The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1914-02-12
JUDGE AiLSHiE AND THE
CONSTITUTION.

bly, worried for fear Judge Ailshie will
violate the provisions of section of
article of the constitution of the
state of Idaho If he should enter the
race for senator, and cites the re-
fusal of the republicans of South Da-
kota to endorse the candidacy of
Judge Rice, of Deadwood, as a case
in point. The Boise Capital News re-
produces the Eagles article, which
asks the Signal to answer it's argu-
ments, thus giving approval to them,
hence we will endeavor to enlighten
| both.
The section referred to reads as
| follows: mo justice of the supreme
court shall be eligible to any other
office of trust or profit, under the
laws of this state, during the term fol
which he was elected" The term for
which Judge Ailshie was elected will
expire not later than the first Monday
in January, 1915, and the senatorial
term will not commence until two
months later, hence, even If he does
not resign before that time, he can
not be rightfully accused of seeking
an office the term of which com
mences prior to the ending of his
present term as Chief Justice.
Again, even If he were to become a
candidate for state office the term
of which commences after the end of
his present term he would not violate
either the letter or the spirit of the
law, and no court in this country has
ever held under any constitution, that
such a provision prevents a man be-
coming candidate for the same or
any other office under the laws of
the state the term of which com
mences AFTER the expiration of the
term of office he Ia holding. In fact
only one or two courts in the entire
Union have held that a man could not
become q candidate for an office the
term Of which begins before the ex-
piration of the term he is serving,
provided he resigned before election.
Practically all the courts have held
that mans term of office expires
when he resigns and that settles It.
The foregoing argument is pro-
duced simply to show that our broth
ers would be unnecessarily alarmed
even II the provision of the constitu-
ton applied to Judge Ailshie's posi-
BILE candidacy for senator, but it does
not. There IL another and much more
important phase to 1t, and that is
that it applies only to Estate office"
1t says that he shall not be eligible
to any other office of trust or profit
UNDER THE LAWS OF THIS
STATE" The office of United States
senator is not an office under the
laws of the state" 1t is q federal
office UNDER THE LAWS OF THE
UNITED STATES. The state of
Idaho certainly does not presume to
prescribe the qualifications for fedora
officers, and both the Eagle and Capi
tai News know it. If such an at
tempt were made it would run coun-
ter to the constitution of the United
States and the United States Supreme
Court has more than once decided to
this effect. That Is not all, the senate
of the United States, which alone has
the power and right to pass upon the
qualifications of it's members, has re-
peatedly decided the same way.
A year ago the legislature of the
state of Kansas elected Judge Thomp-
son to the United States senate and
the term for which he was elected
had not yet expired. That is not ali,
he did not even resign as judge until
after he was elected, and the senate
held his election legal and no one in
Kansas questioned it although the
Kansas constitution has exactly the
same provision as section Z, article s
of the Idaho constitution.
Judge Shields, of Tennessee, was
elected to the United States senate a
year ago, although he was chief JUS
tice OF the supreme court of the state
and did not resign until after he was
elected Senator O'Gorman, of New
York, was a justice of the supreme
court when elected, and did not re-
sign until after his election. Other
cases could, no doubt, be cited by the
score, but the Signal does not think
1t necessary to look them up. With
these we are familiar and they should
be enough to satisfy the most exact
ing individual provided he desires to
be fair.
II the Signal Is not mistaken an
Idaho Democrat raised this question
last winter and wrote Senator Bailey,
who was conceded to be the greatest
constitutional lawyer in the senate,
land a democrat who would MT ha