The Harrison times., 1912-04-27
Little Rock Letter.

Who are the law making bodies OF
the statc' Are the People the Gen.
cral Assembly, and the General As.
scmbIy the People,
Ifnot, why not, and what are you
going to do about it,
These and other questions more or
less relevant are being asked by
everybody these days, and an auX-
ious public is waiting on a special
Supreme Court to be appointed by
the Governor to assist in answering
it.
There are fifteen or twenty general
acts passed by the last Legislature
on which the cnacting clause is,
BE it enacted by the People OF
Arkansas
The general appropriations act is
among them, and because that act
contains tie appropriations for Du-
diciaI salaries the Supreme Court
decides that it is disqualified from
acting upon the question OF the val
idity Of a Jackson county lcycc case
in which the same question arises,
The last Legislature wasted Scy-
cral thousand dollars worth Of time
in an effort to determine Just what
the emergency clause and the enact
ing clause should be, and as a rule it
was decided along toward the last
that in order to play safe the double
cnacting clause should be used.
BE it enacted by the People OF
the State Of Arkansas ~
BE it enacted by the General As.
sembIy Of the State Of Arkansas"
This was on the theory if one was
not right the other would be, and
that the two could not invalidatc
an act
But some Of the acts were passed
with only the General Assembly
clause, and still Others with only the
People clause, \ number OF the lat.
ter were drawn by the Attorney.
general who holds that they are
correct, as the General Assembly is
1.-THE people, Others contend that
the Legislature can be considered
only as the Representatives OF the
people, and thatitiSa an unwarranted
assumption to say that the Lcgisla.
ture can enact a law as 1.-THE Pco-
ple,"
The & K amendment makes the
coordinate branches Of the govern
ment with the law.making power,
each distinct from the other, and in.
dependent Of the Others sanction,
the people and the General Assembly,
"Why didn't they ask me about
it;' asked Commissioner Clay
Sloan the other day in u banteringly
judicial tone. IL could have told
them what to do and stopped all
this trouble
Had a committee Of the Lcgisla,
turc asked nv advice about what
clause tou.c, | would have asked,
who are yOu''
"Thcy would have replied, 'Wc
are the Legislature,
"Thcn | would have replied, Then
your clause shall be, BE it enacted
by the General Assembly Of the
State of Arkansas
"And when the people exercise the
right Of initiative and independent
of the Legislature, hit ate a bill and
vote upon it as provided by the law,
their en0cting clause shall be, BE it
enacted By the People Of the State OF
! Arkansas
That's simple enough, isn'tt
Under the amendment each law
making body is distinct, and the
People cannot say they are the Gen.
eral Assembly neither can the Gen.
cral Assembly say that it is the
people That looks like common
| sense,
But some fine distinctions are be.
ing drawn and in the meantime
much uncertainty exists as 20 the
outcome It must be considered u
serious legal complication when 1t
induces the entire Supreme Court to
disquaiIy itself for the first time in
| the history Of the state, making it
necessary for the governor 60 APP
point a full special bench, to untan'
| gle the tungle
The Supreme Court has already
decided that the double cnacttng
clause is all right but has not pass.
ed upon the question whether either
one alone is sufficient 1t has also
passed upon the emergency clause,
and partially construed the enabls
ing act, declaring that the amend.
mcnt is really sell.enactng and not
dependent upon legislative enact
ment