Source: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/178/548/
Timestamp: 2019-04-18 15:06:25+00:00

Document:
WILLIAM S. TAYLOR and John Marshall, Plffs. in Err., v. J. C. W. BECKHAM, Dft. in Err.
Argued: April 30, and May 1, 1900.
This was an action in the nature of quo warranto brought, under the statutes of Kentucky, by J. C. W. Beckham against William S. Taylor and John Marshall, for usurpation of the offices of governor and lieutenant governor of Kentucky, in the circuit court of Jefferson county, in that commonwealth.
The petition averred that at a general election held on the 7th of November, 1899, in the commonwealth of Kentucky, William Goebel was the Democratic candidate for governor and J. C. W. Beckham was the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, and that at said election William S. Taylor and John Marshall were the Republican candidates for the said offices respectively; that after said election the state board of election commissioners, whose duty it was to canvass the returns thereof, canvassed the same, and determined on the face of the returns that said Taylor and said Marshall were elected governor and lieutenant governor, respectively, for the term commencing December 12, 1899, and accordingly awarded them certificates to that effect, whereupon they were inducted into those offices.
The petition further alleged that within the time allowed by law said William Goebel and J. C. W. Beckham gave written notices to Taylor and Marshall that they would each contest the said election on numerous grounds set out at large in the respective notices; that said notices of contest were duly served on said Taylor and Marshall, filed before each house of the general assembly, and entered at large on the journals thereof; that thereafter boards of contests were duly selected by each house of the general assembly, and sworn to try said contests as required by law; that at the time appointed for the hearing the said Taylor and Marshall appeared, and each filed defenses and counter notices, and the evidence of contestants and contestees was heard by the boards from January 15, 1900, until January 29, 1900, inclusive, and upon January 30, 1900, said contests were submitted without argument to the boards for decision.
That thereafter the boards, having considered the matters of law and fact involved in the contests, did each separately decide the contest submitted to it, and made out in writing its decision, and reported the same to each house of the general assembly for action thereon.
That in the contest for governor the board determined, and so reported to each house of the general assembly, that William Goebel had received the highest number of legal votes cast for governor atth e election held on November 7, 1899, and that he was duly elected governor for the term beginning December 12, 1899; and that in the contest for lieutenant governor the board determined and so reported that the contestant Beckham had received the highest number of legal votes cast at said election, and was duly elected to the office of lieutenant governor for said term.
The petition also alleged that the reports and decisions of the contest boards were thereafter duly adopted and approved by both houses of the general assembly in separate and in joint sessions; that there were present in the house of representatives at said time 56 members and in the senate 19 members, which was a quorum of each house, and that there were present 75 members in joint session, and that the general assembly did then and there decide and declare that William Goebel and J. C. W. Beckham had each received the highest number of legal votes cast at said election for the offices of, and were duly elected, governor and lieutenant governor as aforesaid. The journals of both houses of the general assembly, showing the proceedings and facts aforesaid, were referred to and made part of the petition, and attested copies thereof filed therewith.
It was futher averred that, after the determination of said contest by the general assembly, the said William Goebel and J. C. W. Beckham were duly sworn and inducted into the offices of governor and lieutenant governor of the commonwealth and at once entered upon the discharge of their respective duties. That thereafter, on the 3d of February, 1900, William Goebel died, and by law said Beckham was required to discharge the duties of the office of governor, and accordingly on that day he took the oath prescribed by law, and immediately entered on the discharge of the duties of said office.
It was further alleged that the powers of Taylor as governor and of Marshall as lieutenant governor immediately ceased on the determination of the contest by the general assembly, but that, notwithstanding the premises, the said Taylor and Marshall had usurped the said offices of governor and lieutenant governor, and had refused to surrender the records, archives, journals, and papers pertaining to the office of governor, and the possession of the executive offices in the capitol in the city of Frankfort.
Defendants Taylor and Marshall filed answers and amended answers and counter-claims, denying any valid proceedings in contest, and alleging in substance that the action of the boards of contests and of the general assembly in the contests was the result of a conspiracy entered into by the members of the boards and the members of the general assembly to wrongfully and unlawfully deprive contestees of their offices; that in the execution of this design the members of said boards were fraudulently selected, and not fairly daw n by lot, as required by law, and that a majority of those selected were persons whose political beliefs and feelings, inclinations, and desires on the subject of the contests were known in advance. That the entries on the journals of the general assembly were false and fraudulent and made in pursuance of said conspiracy, and that the pretended decisions were fraudulent and utterly void. That the senate lacked a quorum at the time of the pretended adoption of the contest boards' reports; and that defendant, Taylor, as governor, on January 31, 1900, refused to permit the members of the general assembly to meet as the general assembly at Frankfort, because he had previously adjourned the general assembly to meet on February 6 at London, in Laurel county.
'Defendants further say that both the offices of governor and lieutenant governor are offices created by the Constitution of Kentucky, and therefore not subject to abolition by the general assembly of Kentucky. And, furthermore, it is provided by the Constitution of Kentucky that 'the salaries of public officers shall not be changed during the term or which they were elected,' and defendants say they were elected, as heretofore shown, to the offices of governor and lieutenant governor, respectively, of the state of Kentucky on November 7, 1899, for a period of four years each, and then and thereby became entitled to exercise the functions of said offices and to receive the salaries and emoluments appertaining thereto, which are large and valuable, and were such when they were thus elected; the salary of the governor being then and now fixed by law at $6,500 per annum; and to take from them their said offices and their said salaries and emoluments by the aforesaid action of said contest tribunals would be to deprive them of their property without due process of law, contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, and especially of the 14th Amendment thereof.
