The herald., 1895-10-30
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 80. 1905
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS SUCCESSOR

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR SUCCESSOR
A considerable portion of the Republi-
can press of the state is threatened with
hysteria because. first, Governor Budd
hlled the Office of lieutenant governor i'm
mediateIy after Mr.. Millard's death, and
second. because he filled it at all.
The supersenstive critics of the COVER
nor should rememb Der that the state gov
eminent is a business institution, con-
Quoted in the interests of the people and
that the prompt filling of the vacancy
created by Mr.. Willard s sad death was
. business-llke proceeding, which does
not reflect on the late lieutenant COVER
nor. The governor being conscious of
the precarious state or his own health,
and desiring to insure against the pos
sibly detrimental effects of journey so
far from the capital while in so ndiffer-
ent condition, simply performed his
duty to the people when he filled the
vacated office without delay. The dis
gruntled papers know this, and when
they indulge in fearful lamentations
about 'indecent haste they are guilty
of lnsuperable hypocrisy.
AS to how the off ce of lieutenant gov
Cl hol cudll " ullou III bue eVCuG Oh
vacancy, il must be admitted that the
constitution Is not as plain as it should
be. 1t is evident that this exigency failed
to receive the careful consideration at
the hands of the constitution makers to
which it was entitled, and in conse-
auence the provision for it is not as ex-
-plict as is desir ole.
The only two sections Of the constitu-
ton which can have any bearing on the
issue at hard are sections and OF arti-
Gle XIV. Section is as follows:
"A lieutenant-governor shall be elected
at the same time and places and in the
same manner as the governor, and his
term of office and qualifications of eligi-
bility shall also be the same. H shall be
the president of the senate, but shall have
only casting vote therein. If, during
"a vacancy of the Office uf governor. the
leutenant-governor shall be impeached
displaced, resign, die or become incapa-
BILE of performing the duties of his office
or be absent from the state, the presi-
dent pro tempore of the senate shall act
as governor until the vacancy be filled or
she disability shall cease. The lieuten-
ant-governor shall be disqualified from
holding any other office. except as spe-
cially provided in this constitution, dur
ing the term for which he shall have beea
elected"
" is on this part OF the constitution
that Senator Flint, president pro tempore
of the senate, bases his claim for the
Office.
Section reads as follows:
''Section 8. When any office shall from
any cause become vacant. and no mode
Is provided by the constitution or laws
for filling such vacancy. the governor
shall have power to fill such vacancy by
granting a commission, which shall ex-
pire at the end of the next session of the
legislature, or at the next election by
the people"
In this latter section Governor Budd
finds the power for appointing Mr.. Mil
lard's successor.
Now, while neither section is as clear
in the premises as may be desirable, it
would seem hard for candid and I'M
prejudiced person to avoid the conclusion
after reading both that as a strictly legal
proposition the governor is right and the
friends of Senator Flint wrong. In no
part of the section on which Senator
Flint relies is it provided that the presi-
dent pro tempore OF the senate SHALL sue
coed to the Office of Northumberland
1t simply declares that he may become
governor in the event of certain specified
contingencies, and act as such until the
gubernatorial vacancy is filled, or the
lieutenant disabilities are re-
moved. Then be becomes president of
the senate once again.
ho+
ident of the senate is not supposed by
this section to succeed to any office except
temporarily, and the only off e mention
cd by this section TO which he can actual
ly enjoy succession is the gubernatorial
one. The fact that the law provides that
an officer may temporarily, because of GER
tain reasons, become governor. does not
justify the assumption or Inference that
the same officer may i'll some other off oe
when a vacancy occurs in it. And al
though the Office of lieutenant-goyernor
10 second to that of the governor only,it is
nevertheless a separate and distinct office.
While the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Is ex-
oficio president of the senate, the presi-
dent of the senate pro tempore is not ex.
oficio ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS as some of our
contemporaries seem to think. Incident
ally it might be mentioned that there is
no case in the history OF the state where
the president of the senate has ever acted
rs lieutenan-governor. Therefore it is
clear that the cause of Senator Flint has
neither law nor precedent to rest on.
Even if Governor Budd is wrong Senator
Flint is not right.
But while the section that Senator Flint
depends on absolutely fails to substanti-
ate his claim IN the smallest particular,
the section in which the governor declares
he finds power to appoint William 7.
Jeter as Mr.. Millard's successor, certainly
in technical degree, to say the least,
custains the governors action. 1t ex-
plicitly states that when any Office shall