The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1909-03-05
The Obstructing Senators.

break quorum and prevent the trans
action of any business in the legislative
body of which they are members, and
practically putting stop to all further
legislative proceedings, cannot be justi-
fled upon any reasonable or sustaining
ground whatever Their conduct is I'M
lawful and revolutionary and presents
the unseemly spectacle Of lawmakers OBJ
structing and violating laws which the
General Assembly, Of which they are
sworn members, has enacted and placed
upon the statute books Of the State.
The fact that these recalcitrant and alb
scented Senators regard the election laws
enacted by the General Assembly as i'm
proper or bad laws does not alter their
relation to these laws or the question OF
their duty in regard to them. These laws
are mandatory and require that the Gen
eral Assembly in joint session OF the two
houses shall do certain things in carry
ing out their provisions. The protesting
Senators have no more right, or no more
justification, in refusing to obey these
laws than any citizen has to refuse to
observe and obey any other law on the
statute books. 1t was the privilege OF
these Senators, as we'll as their duty, ii
they considered these laws obnoxious or
unconstitutional, to oppose their pass
age, but when they had exhausted all
their constitutional and parliamentary
powers to prevent the passage of these
laws they had done all that they had a
right to do, or that the constituents who
sustained them in that opposition had a
right to expect Of them, and when the
bills became laws these Senators became
amenable to the laws, and in special
and official sense responsible for their
maintenance in the matter of. observing
the requirements for the creation OF
/ election boards. 1t was not within
l. . =. 4
their province, or that of the Governor,
to pass upon the constitutionality of
these enacted laws, or to obstruct the
carrying out of their provisions in any
manner.
The main contention Of the obstruct-
/ ing Senators is that minority OF the
Democratic members Of the Legislature
have formed coalition with the Repub-
/ lican members to place on the election
boards Democratic commissioners rep
resenting the minority Democratic fac
ton to the exclusion Of any representa-
ton ofSthe majority faction Democrats
/ Undoubtedly it is true, whatever dis
chalmers may be made to the contrary,
that the minority Democratic faction is
acting with the Republicans and cannot
expect to carry out its programme with
out the help of Republican votes. But
Lit is also true on the other hand that
+ the majority Democratic faction, the
administration Democrats, are insisting
upon party caucus action for nomlnat-
ling members Of the election boards with
the purpose in view of placing admins
tration Democrats on the boards to the
exclusion of the anti-administration or
Statewide faction. And SO it appears
that the real issue, in SO far as the car
rying out OF the provisions of the new
election laws is concerned, is the ques-
ton as to which of the factions shall
take advantage of these laws in>its own
special party factionai interest.
| But no legislator or number OF legls-
lators can be justified in bringing the
legislative machinery to a dead stop and
preventing further general legislation,
because of a party factional fight among
the members. Party battles must be
fought out in the party and before the
people. The legislature is a body rep
resenting all the people OF all parties,
and its business and duty is to give its
full time to wise and expeditions dis.
charge Of its duties to the Common
wealth at large.
1t is true that it is an absurd and an
unprecedented anomaly to have the
Democratic members Of a purely party
primary State board elected in Legis
lature with the aid Of Republican vote
against the protest Of majority of thu
! Democrats in that Legislature. Sucl
action is directly contrary to the Demo
' cratic principle Of majority rule, and i
vioIative of every. rule and tradition o