Albuquerque evening citizen., 1905-09-09

Albuquerque, n. NJ, Sept. 8, 1905.
To the Evening Citizen;
cannot pass without notice an edi-
torial in this mornings Journal,
quoting from the Santa Fe New Mexi-
can: This is evidently done for the
purpose of attempting to discount the
statement which l made over my own
signature as to the claim made for
the governors power to remove Off
GERS in New Mexico. The Journal
says:
THE New Mexican calls attention
to the fact that about ten years ago
Governor Thornton did in the case of
a Santa Fe county official just what
Governor Otero has now done in the
cases of the three officials in Berna-
lilo county, and the same attorney
who is now chief counsel for the
ousted officials, and denying the gov
ernors power to remove them, was
at that time attorney for the party
of the other part, and contending
that the governor was acting wholly
within his prerogative."
In this statement there are just two
unqualified and unmitigated false
hoods, and l have the right to as
gated old fossil Burke and the other
decrepit and unmitigated humbug who
edits the New Mexican know very
well that these statements are false
hoods when they publish them. In
the first place, Governor Thornton
and no other governor of New Mexico
until now ever attempted to assume to
remove any officer from office with
out some specific statute empowering
him to do so, and defining the charge
on which the officer could be re-
moved. Nor did any governor ever
claim the right to remove an officer,
because he was charged with the duty
of seeing that the laws were faith
fully executed" This is falsehoOd
number one. It is true that Governor
Thorton removed Sheriff COnklin in
Santa Fe county, and appointed one
Cunningham in his place, and this
case is brazenly referred to as author
ity for the decision of the supreme
court, in what is known as the Eldodt
case, without the slightest justitica-
tion. By a reference to Conklin VS..
Cunningham, it will apear that the
governor acted under and pursuant to
authority conferred upon him by Sec
tion 27 Chapter %, of the Legislative
Assembly of the territory passed at
the 29th session thereof This sec
tion was a part of the school bill OF
1901, and made the sheriff and eX'
Officio collector removable for failure
to pay over school moneys.-T. n. M,
450.
Second It is not true that the
chief counsel. in the present cases, as
/ am denominated in this article, had
anything whatever to do with the
Cunningham case, as counsel or in any
other way or that any man, in court
out of court or anywhere else ever
heard me claim or pretend to claim
that the governor of New Mexico had
any such power as is now asserted
Even the EldOdt case, as bad law as
it is, and concededly so by all mem
bers of the bar of New Mexico, does
not justify any such action. In that
case the governor appointed a terri
torial treasurer, an officer not selected
by the people of New Mexico, but the
power to appoint whom in the frs
and every other instance, is vested II
the governor by the organic act of the
territory
The twaddle in this article about
lawyer being mere agent and so on
is probably unworthy of notice II q
not out of place, however, 10 sa!
that it is not 10 be expected that edl
tors of the stamp of the two abovD
referred TO- could be capable of dis
tinguishing between the duties OF
lawyer In the advocacy of a cause
and his duty and convictions as
citizen. Editors of this class havl
no convictions of any kind, as a citi
zen or any other way, but are alway
and at an times at the command o
those who want them, and approach
them in the proper way. to advOcat
falsehoods and deceive the public b.