Evening star., 1925-11-15

| Continued from First Page)
sional district of North Dakota last
year against Thomas Hall of Bis
marck, a regular Republican. Mr..
Hall was elected.
| The seating of Mr.. Nye would give
| the Progressive group in the Senate
the same numerical strength that 1t
had before the deaths Of Senator La
Toilette and Senator Ladd. Robert
| Nj. La Toilette, jr., was elected to fill
his fathers place by an overwhelm-
! ing vote in Wisconsin in September.
Senator Brookhart OF Iowa, another
| Progressive. however, must defend
| his right to his seat which has been
| challenged by the Democratic nomi-
| nee. Steck. This contest will be
| settled soon after the Senate meets.
Nye May Be Candidate.
Progressives from North Dakota
| said yesterday that they believed Mr..
Nye would be a candidate for election
| to the Senate in the special election
| called for next June, particularly II
| ne should be seated now. In some
| quarters the belief has prevailed that
Gov Sorlie himself would be q can
didate for the Senate next June. If
| he should seek the Office, it would
| seem unlikely that Mr.. Nye would
enter the race.
The regular Republicans are expect
ed to support either former Gov.
Hanna or former Gov. Nestos-prob-
ably the former, in the special elec-
| ton. The Democrats, IT Is said. have
no chance whatever.
Those who contend that Gov.-Sorlie
has no right to appoint to fill a
vacancy in the Senate, but that 1t
must be filled by a special election.
| point to the language of the constttu-
| tional amendment providing for the
| direct election of Senators. This says:
when vacancies happen in the rep
resentation Of any State in the Sen
ate, the executive authority of such
State shall issue writs of election to
! fill such vacancies; provided that the
| Legislature of any State may en-
power the executive thereof to make
temporary appointment until the peo-
pie fill the vacancies by election as
| the Legislature may direct"
| 1t is maintained that the Legisla-
| ture of North Dakota has not given
| the governor this specific authority,
and that until the Legislature does
| give this power, a vacancy can only
be filled by election.
Precedence Is Cited.
| It Is further contended that the
| Senate itself has established a prece.
| dent in the case of Frank P. Glass,
| appointed a Senator from Alabama
| during the Wilson administration to
| fill a vacancy caused by the death of
was controlled by the Democrat,
and Mr.. Glass. a popular newspape
editor, had the support Of President
| Wilson, with whom he had been at
! school. The Senate, however, declined
| to seat Mr.. Glass on the ground that
| the Governor of Alabama had not
| been authorized by the State Legis-
lature to make such appointments.
There was a law in Alabama, how
ever, which gave the Governor the
| power to appoint to fill vacancies in
State offices.
| In the effort to have Mr.. Nye seated,
| the right of a State to be represented
| by two Senators in the United States
Senate will be urged. This right is
provided in the Constitution. But the
| Senators must be chosen in accord
ance with the Constitution and the
laws of the States. it is pointed out.
! Since the adoption of the constitu-
tional amendment providing for the
| direct election of Senators, 46 of the
48 States have passed laws dealing
with the matter. The exceptions are
North Dakota and Kansas, according
to a recent compilation of the laws.
| Of the 46 States passing these laws,
Al have given the governors power
to appoint to fill vacancies until elec-
tions can be held, and five have not
given such power. The five States
which refused to give such power and
made provision for special elections
are Florida, Maine, Rhode Island, Yer
mont and Wisconsin. The case of the
La Toilette vacancy in Wisconsin last
| Summer is a case In point. Gov.
Blaine was unable to make an ap.
pointment had he desired to do so,
and special election was called.
Sorlie Criticized.
| The Governor of North Dakota
| could have pursued the same course
| had he wished. There has been con-
| siderable editorial comment in North
Dakota criticizing the governor for
| leaving the State. seemingly, with
only one Senator for the coming i'm
| portant session Of Congress.
The Senate, much earlier than the
Glass case, determined that the constt-
| tutional right of a State to be repre-
sented by two Senators did not neces-
| sarily cofer on a governor of a State
| the right to appoint to fill a vacancy.
| In 1899, Matthew S. Quay, better
known as Mat" Quay. Republican
boss in Pennsylvania. was up for re-
| election by the State Legislature. The
Legislature deadlocked, largely because
Mr.. Quay. who was already serving in
| the Senate, had been accused in con-
| nection with the failure of the Peo-
pies Bank in which State funds were
deposited. This prevented his re-elec-
J ton at the time. He was later &C.
Quilted and in 1901 was reelected. But
in the interim the Governor OF Penn
sylvania appointed him to the Senate
on the theory that Pennsylvania was
entitled to two seats in the Senate.
The Senate. however, by a vote Of SO
to 80 prevented Senator Quay from be-
ing seated until after he had been
elected in 1901.