Mr.. Johns was re-
fused admission. This was the first
decision by the Senate as to the Cover
nor's power to make an appointment
in case of failure by the Legislature
to elect.
The next vacancy happened in 1889,
when the Legislature failed to elect a
Senator for the constitutional term
commencing on the 4th day of March
of that year. A reading of the
House Journal indicates that the ses-
sion of 1889 was very stormy one.
At that time there was no Federal
statute providing a uniform mode of
election in all the States, each State
being free 10 prescribe the method by |
which its legislature should elect. |
Our Legislature for that year could |
never agree even upon method of |
electing. A majority of the Senate |
and zen of the twenty-one members of |
the House of Representatives favored an
election by ballot at a joint session of
the two Houses. Eleven members of |
the House insisted, however, that each |
body should vote separately. The
Legislature that year convened on the /
first day of January. The first step
to secure an election was taken in |
the House, where a joint resolution
was introduced on the second day of !
day of January, being the secoud day |
of the session, providing that the Leg
islature should on the next dayn in
joint mee'lng, in he Hal of the House |
of Representatives, hold an election by I
ballot for the purpose of electing a
Senator for this State" This resolu- !
tion was laid on the table. Before il
was finally disposed of, joint resolu-
tion was received from the Senate |
providing for an election by ballot, in
joint meeting, on the 17lh of that
month. The two resolutions were
taken up for consideration in the
House on tho Sth of January, and
motion was made bp Mr.. Frame that |
both resolutions be indefinitely post
poned. The morning and afternoon