Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-05-16
light-up to a certain point-and shared
the belief that a valid vacancy which
the governor could fill might be Gre

dltu.
The action of the senate in
ing the resignation of Mr.. Clark would
seem to act as a bar to the subsequent
adoption of a committee report to the
effect hat that gentleman had never
been elected. Having been sworn in on
his credentials. and permitted to retire
in the customary way when designations
are announced, the official declaration
hat he had never been elected to that
body would seem to be a little ambig-
uous, to say the least. But if the re-
port of the committee is pressed to A con-
clusion. ina action will be deferred
through the medium of debate until the
arrival of Mr.. Clark's credentials as the
g~ubernatorial appointee. This. will at
once introduce a new n important
question into the pending issue, involv-
ing the legitimacy of a resignation ten
dered by a duly accredited senator. and
the right of a state executive to fill a
vacancy hat has been recognized by the
senatorial body itself as having occurred
in a legitimate way. Then, again, tho
right of the senate to officially declare
that a former member of hat body was
never elected. and that the legislative
assembly of a sovereign state merely
went through the motions but did not
exercise it's constitutional ~prerogatives.
may well be doubted.
Nor pan tho cop,p,;ttaa armand sc ,o-
port and plead for the expulsion of Mr..
Clark. for the gentleman they were after
ceased to be a member of that body.
The gentleman appointed to fill the
CLARK vacancy" comes with credentials
of another type, Against which no
charges have been laid and over which
the committee on privileges and cleo
tions is powerless to sit in Judgment on
the strength of evidence submitted in a
previous case. On the face of things.
therefore. it would seem that Senator
alton, unless the senate arbitrarily
overrides the rules n precedents
adopted for it's guidance in matters of
this kind. If permitted to take his seat
represent the state of Montana in part
till the 4th of March next, his successor
being named by the next Legislative as
sembly, which owen in January.
="
The bringing about of the set Of condi-
tons which led up to the appointment of
Mr.. Clark, to fill the vacancy created by
himself, was unauestionably an astute
piece of political engineering, regardless
of the standpoint from which it may be
viewed. The attempt of the DAILY men t.
cast reflections upon Acting Governor
Spriggs will prove u%navailing, as that
gentleman has been the friend n cham
pion of Mr.. Clark from the inception OF
the fight, and to befriend him needed only
the proper opportunity. 1t came in the
absence from the state Of Governor
Smith, which endowed the lieutenan
governor with all the constitutional pre-
negatives of his chief. In addition to hi!
legal rights in the premises, in the mat
ter Of appointing ex-senator Clark to fiji
the vacancy caused by the resignation o
! Senator Clark, Mr.. Spriggs was not onl.
fortified by his own views as to the mer
its of the controversy between the twt
wings of the democratic party, but wa
likewise conscious of the fact that as be
tween the contending factions publ
| sympathy lay with the man he named.
!. If any blame attaches to the action O
!, the acting governor it lies with the gov
ernor who permitted him to act. Politi
: cal shrewdness-eVen common hors
sense-on the part of the Daily men woul,
= limits of the state, while the Clark cas-
was pending in the senate and the une
pected was at all times possible. 1t will
of course, always remain an open ques
emulate the example of Kosciusko, an
make way for liberty by quietly dis
tributing himself over the Pacific coas
leaving to his official successor and gu
bernatorial v~ice-regent such incidental
as the pardoning power and the filling c
senatorial vacancies, or was ruthlessl
: and with righteousness aforethought in
! weighted out of the state against tn
" peace and dignity of the DAILY demoe
' racy!
: 1t would seem that despite the fidelit
with which the governor has served tt
u interests of the Anaconda outfit, regard
( less of the rights and interests Of tt
. common herd, the official organ of tn;
branch of Philistines suspects his exec
l loncu Of traacherN in leaving The stat