Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1926-09-16
BROWN CITES DATES ON
HIS COM MISSION in
ANSWER TO QUESTION
DECLARES HIS. TERM OF OFFICE
EXPIRES IN JUNE, is27-TAL-
MADE CERTAIN TO MAKE
COURT TEST.

signed by the governor. hanging on
the wa back Of nay desk, expires
Saturday following the fourth We'd
nesday in June, 1897" said Commits
sioner Of Agriculture J. ]. Brown re-
Gently, in answer to question asked
about when his term of office ends.
'That," he said, answers the question.
1t has been established as prece
dent; the point has been passed on
by the courts three times, and we
have all abided by the ruling of the
: courts"
The Question
The inquiry has been made when
Eugene Talmadge will go into office,
and swflstiaers or not Mr.. Brown, the
incumbent, will make appointment of
oil and fertilizer inspectors over the
state before he goes out, and for what
term.
That there will be legal question
raised to finally determine the ques-
ton seems today to be practically
certainty. Attorney General Nanier
was asked today about the status and.
after just passing examination of the
acts, replied that the question is one
which viii require some study; that
it does not appear to be entirely clear,
but he was not disposed to believe
chat the court decisions in the Nc
Gregory Clrake case over the pension
Office, or that in the Bennett, Boifeuil-
let case, over the seat on the public
service commission are controlling.
Hall Bill -
In 1918 the late Joe Hill Hall, then
q member Of the legislature, had
passed an act which sought to pro-
vide that all state house officers, 9th
err than those named in the constitu-
tion, should go in office January l,
following the election. That act was
found to be faulty and in 1921 there
was some amendment to it, clarifying
the matter of returns which should
be made to the secretary Of state, and
canvassed by him instead of being
canvassed by the legislature, as UNI
der the old custom.
Since the enactment of the Hall
law there have been two test cases,
but in each of these there was a
specific point as the basis, rather
than a general contention directed at
the validity of the whole act. In the
McGregor case it was held that the
act creating the office of pension
commissioner had provisions covering
only that one office. The court found
this to be true, holding that the Gre
ating act contemplated not perma-
nent, but temporary office. In the
matter of the Bennett-Bolfeulllet
controversy the creating act was
found to designate the time when the
term begins, fixing December 1, fol-
lowing the election-or rather, that
the term of office should run for six
years from December 1.
Close Study
The act creating the office of COM
missioner of agriculture, according to
the examination made today by At
torney General Nanier, does not fix
the date of commencement of the
term of office, but provides that the
election Of the commissioner shall be
at the same time and under the same
rules as the election of governor and
other state house officers, and shall
be for a term of two years. Just
what the further effect of the Joe
Hill Hall law and it's subsequent ad-
ditional acts will be is the question
which the attorney general says will
require close study.
In respect to the inquiry made:
ssWhether Mr.. Brown has the au-
thority to appoint inspectors for long
terms before he goes out" it appears
there is no question as to the authorl-
Ay. That point was gone into ex-
haustively at the time Mr.. Brown sue
ceeded the late James D. Price as
commissioner Of agriculture, when
Mr.. Price made the full term appoint
ments, extending over into the Brown
term of office.
The oil inspectors of the state are
appointed as of October /, for full
term of two years land commissions
are isued to them by the commission
er of agriculture. Under the law,
once the commission is isued, the ap-
pointee is removed from office only
for cause, after notice.
Will Enjoy
However, Talmcdge contends that
the law makes mandatory the ap-
uointment of only 10 oil inspectors
in the state, and all over that number
are sin the judgment" of the COM
missioner; that it is his purpose, IN
the event Mr.. Brown seeks to make
any other than 10 appointments 20
seek through the courts to enjoin Mr.
Brown from making them. In con- |
yersation today Mr.. Talmadge made
the statement that, under the exist
ing circumstances, and in the light |
of so strong an expression from the
II 4o4a fhof