The Semi-weekly leader. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1905-1941, 1906-03-03
REMEDY FOR DRUNKENNESS /
OFFICE.

sHe shall have the power and
authority upon charges made by
affidavit or by indictment to sus-
pend any State, county, municipal
or district officer, lfor gross mall
feasance or for drunkenness in
Office, and to make temporary APP
pointment to FIJI theN vacancy thus
created, until the charges against
such officer may be inquired into
and determined by a cpurt of com.
petent jurisdiction; but il the
officer SO suspended shall upon
trial be acquitted of she charge,
he shall be restored Il Office and
be paid his salary for the whole
time he was suspended from
Office"
The above is a sectioa Of the
new code in the chaptelS on Gov
ernor, adopted by the Stale Senate
Wednesday, by a vote of IL to IA.
A very stubborn fight wAs made
against the section by the minori-
ty, headed by Senators Dunn and
McLaurin, of the goth, but the
II Senators who voted for it stood
firmly BY their guns both in the
committee of the whole and when
it came up for adoption in the
Senate.
1t will be noticed that it en-
powers the governor to suspend
any State, county, municipal or
district officer for gross maIfeas-
ance or for drunkenness in Office, =
but the governor can only exer-
else this authority upon an affida-
Wit duly sworn out by some one
or upon an Indictment by a grand
jury and suspend the accused un-
til the charge can be properly in
quired into by court of compel
ent jurisdiction; then, if the
charge is not sustained, the sus-
pended officer is restored to his
Office without loss of salary.
Notwithstanding these ample.
safeguards against the authority
conferred on the Governor being
abused and the certainty of such
abuse, reacting with redoubled
force on the chief executive and
the person or persons who might
make false charges against any
public official, the Clarion-Ledger
of Thursday fairly screeches
Monarchy I? Commonwealth 2"
and under this sensational caption.
indulges il long editorial TRADE
against lot of imaginery evils
likely to follow the adoption of
such a statute, talks about ''des-
potism' and says the Senate
should reconsider it's action. The
Leader wants to say plainly to its
Jackson cctemporary that it i'll
becomes a newspaper that exploits
all the time the jug trade, G. O.
D. and otherwise, in Prohibition
counties by Haunting in the faces
of its readers every day for the
revenue there is in it the adver-
tisements of liquor dealers in and
out of this State, and which has
never uttered whisper about the
drunkenness which is notorious
among some of the State officials
at jackson, to be raising a hue
and cry to defeat measure Of
this kind for the betterment Of
the public service, and which is
demanded by the sober, intelligent
sentiment of the State. 1t is just
what might be expected, however,
from such a source and paper
which never loses an opportunity
to discredit and slur our present
Governor.
During the consideration of the
above. section, Senator McLau-
rim offered an amendment which
was voted down, giving the Chief
Justice the authority to suspend
the Governor, in like manner, on
either of the charges specified, to
which we see no valid objection.
Certainly Gov. Vardaman would
have nothing to fear from such a
provision, though it would un-
doubtedly have resulted in the
elevation of The Lieutenant Gov
ernor to the Chief Executives
chair some s years ago.
Butler-Proby Case Before the Supreme
Court Once More.
Arguments were concluded be-