El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-07-17
nnhori, Docr GOT Cnre.

Il really dIdn [ care what the de-
ciSiOn OF The court should be-, Mr.. Us
born said 10 Inc Il PaSO herald cor
respondent. IN fact, L would JUST -
soon have had an election TINS IaiI a.
not. 1 am not sure that so Iar as 1
am concerned L should not prefer haV-
ing the election at tnat time. L may
be mistaken, but somehow 1 feel 1
should have Iared better at an election
this IalI than L did last December anu
there Is a feeling OF pride IN every man
that leads him 10 want 10 make the
Oest showing possible.
There are various views Of the mat
ter, taken in its political significance.
one Democratic oIfIcenoIder puts II
this way: 1t might have been SOOu
thing Tor the Democrats generally II
there had been an election this Iall. IN
that event ii Is quite certain the pres
ent incumbenUs could have been re-
elected. But that condition may not
prevail two years hence l am not 50
sure that this decision is good thing
Ior the Democrats in pclllcal way.
There was no other decision the
court coulu nave made said NJ. u.
Cunniff, president OF the senate, who
Is still in town, having remained over
after the ratification meeting at which
he was one of the speakers 4 am one
OF the men who helped draw that SUI
rage and election section in the con-
stitutiOn; and L am confident the court
"
the members of that committee. There
was never any understanding in HaY-
apGi county that there was to be an
election this fall. 1t was all dependent
upon the date of admission, as the
court points out in its decision; ano
for one 1 do not see how the court
could have decided in any other way.
Some Hold Opposite Views.
Yet the fact remains that there are
plenty of men who were members OF
.
a directly opposite view. Henry L.
Saxon, the man who drew the Dill
which the court has held unconstltu-
tional, is one who believes the people
expected an election At the time the
bill was introduced, Alr. Saxon said he
it In response to a general
demand for an election And judge y
c. Baker, former chief justice of tne
supreme court and one OF the pest
legal authorities in the state, says not
only was it the general understanding
that the first set of officials should
serve for the short term, but that the
constitution makes such provision AS
a matter of fact, in tins county at
least. the candidates. between the pri-
mary and the election, specifically de-
clared that they were candidates only
for the short term. And there Is
pretty well settled belief that ne cleo
crate will feel strong disposition to
resent a lawsuit which, many of them
feel certain, was intended to violate an
implied agreement between the voters
and the people of the state.
However, that is not 4 matter Tor
at this time. The matter
Of chief interest is the fact that the
court has disagreed with the
superior court and that it has thereby
fixed the tenure Of all officers, lncIud-
ing themselves.
The decision is OF a most comprehen-
sive character. 1t goes into every de-
tail of the matter and cites numerous
decisions in support OF Its position
that the constitutional convention dlu
ont and could not have intended an
election to be held this year. the
decision is of intense interest to about
40 officials and to the people gen
orally who have followed the election
Ease carefully.
Court Sums Up Matter.
The concluding sentences OF the
courts opinion sum up the whole mat
.er in this language:
THE question presented being one
IF power and not of policy, we are IN
lble to arrive at any other conclusion
han that the proposed action of the
secretary of state to prepare and
transmit to boards of supervisors of the
several counties of the state, nouce
II writing designating state, county,
nd precinct officers as officers for
which candidates are to be nominated
t primary election, which Such can
Iidates so nominated are to be voted
or at an election to be held on the
irst Tuesday after the first Monday
n November. 1912, is illegal and with
Dut authority of law.
ITO assert the high prerOgative OF !
he state in this behalf by one of its |
fficers without lawful authority so |
o do would, undoubtedly, cause strife, |
remote discord and grave legal COM |
LEGATIONS out of which would grow /
onfusion. multiplicity of lawsuits !
nd contentious seriously embarrassing |
he due administration of the several |
apartments of the state government, I