The Saint Paul globe., 1900-04-29
MARKHAM IS LEGAL GOD.
The Pioneer Is Given Some Informa-
ton Concerning His Real CaIihcr

! The Pioneer Is Given Some Inf0rnla-
ton Concerning His Real CaIiber.
1t is with no little amusement that an
! intelligent public scans the daily political
| conJortions of the Pioneer Press In an
editorial in yesterdays issue, devoted to
the task OF saving a remnant Of the Re
| publican ticket in the shape of a few as
semblymen and aldermen, it admits that
the assembly tickets OF both parties are
| composed of respectable men, in good
! standing. >.
Having gracefully made this concession
1t advances as reason why the Repub-
| 1can assembly and aldeTmanic tickets
should prevail, that, should Democratic
council be CHOSEN, the PROBABILITY is that
the first use they would make of their
power would be to elect John H. Ives cor
poratlon attorney in place of James E.
Markham
Surely the writer of this article is short
/ sighted or else inbued with an erratic
ueSlre to distribute a maximum amount
of misinformation among the people Mr.
John II. Ives is a state senator, elected in
the fall Of 1898, and his term of office VIII
not expire until Jan. 1, 1901. Section 8,
article 4, of the constitution of the state
OF Minnesota says;
mo senator or representative shall, dur
ing the time for which he is elected, hold
any office under the authority of the
United States or the state OF Minnesota,
except that of postmaster, and no SEN
ator or representative shall hold an office
under the state which has been created
or the emoluments OF which have been IN
creased during the session OF the legis-
lature OF which he was a member until
one year after the expiration of his term
of office in the legislature"
Thus 1t will be readily perceived that
the appointment of Mr.. Ives to the posi-
ton Of corporation attorney could not be
the first use they would make of their
power The resignation from the senate
of Senator Ives would avail nothing, for
the section quoted expressly stipulatles
during the time for which he is elected
But what a vapid, pointless argument
is the entire contention of the Pioneer
Press as against the Democrats compris-
ing the Democratic councilmanic ticket
What aura of sanctity surrounds the per-
sonality of James E. Markham that he
should be preferred above all others for
corporation attorney7 Why should Mark
ham be preferred as against Ives? AL
though the latter Is not seeking office the
question Is pregnant with significance.
The. record of Corporation Attorney
Markham IS a page in the municipal his
+ tory of st. Paul. He has been in the city
council and out Of the council and into
a fat appointment at the hands of the
council There has been no constitutional
inhibition against his holding all the Of
fees for which he could successfully log
roll. 1t Is well known that he retired
from the council, and one of the first
things done by the council shortly after
wards was to appoint him corporation at
torney. There were many successive
meetings of the charter commission, some
of which were attended by Mr. Markham.
1t is matter of record that salaries
were reduced, but 1t does not appear that
the office of Corporation Attorney Mark
ham suffered to any extent
Quoting again from the article In ques-
ton we find that Republicans generally
are proud, as they have reason to be, of
the splendid record made by Mr.. Mark
ham in his administration of the law de-
partment Of the city government
A portion of that record lies In his los
ing defense Of suits brought against the
city to compel 1t to pay debts refused by
Comptroller McCardy. In this, however,
Mr.. Markham is not entirely to blame,
as he had an accessory in the person of
the autocratic comptroller. But this is
the same Markham who advised City
Clerk Jensen to the effect that city po-
litical committee had no legal right to
name candidates to supply vacancies
caused by resignation from ticket The
courts recently overthrow this opinion
of the learned jurist as 1t was decided in
the face of supreme court decision to
the contrary. And this is the same Mark
ham who advised City Clerk Jensen that
he was justified in preceding the names of
nine of the r. A. Smith candidates for
assembiymen with six of the Dick Bell