Delaware gazette and state journal., 1896-04-02

until now. The separation Of tho three
branches OF government was the die
tum of Montesquo, but Madison and
other American statesmen did not ac-
cept 1t. He quoted from tho argument
of Madison, referring to the constitu-
tions of various States, in which the
principles of Montesque wero ignored.
The Constitution Of Now Hampshire
provided that the President (Goyernorl
Of the State was member of the Log
iHlature, and after voting on a measure
once, II there was tie, could vote
again. Mr.. George called particular
attention to this statement, and Mr..
Mitchell interrupted 10 say that sit
was a very bad constitution. =" Mr..
George replied that the Senator from
Oregon should stop indulging in fanci-
full theories as to the proper way to
frame constitution, and got himself
down to constituting one. He then
quoted further from Madison, referring
to similar provisions in the cunstitu-
tiuns Of various other States, including
Delaware. He then cited cases which
had occurred in recent days in direct
violation of this American principle,
calling attention to the services of Son
ators Allison and Jones on the monetary
conference; Senator Morgan ana jus
tice Harlan on the Behring Sea arbitra-
tion, and Justice Brewer on the Vene-
zuela commission.
The Senator thon gave his attention
to the provisions of the Delaware Con
stitution on this subject, asserting that
the maxim was utterly repudiated and
ignored. He called attention to the
length that this principle had been
quoted by tho advocates of Col. du
Points claim, and pointed out how little
the principle was involved in the case.
"What tho Constitution of Delaware
forbids is forbidden; what it commands
must he proclaimed.
Tho Senator said there wero three
provisions of the Constitution upon
which all OF the arguments as to the
Senatorial rights of Mr. Watson depend.
Section s., article 3, prohibiting mem
Der Of Congress from exercising tho Office
of Governor, and section IL, article 2.
prohibiting persons holding office under
the State from being Senator, wore
tho provisions relied upon by the ma
jority, and he admitted that if tho Con
stitution stopped there, there might be
something in the claim of Col. du Pont.
But tho Constitution went further and
III cthtibll uluub
provision which changed the whole case
Tho Senator said that great contest
hal been made as to the meaning of
theec provisions, and that he had sim
ply gone into their consideration for
the purpose of showing that tho claim.
ant was not entitled to seat from the
facts of the case, without reference to
the rule which cuts out tho Senate
from considering Mr.. Watson e right to
vote. "You can't sit in scat in this
chamber, Henry A. du Pont, without
destroying the Constitution of tho
United States "
He then considered at length section
II, article 3, arguing that tho Speaker
OF the Senate remained Speaker upon
assuming tho office of Governor. He
pointed out numerous Inconsistencies
which would arise il the contention of
the claimant was correct. Mr.. Mitchell,
he said, discards the word exercise"
for "shall boz and then asserts that
every inconsistency is removed FROM tho
case To show tho absurdity of this
contention, MIR. George said that few
of the inconsistencies under the inter
probation of the majority we're: The
Governor nolds ollico for four years I:
the Speaker Governor holds Office for
only few months: the Governor must
be at least 80 years of age; the Speaker
Governor may TO only 2l; Governor
must be an inhabitant for II years the
now kind of Governor may be an in
habitant for only three years there wore
no property qualifications for regular
| Governor the new kind of Governor
must have 200 acres of land; the Gov
ernor must be elected by the people; tho
now Governor they make is elected by
the members of one house of tho Legis-
lature; tho Governor is elected for the
office of Govcrnor-their new kind of
Governor is elected TO tho Senate and
may never be Governor. Tho Sena-
tor asked how these Inconsistencies
were to be reconciled.
Senator Gray added that the Gov
ernor is not eligible to re, election,
while tho Acting Governor may he
elected to the office. Mr.. George as
serted that the theory of the minority
cleared away every Inconsistency an
reconciled every provision Of the Con
stitution. The advocates of Mr.. du
Pont say that the Speaker becomes
Governor; the minority claim that ho
does not. When tho trainers OF tho
Constitution wanted 10 make Il man
Governor they knew what language to
ua,, and il they had intended TO make
tho Speaker Governor. he asked why
thoy did not say so. lIe dwelt at
length'on this feature of the case, ridi-
culing the assertion OF Mr.. Mitchell
that the acceptance of the office of
Governor was voluntary act on the
part Of the Speaker. He said it was
one of the duties Of the Office Of Speaker
and must be accepted, or the Speaker
would of necessity have to resign,
thereby vacating the office of Speaker
of tho Senate, SD that the Speaker of
the House could assume tho guberna-
toral office. Tho Senator's argument
will be concluded Tomorrow.