The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1915-08-28
DETHEA LACKS AUTHORITY,
ATTORNEY GENERAL RULES
THAT ONLY GOVERNOR CAN
CALL ELECTION.
Matter Comes up i'm Beaufort Case,
Where Citizens Want to Resort to
Notwithstanding Away from State
ut Present.

the State does not authorize the lieu
tenant-governOr to assume the duties
Of the chief executive. This opinion
was written by Thomas H. Peoples,
attorney general, upon request of An
drew j. Bethea, lieutenant governor.
Requesting the opinion Mr.. Be-
thea said:
II understand that his excellency,
Hon. Richard l. Manning, governor
of the State of South Carolina, Is out
of the State and will be absent until
about September 1st. A matter Of
importance and demanding reason
ably prompt action has been brought
to my attention by the citizens in
certain community of the State and
l have been requested by petition to
take official action as acting governor
of the State of South Carolina.
II therefore desire and will thank
you, as the head of the legal depart
ment of the State, to advise me
whether or not in your opinion 1 have
the authority to perform the duties
lof the governor in the absence from
the State of the chief executive of
South Carolina.
I'm this connection, l beg to call
your attention to article 4, section Q
of the constitution of 1895, which
states among other things that lin
case of the removal Of the. governor
from office by impeachment, death,
resignation, disqualification, disabil-
ity, or removal from the State, the
lieutenant governor shall then be
governor and also in case Of the
temporary disability of the governor
the LIEUTENANT governor shall per-
form the duties Of the governor
II am not satisfied in my own
mind as to just what Is my author
ity as provided in the above article
and section Of the constitution, and
as / wish neither to assume authority
which is not mine nor to shirk
duty which 1 should perform. 1 shall
greatly appreciate the value of your
counsel in this matter"
Mr.. Bethea said yesterday that
several citizens Of Beaufort county
had filed request for q recall elec.
tion for the mayor and a member. OF
council and that he had referred the
m"tter to the attorney generals Of
flee for a decision.
The final paragraph in the opin-
ion says:
Il am of the opinion that the mere
temporary absence of the governor
from the State does not authorize
the lieutenant governor to assume the
duties of governor during such .ab;
sence unless the governor may pub
licly place the lieutenant governor in
charge Of the government 80 that the
term Of absence of the governor shall
appear of record"
1t was said at the governors office
that no petition had been received in
the Beaufort case. Gov. Manning is
In Boston attending the governors
conference and will return to Co
lumbia about September 1.
Yesterday following the decision
by the attorney general, Mr.. Bethea
sent the following letter to Niels
Christensen of Beaufort:
referring to the petition signed
by certain citizens of the town of
Beaufort asking for an election for
the recall of Mayor Danner and
Councilman Marscher and addressed
to me because of the absence of Gov.
Manning from the State, 1 respect
fully beg to return herewith the said
petition to you and regret to say that
| feel it my duty to decline to act in
this matter
Immediately upon receipt of the
petition, / referred the matter to the
Hon. Thomas III. Peoples, attorney
general of the State Of South Caro-
ilha's ana requested him to give me
an opinion as to my authority to act
In the absence of the governor, and
as you will observe from the conclu-
sion OF the said opinion by the at
torney general, copy of which is
herewith inclosed, it is the opinion
OF the attorney general that the lieu
tenant governor is not authorized to
act in the governors absence
Unless the governor may pub
licly place the lieutenant governor in
'charge of the government so that tho
term OF absence of the governor shall
appear of record
GOV. Manning has not so placed
me I'm charge OF the government and
as stated above, feel it my duty to