The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1916-02-24

enforcing the laws WuG16 WAS
the pleasure of a citizen toI resist
them? Should he have thrown
| up his hands and said: I'll IS my
duty to suspend Sheriff Haugh,
the law says shall do it, have
sworn to execute that Law but
Mr.. Baugh refuses to obey the
Executive order, and / ami help
less. Is that what the people
of Mississippi expect Of ] their
Governor?
TT is absurd to suppose that
authority can exist without pow
| er to enfore it. The onlyI force
which the law gives the Govern
or for the enforcement of his au-
thority where the sheriff. resists
lit, is the State militia. In this
case the person resisting the law
was the executive officer Ibf the
law himself; he was the sheriff
of the county, controlling Iall To-
cal forces of law enforcement.
How then was the Executive or
der to be enforced, how Was the
authority of the State Of Missis-
sippi to be rescued FROM con-
tempt and overcome resistance?
Was there anything else flor the
Governor to do, save to use the
only legal power at his corhmand
to enforce the ExecutiyeI order
and maintain the dignity And au-
thority of the State, which was
fouted and defed by Mr.. Baugh.
Would any citizen of Mississippi
have done otherwise?
Force was not used t1 eject
Mr.. Baugh until Mr.. Baulgh re-
sisted and defed the Executive
authority acting in obedience to
the law.
mo order Of the Supreme
Court was served upon MIR. Fish
er enjoining him from obeying
the Executive order to take
charge Of the Office OF Sheriff of
Coahoma county. So all talk
about resisting the civil author
Iity is not even respectable non
sense.
"Mr. Bilbo is not a factor in
this controversy at all. tits only
question of whether the Exec
utive shall execute the laws of
the State where they are manda-
tory, or when that execution is
resisted to overcome that resist
ance by the only force at his
command. How can any Execu-
tive order directed against the
sheriff of any county be enforced
lif that sheriff sees fit to resist
and defy the Executive author
ity? Several sheriffs were sus-
pended under preceding admins
trations upon allegation Of short
]age in their accounts. This is
the first time, however, that the
order of suspension has been re-
sisted. What would Mr.. Rilbo's
predecessors have done # their
authority had been hou 81 and
ldefed? Make themselves OBJ
jecls Of universal cor ss1ar1 BY
declaring that they could not ex-
ecute the law which they were
sworn to uphold and execute.
Section 8 of the Constitution
reads:
THE military shall be in strict
subordination to the civil power.
1.-THE Governor is the head Of
the civil power of. the State; it
was in the discharge of a civil
duty Of his office. duty that the
statute made mandatory, that ,he
suspended Sheriff Baugh. After
exhausting every other recourse
as the head of the civil author
lily, as responsible to the people
for the maintenance of it's Dig
nifty, required by his Office to
compel respect for it, he had no
other recourse than to call upon
the military to support and ,lus-
tain and enforce that civil hu-,
thority. This he did for the sake
of the majesty Of the civil Jaw
entrusted to him to execute and
for the peace and dignity of the
State of Mississippi, which he is
bound to preserve and defend,
even against rebellious and
contemptuous ex-sheriff. The
military throughout the WHOLE OF
these transactions was in 2strict
subordination to the civil apthor-
ity of the State, sp}aking
through its Executive.
REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS.