The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-03
ELECTED TO ONE POSITION,


The ease and grace with which the
members Of the assembly mount TO
other positions Of honor and profit, with
the accent on profit, has raised the
question as to whether they have a
legal right to stand for election or &C
ceDt such positions after being elected.
The supreme court not very long ago
rendered a decision to the effect that
members Of the legislature were ineligl-
bic to hold any other Office during the
time for which they were elected to
that body. The decision even went far
Their than this and held that should
the member resign from his position
as member OF the legislative body,
he would not be. eligible to any office
until after the time for which he had
been elected had expired.
The reslgnatiOns of Assemblymen
Lewis and Krahmer and the promised
designations of Assemblyman MabOn
and Aid. Markham. which are sched-
uled for the near future, has caused
considerable talk among the less fortu-
nate politicians in the council. There
are those, who, having just entered
into political life, have an idea that
such action is not exactly right, and
that person elected by the voters Of
ward district or the city at large
6IiCQlO ISuldlu III the pldc6 TO WHICH
they were elected for the full term.
As stated however, this idea is ad-
Vanced more particularly by those who
are serving their first term in the
council, and. while willing and anxious
to accept any old office, see no chance
for them to land a prize Of any kind.
An attorney, who is not a politician,
II speaking Of the matter yesterday
said, in his opinion, if the decision re-
Gently rendered by the supreme court
was tested in the case of retiring as
sembIymen or aldermen, who took 9TH
1er offices, the court would undoubtedly
hold the same as in the case of the
legislatures members.
The practice, he said, whether frown-
ed upon by the courts or not, was
bad one, as it destroyed the theory of
the government. The position Of al
derman or aSSeT1blyman was one VINO
under the law was to be elected by the
people of the ward or district in which
they were chosen If the thing was
kept up there would soon be a majority
in the assembly of members who were
not elected by the people, but chosen
by the members of that body for one
cOnsiderat ton or another 1t was all
right he said. for Mr.. Lewis to be
elected to the bench, Mr. Krahmer to
the office of register Of deeds, Mr.. Ma
ban to be appointed to the board Of
puUIlC WOIkS anu MI. Markham TO be
selected as city attorney, but all of
these gentlemen should first have
served out the term for which they
were elected by the people. In this
connection a Republican who keeps in
touch with the machine ventured the
statement that a number Of the can
didates on the city ticket last spring
took the nomination and made the race
with the distinct understanding that
in case the g. 0. p. was successful they
should be rewarded with nominations
for better pluns in the fall or ap-
pointed to better paying positions as
soon as vacancies occurred.
In the light of past political events
and the promises and predictions made
for future ones, it would appear that
there was considerable truth in tie
statements made by the prominent Re
publican as to the programme mapped
out last spring. AS to whether the
question of the stepladder act from
the council to other and softer offices
will be brought up and tested in the
courts, there is some doubt. No one
seems TO be willing to take the first
step in the matter just at the present
time. but it is not unlikely that the
next local campaign will see the ques-
ton made an issue in both the Repub-
hcan and Democratic conventions.