The Oskaloosa herald., 1900-01-25
QUAY IS UNDER FIRE.
Majority of Committee Is Against
Seating Him.

Washington, JAN 24.-The reports or
the committee on privileges and cleo
lions in the case of NJ. S. Quay. who
claims a seat in the United States sem
ate on the strength of an appointment
from the governor of Pennsylvania,
were presented in the senate Tuesday.
The majority report, opposing the
seating of Mr.. Quay. was signed by
Senators Gallery, Pettus, Turley, Har-
ris and Burrows, the last named the
only republican signing it. The mi
nority report bears the signatures of
Senator's Hoar, Chandler, Pritchard
and MeComas, all republicans, and adj
yocates giving the seat to Mr.. Quay.
The majority report first reviews the
circumstances under which Mr.. Quay's
appointment was made. including the
failure of the Pennsylvania legislature
10 elect a senator. Ii then says:
AFTER vacancy in the Office Of United
States senator occurs or comes to pass,
if the next legislature does not fill II. it
continues TO exist. II Is the same vacancy,
not new one. Now the state executive is
given power to make temporary appoint-
ments in case of vacancy, not as long as
1t continues or exist, but ONLY UNTIL
THE NEXT MEETING OF THE LEGIS-
LATURE, which is then required 10 I'LL
the vacancy. This clearly means that the
intent to have the legislature
choose the senator's Is TO prevail and that,
whenever the legislature has had the OPP
portunity to I'LL the vacancy, either before
or after 1t occurs, the executive has no
power TO appoint. And when we take the
phrase ''if vacancies happen by resigna-
ton, or otherwise, during the recess of the
of any state IL we concede
that the general word otherwise is not
qualified nor limited by the specific word
resignation and that ii includes yacan-
cies which are caused by efflux of time and
which can be foreseen, as well as yacan-
cies which are caused by casualty or the
happening of an unexpected event and
which cannot be foreseen, still 1t must be
construed and defined with reference to the
balance of the phrase so as to give effect
TO all its parts; and 1t thus results that the
vacancy, no matter how it is produced,
must happen, take place, or begin during
a recess of the legislature; and this of itself
would be decisive against Mr.. Quay's
claim"
After discussing at length the circum-
stances under which the constitution was
framed, the majority announces its conclu-
sion as follows:
1--WE think that the trainers of the con-
stitution never contemplated nor intended
to provide for case where state, by its
own deliberate act, should deprive its legis-
lature of the power TO fill an entire term at
its beginning. In our opinion they never
intended to give the executive of state
the power to fill an entire term by original
appointment unless, possibly, in a case
where the legislature had chosen and the
person elected had refused to accept or died
before qualification. In other words, we
olYrda hot Of N y,oa Mt
was not to be exercised unless the vacancy
occurred in the recess of the legislature and
was occasioned by some casualty like
death or resignation"
Quotes Precedents.
The report then quotes numerous preced-
ents, beginning with that of Kensey Johns,
of Delaware, in 1874, and closing with the
case of Henry w. Corbett, of Oregon, in
1898 1t then ends as follows:
THE statement of these cases and pre-
cedents shows that from the beginning of
the government down to the present time
the senate has never recognized the right
of a state executive TO make a temporary
appointment where the vacancy happened
or occurred during session of the legis-
lature. 1t shows, further, that for rs years
the senate has refused to recognize the
right of a state executive to make tenn
porary appointment, even where the va
cancy happened or occurred during a re-
cess of the legislature, If the legislature,
either before or after 1t occurred and prior
to the date of the appointment, had had an
opportunity to fill 1t.
1.-THE fundamental principle thus estab-
lished is that if the legislature, either be-
fore or after the happening of vacancy,
has had an opportunity to fill it, then there
is no power in the state executive to APP
point. The result is fatal to the claims of
Mr.. Quay. No danger nor evil has result
ed to the government from the enforce
ment of this principle.
I'VE therefore submit that the senate, for
it's own honor and dignity, should stand
by its previous solemn and deliberate deci-
sions." -.-a-...,.-..
W. The Minority Report.
The minority report takes the opposite
view Quoting section 3, article l of the
the minority says that the
failure of the governor to call the legisla-
ture together to elect senator does not
act to deprive the governor of the power
of appointment Referring to the consti-
provision, the question is asked:
the United States mean just what the con-
stitution of the commonwealth of Pennsyl-
yania says: In case of a vacancy in the
office or United States senator in a recess
between sessions or does II mean that the
must be one which comes by
chance, SO that 1t does not apply at all to
the case of a vacancy at the beginning of
q term, which does not come by chance but
is foreseen and inevitable?
z This question is answered as follows:
IF the words have the former meaning,
then all distinctions between cases where
q legisla ture has been in session and those
where a Legislature has not been in ses-
sion, between vacancies at the beginning
OF term and vacancies beginning after the
CnfF hac hn ina
that term once filed. are without impor-
lance. We think that the former is the true
meaning of the constitution. We think
that IL was the intent of the constitution
to provide, as far as possible, that every
state should have two senator's.
t-S z- Cases Cited.
The minority then give considerable at
tention 10 the various cases and conclude
as follows: .aa
1.-The case of Allen, of Washington, was
decided with the Lee Mantle case and with
out argument, a decision to which Mr..
Beckwith, of Wyoming, submitted with
out further contest At that time there
was an earnest division in the senate on an
important question relating TO the cur
rency, which created for the time being
more earnest differences of opinion than
those existing between the two great po-
Iitical parties on other questions. 1t was
time not favorable TO dispassionate, non
partisan judgment. We prefer the author
ity of the New Hampshire cases, which
was acted on also in the case Of Mr.. Pasco,
Of Florida, and we think that decision
which must inevitably deprive states in the
union for long periods of time of their
rightfuI representation under the consti.
tuition will not be permitted long to stand
and that no settlement of the question In
OF the rights Of the states, and,
as we conceive, in violation of the intent
Of the trainers of the constitution, should
be acquisced in"