The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-03-22
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assembly is not a meeting, OF the two
branches OF the legislature, as organic
ed bodies, but Is meeting OF the mem
bers Of those bodies. (2) A quorum Of
the Joint assembly consists OF q major
ity OF the whole number Of both houses,
not of majority OF each house. The
state constitution may fix the quorum
In the respective branches, OF the state
Legislature, or In joint conventions OF
the two. AZ n two-;hirds. at bare ma
jority or at an arbitrary number less
than q. ma jority, but such local reeuia-
tons. have no applicability. to this joint
assembly. In which majority of the
aggregate membership In which more
is not required and less will not suffice
90. As II Is not necessary
that n majority OF each branch Of the
legislature shall be present. so 1T is
NOT ESSENTIAL TO a CHOICE
THAT A CANDIDATE SHALL RE
CEIYE IN THE JOINT ASSEMBLY
A MAJORITY OF THE VOTES OF
EACH BRANCH"
And the same authority, eectlon 6s5.
page SCI, says:
Under the act OF 1866. the vote OLA
MAJORITY OF THE ENTIRE LEG1S-
LATURE IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO
THE VALIDITY OF THE ELECTION
OF A UNITED STATES SENATOR.
The above Is the law, or at least suf-
flclcnt of 1t for the purposes OF this ar
tlcle. Now for the facts:
The total number of members elected
to the legislature In both branches, was
o. OF which, In the joint session. IS
were present and voting when Mr.. Scott
was elected. OF the 95 votes cast. Mr..
Scott received As, clear majority OF /:
M McGraw received &C. md Judge
Golf l. Thus It Will readily be seen,
without further comment, that Mr..
SCOTS election comes clearly within the
letter as well as the intention OF the law.
To put the case in n stronger light It
Is only necessary to consider an ex-
treme case The law plainly says that 1t
requires only majority OF all the MEM
bers elected. or In other words, q quo
rum TO constitute a legal joint assem-
bly,, thereof II, instead of 95 members
and senators being present. only 40. or
n bare majority of 81, the total uumher.
had been present 1t would unQuestion-
ably have had the right to elect a sem
ator, and a majority Of 40. or Is. would
have been sufficient to elect.
The contention by some that prece-
dents have been set by the United
States senate In passing on similar
cases. which will operate against Mr.,
Scotts case are perfectly groundless,
and careful examination OF the cases
reported will readily satisfy any one on
this point. Practically all Of the contest
ed cases which could In any manner be
said TO bear on this case were cases de-.
cided under the operations OF peculiar
state laws, before the passage OF the act
OF Congress OF 1866.
A collateral branch Of this case has
brought out more discussion than the
main question at Issue. and many have
sought, from one reason or another to
make 1t the principal question in the
case. That Is the cases of the two
members of the state senate who ac-
cepted commissions In the volunteer,
army. by which. 1t Is claimed. they dis
qualified themselves from holding the
office OF state senator. On this Ques-
ton It seems only necessary TO quote
from the constitution OF West Virginia,
which says: -
Each house shall determine the rules
OF Its proceedings. and be the Judge OF
the elections. returns and qualifications
of its members"
In the case Of Senators GetZendan-
ner and Pierson the question as to their
eligibility was raised in the senate. and,
acting under the authority conferred
on II under this section OF the constl-
tuition. It passed on their cases and de-
cIded by an affirmative vote that they
were entitled to their seats. and from
this decision there is absolutely no ap-
peal to any court or tribunal, no matter.
what facts or reasonlngs y analogy or
any other process may be raised.
On this point, Paine on Elections,
chapter Is, section 646, says: '=-t
1.-THE questions as to what constitutes
n state legislature, In the sense Of the
constitution OF the United States. has
been already considered. 1t has been
held, by the senate OF the United States.
that TO constitute Legislature capable
OF enactlng laws, or OF Performing any
other duty coniided to that body, by the
constitution OF the United States, II
Is essential that there should be In ex-
lstence, ut the same line. q governor
or some officer authorized to perform
the executive functions. and senate
and house OF representatives. and that
In the absence OF either, the others could
not perform any act which would be
obligatory on the people OF the state.
IT HAS ALSO BEEN HELD. BY THE
SENATE. THAT IT WOULD BE a
DANGEROUS ExERTf0N OF POW
I2R TO LOOK BEHIND THE COM
MISSIONS OF. SENATORS. FOR DE-
FECTS IN THE COMPONENT PARTS
OF THE STATE LEGlSLATURE. or
into the peculiar organizations OF the
body. az grounds TO justify the senate
of the United Suites In declaring its
nets absolutely null and void: that
SUCH a POWER, IF CARRIED TO
IT'S LEGITIMATE ESTENT'. WOULD
SUBJECT THE ENTIRE SCOPE OF
THE STATE LEGISLATION TO BE-
orERIlULED BY THE SENATE: and
oven the right OF suffrage Of individual
members Of the Legislature. whose cleo
lions were contested. might be set
aside; that II would lead 10 invcstIga-
lions into the motives of members I'm
casting their votes, for the purpose OF
establishing charges OF corruption In
particular cases. that these matters
properly belong to the tribunals OF the
state. and cannot constitute the basin
on which the Benatn could. without m
infrlngcmnt OF state sovereignty.
claim the right to declare void the cleo
ton OF n senator, who possessed the