Evening star., 1934-08-05

One of the eldest Of American po-
litical academic debates is whether 1t
is a greater honor to be the Governor
Of a state ora United States Senator
large number OF person, prooaoly
a majority. regard the Office of Gov
e4nor as the higher honor. as a Gov
ernor Is the head of a sovereign
power. whereas q Senator is but one
of a group Of SO But one thing which
is very clear and. incidentally, sug-
gests that the governorship is the
more distinguished position, is that
State Governors usually have more
trouble than United States Senators.
William II. LANCER. whose position
has been rather hard to describe. IN
asmuch as soma have insisted he is
Governor and others insisted With
equal spirit that he is not. is but one
of long line Of State chief executives
who have found the Governors seat
an uneasy one. There is no doubt
that I.anger was elected Governor Of
North Dakota and served for some
time. There also seems no doubt that
he was convicted of some trregularity.
Further. no doubt exists that a North
Dakota court by an overwhelming ma
iority Of its bench found that as a
felon he was disqualified to continue
in office.
It is certain that Langer's political
adherents, a strong group sternly up
held his, right to continue in office,
Lieut.. Gov. Ole Oleson. declared by
the court to be the true Governor,
took a lonely office because Tump
Legislature which the shadowy Lam
ger called did not recognize him. Then
followed one of the most extraordt-
nary proceedings OF modern political
life. an attempt on the part of the
Legislature to place in office a person
who had no claim on it of any kind,
eli her by right Of election or success
sion. That person was Mr.. Langer's
wife, who, his adherents appeared to
feel, should succeed as a queen might
take over a regency on the disability
of king. in a dynastic manner.
1t is scarcely likely that the LANCER
case will occupy an important chapter
in American history. in spite of its
current interest and the somewhat
unusual effort to establish a LANCER
dynasty, but the case illustrates anew
the difficulties which Governors en-
counter.
The Free State Of Franklin.
John Sewer was a Virginian who
as captain of the Virginia line
fought in Lord Dunmore's War. Aft
erward he crossed the Alleghenies
and established colony in the Wa
tauga country, the region stretching
into what has been called the Dark
and Bloody Land At the time there
was a steady trek of pioneers over the
Nollichocky Trace, and Sewer, who
had assumed leadership of the colony,
addressed q memorial to the State Of
North Carolina asking attachment to
that jurisdiction. This was granted
and the vast Western territory COM
prising what now is Tennessee and
part Of Kentucky was Joined to North
Carolina as a county Sewer was
elected to the North Carolina Legis-
lature.
When the negotiations for the per-
fection of the new American Union
suggested that the several States
might be called upon to share, pro-
portionately as to size, the burden Of
the national debt, North Carolina
took alarm at the hugeness of her
Western domain and divorced the new
county. So John Sewer organized
that fascinating political division of
the United States so seldom men,
toned in the school books-the Free
State of Franklin. He made treaties
with the Cherokees and there was
some question as to whether Franklin
would become a State of the Aneri-
can Union or an Independent republic.