The log cabin Democrat. [volume] (Conway, Ark.) 1901-1982, 1913-03-20
ATTORNEY CfN'L
GIVES OPINION
IN CUBERNATORIAL AFFAIR
SAYS OLDHAM Is GOVERNOR
UNTIL ANOTHER IS ELECT
ED To FILL OFFICE.

II have your letter Of the 18th inst,
stating the facts Of the resignation Of
Gov. Robinson. the assumption Of the
duties of the Office Of governor by
yourself as president Of the senate.
the election of Senator J. NJ. Futrell
as president of the senate. and asking
my opinion as to which of you should
be entitled to hold the Office Of govern
or after the adjournment of the pres
ent general assembly.
II confess the question is not with
out difficulty and doubt. The answer
depends upon proper construction of
the sections of the constitution. One
is section IL of article 8 and reads as
| follows: In the case of the death,
conviction on impeachment, failure to
qualify, resignation, absence from the
state, or other disability of the gov
ernor, the powers, duties and emolu-
ments of the office for the remainder
of the term or until the disability be
removed, or a governor elected and
qualified, shall devolve upon and ae-
rue to the president of the senate.
eff this were all there is on the sub
ject, there would be no doubt, for the
language is plain and unmistakable.
"The other is section II of article
5, and the part that concerns this
,e foIlnwS.
Whenever, at the close of any
session, it may appear that the term
of the member elected president of the
senate will expire before the next reg
ular session, the senate shall elect an
other president from those members
whose terms of Office continue over,
who shall qualify and remain presi-
dent of the senate until his successor
may be elected and qualified; and
who, in the case of vacancy in the
office of governor, shall perform the
duties and exercise the powers of gov
ernor, as elsewhere herein provided
when Gov. Robinson resigned and
created the vacancy you were presi-
dent of the senate, and as such sue
ceeded to the Office of governor, with
it's powers, duties and emoluments,
for the remainder of the term, or un-
til another governor shall be elected
and qualified That seems very plain
from the reading of the first section
quoted.
eff Gov. Robinson had seen fit to
withhold his resignation until after
Futrell was elected, and until the adj
journment of the legislature, and had
then resigned, Senator Futrell would
have become acting governor, because
he, and not you, would have then been
president of the senate. This seems
plain from the language of the second
section set forth above.
$50 | think the president of the sem
ate in office at the time a vacancy oc-
ours in the office of governor is enti
tied to hold said Office as long as the
vacancy is not otherwise provided for
by law. This construction makes the
wo sections harmonious and gives eff
ect to both.
Senator Futrell will not become
president of the senate until the legis-
ature adjourns, and when that time
shall come no vacancy in the office of
governor will exist, assuming that you
will continue to perform the functions
of that office. l can not believe that
he constitution makers intended, in a
ase of this kind that the president of
he senate, after taking possession of
he office of governor, should surrend-
the same in few days to another
person, subsequently elected president
of the senate, else they would have in
dictated such intention in plain lam
guage.
"No specific limitation Of time is
placed upon the right of the president
of the senate to hold the Office of gov
ernor in such case, except the limit of
his own term of Office as senator
will expire with the general election
in September, 1914. You could not
lold the office of governor beyond that
ime; and to provide for possible va
ancy in office or a disability of the
governor during the time between the
general election and the meeting of
he next general assembly, the second
section quoted above was made part of
the constitution and the senate there
by required to elect president at the
close of the session from among the
hold-over members.
"There is an implied limitation,
however, of your right to hold the of
flee, for the constitution requires you
-