New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-08-14
The Courts Must Decide Who L
Governor, Not the Militia.

Governor Suffer- having Deel lInpe"N"'''
tinues to regard himself as Governor. Ills Deilgei
ent friends threaten to have the national gua'u
called out to retain him in the Executive oinoe'
Lieutenant Governor Gynn commercially mas lhauc
no effort to seize control of the machinery OF gov
eminent by force and promises to make none
The question presented is a nice one on WHICH
the constitution at the least is not absolutely pre-
else and specific Perhaps it is tribute TO the con-
fdence of the constitutionframers in the wlsuon
of the electorate that possibility OF Governor
Impeachment was considered so unlikely that pro-
vision for carrying OH the states business was left
indefinite At any rate, the question now must Oe
settled rather by appeal to the courts than ny up
peal to the national guard.
The general provisions Of the state constitution
contained in Article VI, Section 10, are perfectly
plain This section reads:
Tho Assembly shall have the power OF impeach-
ment by a vote of a majority OF all the members
elected The court for the trial of impeachments
shall be composed Of the president OF the senate
the Senators or the major part OF thern' ana the
Judges Of the Court of Appeals or the major par
Of them. . No judicial officer shall exercise
his office after articles of impeachment shal nave
been preferred to the Senate until he shall have been
acquitted.
As the section says that only judicial officers shall
be deprived Of their functions while awaiting triai
under impeachment, it clearly means that no other
officers shall suffer that disability And 1t is IN ac-
cordance with the federal Constitution, upon when
state constitutions are modelled, not to suspend
executives when under impeachment. Andrew
johnson acted as President while being tried by the
Senate.
The doubt in this state arises from the provisions
of the state constitution defining the circumstances
under which the Lieutenant Governor will act as
Governor Section 6, Article ", describes them as
follows:
In case of the impeachment Of the Governor or
his removal from office death inability TO discharge
the powers and duties of the said office, resignation.
or absence from the state, the powers and duties OF
the office shall devolve upon the Lieutenant Gov
for the residue or the TERM OF until the us
ability shall cease.
To reconcile this with the provisions Of the con-
stitution already quoted, it is necessary to suppose
that the word Impeachment" is here used in
loose sense And the constitution does appear TO
use the word "impeached" equivalent to con
victed" under impeachment in Section ID, Article vi,
where 1t says: Judgments in Of impeachment
shall not extend further than to removal from office,
or removal from office and disqualification to hold
any Office Of honor trust profit under this state;
but the party impeached shall be liable to indict-
ment and punishment according to law" The pur-
pose Of that last clause beginning but" Is plainly
TO prevent what goes before from being construed
TO bar the punishment in the courts of official
who has already been punished under impeachment.
Yet "the party mpeached" is used as equivalent to
the party punished convicted under impeachment.
Moreover it seems to strongly against the
public interest for bare majority Of single house
of the Legislature to be able to suspend Governor
from office that we do not believe the constitution
ever intended to give the Assembly that power. The
power might be grossly abused Legislature and
Lieutenant Governor OF a different party from the
Governor might use the impeachment process to
suspend the Governor all the appolntive Of
cers Of the state and appoint successors who could
not be removed without the consent Of the Senate.
With common sense against the suspension of the
Governor during trial. with the general provisions
of the constitution regarding impeachment distinct
" implying that the Governor should not be
pended 1t seems hardly likely that the courts would
hold that the Lieutenant Governor took office before
the conviction Of the Governor under Impeachment.
The question may be easily brought before them,
however and should be settled promptly as pos
slble The state does not want the scandal Of dis
pute as TO who is Governor