The age-herald., 1900-11-14
THE GOVERNORS
 POSSIBLE VIEWS
Secretary of State McDavid Intimates That Supreme Court Would
 Pass on GoVernorShip

The only public utterance connected with the present grave public anxiety arising from the Illness of Governor-elect Sanford which has come from anywhere near Gov ernor Johnston appears in yesterdays Att lanta Constitution, and 1t is most signii- cant The Constitutions Montgomery cor respondent is Robert P McDavid, Secre- tary of State, who is accounted John ston man." as the political expression goes; and there is good reason to assume that he talked with Governor Johnston before sending the following very suggestive dis patch to the Constitution:
 Montgomery, November 12.-(Special.)- Col. w. J. Sanford lies critically i'll at his sons home in Opelika, but, if the pro- gramme Is carried out, he will on tomorrow be declared Governor of Alabama, and the oath of office will be administered to him at his bedside. His son, Hon. T. D. Sam ford, who Is a notary public, has been se- lected to administer the oath. ''The new Governor will not be eligible to take charge of the office until the ex- piration of Governor Johnston's term, on December l, but the declaration of his elec- tion and the fact of his qualification will give, 1t is supposed, better title to the Goyernorship to whomsoever Is elected president of the Senate.
 '"fhe Legislature is sincere body of good citizens, and there is perhaps not man among them who would not deplore the death of the Governor-elect, but both houses are unfriendly to the present Gov ernor, and there is a disposition to arrange 1t so that he will not be permitted to hold over for two years longer.
 "The present Governors friends are say ing very little. They appear not to be throwing any stones in the way of those who are arranging the programme for to- morrow, but one of them tonight hinted to the Constitutions correspondent that the statute required the Governor to be sworn in in the presence of both houses of the General Assembly, and that the plan did not comprehend any such programme.
 :" "Could not the assembly go to Opelika and swear Colonel Sanford in there? asked the correspondent.
 [" Tt could in case of epidemic or riot continued the Johnson man, and only in such case.'
 " Could the Assembly not repeal that act?' continued the reporter
 "'Yes, but it would require six days to do it., rejoined the speaker.
 'The position that Governor Johnston's friends assume is that, If the Legislature could and did regularly canvass the vote, declare the result and swear the new Gov ernor in, his term of office would not begin until December 1, and the president of the Senate would have no title to the office to inherit from him until he had actually en- tered upon his term of office. This is the situation tonight.
 "If Colonel Sanford should pull through and take the oath on December 1 in the presence of the Assembly, there would be no room for contention. If he does not, It is likely the Supreme Court will have to determine who is entitled to fill the Gu- bernatorial chair"
 Section article 15 of the constitution of Alabama declares that "all members of the General Assembly, and all officers, ex- ecutive and judicial, before they enter up- on the execution of the duties of their re- spective offices, shall take the following oath'-which Is merely the familiar form of official oath-"which oath may be ad- ministered by the presiding officer if either house of the General Assembly, or any of ficer authorized by law to administer the oath"
 Section 66 of the Revised Code of Ala bama goes lone better" than the consti- tuition allows, and declares:
 "The oath required by the fifteenth article of the constitution of this State is adminis- tered to the Governor by the presiding of ficer of either house of the General Assem- bly,, or any officer authorized to administer an oath in the presence of both houses of the General Assembly,"
 Thus the code does not say the oath must or shall be so administered, but merely cites that 1t Is so administered. Any one who can read can see that the code goes beyond the constitution and 1t Is therefore null and void.
 Section 25 of the code requires that the oath of the Governor, as well as numer- ous other State officers, shall be filed "in the office of the Secretary of State." And 1t is provided by section 254 that "the officer in whose office such oaths are required to be fled must indorse thereon the day and year on which the same were filed, which inducements must be signed by him.
 Section article of the constitution pro-