The Savannah morning news., 1901-01-06
poLITICo-LEGAL PUZZLE.
..,,o ARE LAWFULLY THE COM
1s,oNFRs OF CHATHAM COUNTY:

,udee Ferril Was Not Able 10 sign
-. Attestation Clause OF the
-. administered to the New
ii a rev Days Ago and Has
,h Leaves the Clause Unsigned
- Noes Not Provide a Substitute
che ordinary and There Is No
Else Before Whom the Conn
.iorers Can Take the oath.
same manifestations of the Prob
lem.
-,,rious situation of affairs, in connec-
NTH the offices of the Chatham
-, commissioners has arisen. There
anosars to be considerable doubt as to
ho are the lawful occupants of the Of
fee A.. xa,4
~. The commissioners are required by
law to qualify before the judge of the
,~.,,-t of Ordinary and in case of a va
-onc,. no one is authorized to take the
ordinary's place.
1ast Wednesday the five commissioners
.,..+.l last october, Messrs. Dale, Lath-
49,. Moore Pauisen and Vetsburg, ap-
..arad before Judge Ferrill. in his room
+he De Soto, and took the oath Of Of
goo Judge Ferrill read the Doth to the
.,r,r,issioners-elect while he was propped
49, With pillows on his bed but he did not
sasi strong enough to sign the attestation
,,ouse. He told Clerk Keilbach he would
ao mis- as soon as he returned to his
a. He did not return, and the at
--t.+ion clause of the oaths of the COM
,,,issioners has never been signed
T5sse are the facts. The law says that
,,o,,rt,. commissioners shall hold office for
fo,r wears, and until their successors are
aIsc+ed and qualified. The question arises
ubether or not the commissioners are
onaufed. when the ordinary, before whom
tbay took the oath of office, has never SUB
s,ribed his name in the manner contem-
Mated and required by the law.
ropntv Attorney j. r. Saussy said he
Ala not know whether the members of the
new board were legally qualified or not,
nor whether the new board or the Did
we're lawfully commissioners Of Chatham
county. Mr. Saussy said he had discussed
the question with other members of the
bsr and they had been equally unable to
resolve the puzzle.
The condition of uncertainty that pre-
walls on this subject carries a long train
of other uncertainties along with it. The
law provides that upon the death of the
ordinary of the county the commissioners
shall make an ad interim appointment to
fu the vacancy and that they shall call
an election, of the date of which they
snail give twenty days notice, to fill the
unexpired term.
The thing then becomes doubly ouz-
zling. If the new Board of Commission
ers are not lawfully qualified, they can
not appoint an ordinary nor call an cleo
zion TO fill the unexpired term, and, as
there is no ordinary now, there is no
irdicial officer before whom the law gives
The commissioners the right to quallfy1t S
one of the exceedingly poor rules that
won't work either way.
It has been suggested that the old board
of commissioners might make an ad in
term appointment of ordinary; that the
ordinary so appointed might qualify the
new board of commissioners and that the
new board could then call an election to
fill the unexpired term. This, however,
is omen 20 the objection that If the MEM
hers of the new board have been lawfully
qualified already, the members of the old
board are out Of office and have no Off
eial power