The Marietta journal. (Marietta, Ga.) 1918-1944, 1919-01-10

oldest number, 80 or 81, but both
have been in current use at least since
the years of Methuselah, so neither
is "new" so far as senatorial districts
i in Georgia is concerned.
If / am correct in my proposition
that when subsection (a) of Section
of the Act to amend the constitu-
ton was ratified, it abolished the old
18th, 9th, 30th, 34th, 35th and seth
districts, and when subsection (b) of
the same section was ratified it Gre
ated six new districts designated by
the same numbers, who is going to
represent these six new districts in
the next general assembly? Certain
ly, from a legal standpoint, not the
excellent gentlemen who were elect
ed to represent the old districts bear
ing these numbers, because each of
the old districts was abolished; and,
when the district was abolished, the
office of senator of that district died
not natural, but legal, death.
Suppose at the last general cleo
ton there had been an Act submitted
to the people providing for an amend
ment to the constitution which, if
ratified, would abolish the Supreme
Court of our state. And suppose
that the six distinguished judges who
now serve on that court were all
running for reelection at the same
time; suppose that the amendment
was ratified and the court abolished
and at the same time the same six
judges were reelected, does any one
suppose that these judges would still
sit as court, draw their salaries, and
pass upon the writs of error brought
before them? No; they would grace
fully step down and out; the court
having been abolished, they would
have no positions to fill.
Now, that is just what happened
at the last election; the six sena-
torial districts already enumerated
were abolished, and at the same cleo
ton the six gentlemen who had been
nominated for senators from those
districts were elected, but with the
districts abolished there is left no
position for them as senators, and le-
gally they are statesmen without
Jobs" l intend no discourtesy to-
these excellent gentlemen in my
statements, but this is the legal effect
of their districts being abolished, and
claw is law" as Mr.. Holloman so
aptly says.
I even go further than this; it is
my opinion that if the act in ques-
ton had provided that the 35th dis
trict, composed of Fulton, Cobb and
Clayton, had been abandoned by the
ratification of an amendment to the
constitution so providing, and at the
same time by the ratification of an
other amendment another district
called the 35th, composed of the
same counties, had been created, the
senator who had been elected from
the old 35th could not legally repre-
sent the new 35th. Take a corpora
ton; suppose that it liquidates and
relinquishes and delivers up it's char
ter, and then suppose that the same
men who compose the old corporation
petition for another charter with the
same HdIllc anu VIC SoPHIoA
stock, and it is organized under the.I
terms of the law, would it be consider
ed that the same man who happened
to be president of the old corporation
would be president of the new by vir-
tue of such fact? No; he could never
act as president of the new corpora
ton until he was legally elected as
provided by the bylaws and charter
thereof.
Then, if l am correct in my prem
ises, who is going to represent the
new 39th district in the next general
assembly? Who will be the senator
to represent Cobb county?
Mr.. Holloman says in his article
as follows:
cobb county will be represented
by Senator Allen. The electors of
Cobb county voted for him as their
senator"
want it distinctly understood that
| have no fight to make upon Mr..
Allen; he is we'll qualified for a SEN
ator and an estimable gentleman, but
am at a loss to understand how he
can legally represent Cobb county in
the senate; if Mr.. Allen is the legal
representative from any district, it is !
the 35th; and Cobb county is in the
39th senatorial district. If he should
resign and an election should be call
ed to elect his successor, what coun-
ties would vote at such an election?
Of course, everybody will agree that
it would be Fulton, Clayton and
Henry; Cobb would have no more
voice in the contest for his successor
than some resident of the Sandwich
Islands. Mr. Allen does not reside in
Cobb county, neither does he reside
in the 39th district in which Cobb
is located then, how could he repre-
sent this county?
Section No 6422 of the Code of
| Georgia is as follows:
"The senators shall be citizens of
the United States, who have attained
the age of twenty-five years, and