The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-05-17
THE CASE OF MONTANA CLARK.

The appointment of w. A. Clark, Of
Montana, as United States senator by act
ing Governor Spriggs, of that State. bears
every evidence of being part OF an indie
cent and morally corrupt scheme to outwit
the Senate and nullify the Constitution of
the United States. In order to appreciate
the character of the proceeding a brief
statement of facts is necessary. Readers
of the Journal will recall the long investi-
cation of the Clark case by the Senate
committee on privileges and elections.
which brought out mass of evidence in
dicating the corrupt use Of money in his
election. AS a result of the investigation
a majority of the committee reported to
the Senate on April % last that the cleo
ton to the Senate of William A. Clark, of
Montana. is null and void on account of
briberies, attempted briberies and corrupt
practices by his agents and of violation of
the laws of Montana defining and punish
In view of this finding the committee
recommended the adoption by the Senate
of a resolution that William A. Clark
was not duly and legally elected to the
Senate of the United States by the Legis-
lature of the State of Montana" The re-
port of the committee set forth the main
points in the evidence on which 1T was
based, but this need not be recapitulated
1t was expected that the report and reso-
luton rejecting Mr.. Clark would be voted
on Soon II was also eypected that he
would tender his resignation soon. Sena-
tor Chandler. chairman of the committee,
made several efforts to call 1t up. but the
Democrats and friends of Clark succeeded
In staving off a vote. Senator Chandler
finally gave notice that at 1 o'clock p. m.
on the resolution, and just before that hour
arrived Mr.. Clark rose and announced that
his resignation, dated May II, was in the
hands of the Governor of Montana, mean
ing the acting Governor. Spriggs. That
night the acting Governor wired Clark that
he had appointed him to fill ''the vacancy"
caused by his resignation and Clark wired
his acceptance. The dispatches state that
Governor Smith, of Montana, who is an
anti-Clark man, was out of the State, leav-
ing the acting Governor. Spriggs. in con-
troll of affairs. All the circumstances point
to collision between Clark and acting Gov
ernor Spriggs to delay Clark's resignation
until the Governor should be out of the
State, thus giving the acting Governor
temporary power and a pretext for filling
the vacancy. Aside from its indecency
and manifest evidence of collision the
proceeding raises new questions for the
decision of the Senate, viz, whether a
person who has been denied admission to
in an election can gain admission through
appointment, and also whether the vacancy
thus created during a session Of the Senate
can be filled during such session. The Con-
stitution only provides for the filling of
vacancies which occur during recess of
the Senate. The present case is therefore
unprovided for. Another question is whether
under the Constitution of Montana an
acting Governor of the State has the ap-
pointing power in the temporary absence
of the Governor. Finally, the Senate will
have to decide whether the Constitution
of the United States can be thus trified
with and the dignity of the Senate insulted
by man who, having been denied admis-
sion to the body and elected at the front
door, attempts to crawl in through a cellar
window. The whole proceeding is charac-
teristic of Montana politics and of the cor
rupt methods used in Mr.. Clark's election.
1t scarcely needs to be added that the
Democrats will support him on every point.