The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-04-12
NO DOUBLE OFFICE HOLDS.
The Supreme Court Hands Down q Decfs
Ion Which Holds That the Acceptance Of
Second Office vacates the First-How 1T
Affects County Commissioners

Second Office vacates the First-How 1T
Affects County Commissioners
Tho supreme court of North Carolina
has handed down a DIGESTION that has
caused a futter among the boards Ct
county commissioners throughout the
state. Concerning the decision The Pa
leigh News and Observer Of April Sth
says:
.'The supreme court this week hands
down a decision (Barnhill VS.. Thomp-
son, from Bladen) that will probably
cause a general shaking UP among
Governor 1,ussell's pets in office, and
on TIE various boards.
Those who have more than one Of
flee had better moose quick which they
had rather keep n give UP the others,
or they may some fine day find them
selves ousted from the best places they
hold.
The court defines an office as involv-
ing "a delegation to the individual OF
some of the sovereign functions of gov
eminent, to be exercised by him for
the benefit of the public"
1t is held hat Article XIV, Section
z, of the constitution, expressly forbdds
the holding of two offices at the same
time: tina reason as well as public pol
icy forbids it, and that the acceptance
of the second office is an absolute de-
termination of his right to the first
one.
THE officer has a right to elect which
of the two he will nave and retain,
but his election must be deemed to be
rnade when he accepts and qualities
for the second. The public has a right
to know which is held and which is
surrendered. It should not be left to
chance or tt the uncertain and f1uctu-
ating within of the office-hOlder to deter
mine"
At the last general election Il. G..
Thompson, G.. w. Lyon and John F.
Groom were elected commissioners of
Bladen county. On the first Monday
they duly qualified and have since
been exercising the duties of the office.
On the first Monday i'm June these
commissioners elected themselves mem
bers Of the county board of education,
n have since been diSchaTging the
duties of the office.
AT the fall term, 1897, of Bladen su-
perior court proceedings in the nature
of a quo WarrantO were begun against
Thompson and his associates to turn
them out of the office of commissioner,
on the ground that they held two offices
at ONE and the same time, contrary
to the constitution.
In answer to this the defendant de-
INJURED, c~ontending: %. That the
Board Of eduSatiOn is no office; (2), Ac-
ceptance of a second office does no va
cate the first; (3), That the duties of
the two offices do not conflict. This
demurrer was sustained in the lower
court, but the supreme court Over-rules
1T.
His HOnOr's conclusion was errone-
GUS" says Chief Justice Faircloth, who
writes the opinion, ''and his Judgment
must be reversed. The question in this
States does not turn upon the incom-
patibility of the two offices alone, as
it did at common law, but upon the
plain and positive language of the con-
stitution."
The above created much interest in
Wilmington, especially among the
democrats, as to how it affects the
county commissioners. Three of the
county commissioners here, as in BlAd-
en- county, elected themselves as MEM
bers of the board of education, and it
rs claimed that under the decision of
the supreme court they are no longer
county commissioners, as by e~lecting
TO accept office as members of the |
board of education, they choose which
office they would fill and thus disuual- |
NHOA - Go OoGIlly colIIIlIlSSIOIl- |
ers. The three commissioners are
Chairman f. w. Foster, republican,; |
Commissioners F. j. Dempsey, popu- |
list, and Commissioner Jordan Nixon. |
colored, republican. If they are disuual- |
flied, there are left ON the board of
commissioners two democrats-Com-
m~issioneTs Roger Moore and w. f.
Alexander.
Mr.. III. Mel. Green, chairman of the
democratic executive committee of
New anove county, took steps yes
ferday to ascertain the situation. He |
consulted the attorney of the commit
tee, with the result tina the opinion
was given that Commissioners Foster. |
Dempsey and Nixon have unwittingly |
violated the constitution, and by ac-
cepting the second office, vacated the
first-that of commissioner. This, in
fact, is claimed ito be the decision of |
the superior court.
One of the ablest members of the
bar of Wilmington informed The Mes
enger yesterday that this was the Ell |
feet of the decision, and that it de.
volves upon the clerk of the superior |
court to appoint the successors of |
Commissioners Foster, Dempsey and
Nixon. The cferk of the superior court |
mere is "a democrat and i'm all coun- J
ties where there are democratic clerks. |
they VIII, as a matter of course. an
point democrats as members of the |
board of commissioners |
L was reading an advertisement of |
ChamNberlain's Collie, Cholera and Diar-