The prayer of the defendants was that the bill be dismissed, that J. C. W. Beckham be adjudged a usurper, and that William S. Taylor and John Marshall be, respectively, adjudged the governor and lieutenant governor of the commonwealth.
'Second. William Goebel and J. C. W. Beckham inaugurated a contest for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor respectively before the general assembly of Kentucky on the 2d day of January, 1900, against William S. Taylor and John Marshall, and the said contest was finally determined by the general assembly o t he 2d day of February, 1900, at which time it was adjudged and determined by each house of said general assembly, acting separately and also in joint session, that the said William Goebel was duly elected governor of the commonwealth of Kentucky for the term beginning December 13, 1899, and was entitled to said office of governor, and it was then and there in like manner determined by said general assembly and by each house, acting separately and in joint session, that the said J. C. W. Beckham was duly elected lieutenant governor of said commonwealth for the same term.
'Third. Immediately after the said determination the oath of office of governor as provided by law was administered to said Goebel, February 2, 1900, and the oath of office as lieutenant governor, as provided by law, was in like manner administered to J. C. W. Beckham.
Judgment of ouster was rendered in favor of plaintiff and against defendants.
The case was then carried on appeal to the court of appeals of Kentucky and the judgment affirmed (21 Ky. L. Rep. 1735, 56 S. W. 177); whereupon a writ of error from this court was allowed by the chief justice of that court.
The journals of the two houses, attached to the petition as part thereof, showed that the general assembly convened on January 2, 1900, and that on the third day after its organization boards of contest were appointed pursuant to the statute; that of February 2, 1900, the board in each of the contests reported to the two houses that they had heard all the evidence offered by the parties, and that William Goebel had received the highest number of legal votes cast for governor; that J. C. W. Beckham had received the highest number of legal votes cast for lieutenant governor; and that they were duly elected and entitled to those offices. The journals further showed that on the same day both houses, with a quorum present, approved and adopted, separately and in joint session, the reports of the contest boards, and declared that William Goebel and J. C. W. Beckham were duly elected governor and lieutenant governor, respectively.
It appeared that thereupon said Goebel and Beckham on that day, February 2, took the oath of office; that on January 30 William Goebel was shot by an assassin, receiving a wound from which he afterward died on February 3; and that on January 31 defendant Taylor as governor issued a proclamation declaring that a state of insurrection existed at Frankfort, Kentucky, adjourning the general assembly until February 6, and ordering it then to assemble at the town of London, in Laurel county.
The same resolution was adopted by the house, and on February 20 by both houses in joint session.
The court of appeals regarded the disposal of the following contentions of Taylor and Marshall as decisive of the case, namely: (1) That the proceedings of the legislature of February 2 were void, because the legislature had then been adjourned by the governor until February 6, and no legal session could be held in the meantime. (2) That William Goebel having died on February 3, the contest for the office of governor thereby abated, and the action of the legislature on February 19 and 20 was therefore void. (3) That the legislature took no action on February 2, and that the journals of these meetings were fraudulently made by the clerk in pursuance of an alleged conspiracy between certain members of the assembly and contestants. (4) That the general assembly acted without evidence and arbitrarily.
This, the court held, did not provide for the adjournment of the general assembly by the governor after it had assembled, but for the designation of another place at which it might assemble for the time being and organize, when prevented by the causes named from doing so at the capital; and that it was not intended to authorize such action as was taken was clear from § 80, which provided, among other things: 'In case of disagreement between the two houses with respect to the time of adjournment, he the governor may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper, not exceeding four months.' This showed that the governor had no power over the time of adjournment of the two houses, except in cases of disagreement as to that matter between them, and no such disagreement existed here. And even then it did not confer upon him power to name any other place than that in which the legislature migt be sitting.
Section 41 also provided: 'Neither house, during the session of the general assembly, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which it may be sitting.' By this section either house might, with the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, or to any other place than that in which it was sitting; but it could not have been intended that the governor should have like power. On the contrary, the powers of the state government were divided into three distinct and independent departments, and the state Constitution was intended to maintain the absolute independence of each.
The court further decided that the death of William Goebel on February 3d did not affect the right of Beckham. It Goebel was elected governor, and Beckham, lieutenant governor, Beckham on February 3d became entitled to the office of governor, and had the right to continue the contest to secure what the Constitution guaranteed him, so that, if the legislature had not acted until February 19, it had a right then to act on the contest, and its action would be none the less valid because not taken in Goebel's lifetime.
'There is no conflict between the action of the state canvassing board and that of the legislature in these cases. The state canvassing board were without power to go behind the returns. They were not authorized to hear evidence and determine who was in truth elected, but were required to give a certificate of election to those who on the face of the returns had received the highest number of votes. For the state board to have received evidence to impeach the returns before them would have been for them, in effect, to act as a board for trying a contested election, and if they had done this they would have usurped the power vested in the general assembly by the Constitution; for by its express terms only the general assembly can determine a contested election for governor and lieutenant governor.
In respect of the allegation that the action of the general assembly was void because without evidence an a rbitrary, the court held that it must be presumed that the legislature did its duty in the premises; and, further, that the objections that the notices of contest were insufficient and that the evidence was equally insufficient, that the contest boards were not fairly drawn by lot, and that certain members of the boards were liable to objection on the ground of partiality, were all in respect of matters confided to the general assembly to deal with as made by the Constitution the sole tribunal to determine such contests.
Of the seven members of the tribunal, Hazelrigg, C. J., Paynter, Hobson, and White, JJ., concurred in the principal opinion by Hobson, J.; and Burnam and Guffy, JJ., in the result, in a separate opinion by Burnam, J., on the ground 'that there is no power in the courts of the state to review the finding of the general assembly in a contested election for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor as shown by its duly authenticated records.' Du Relle, J., dissented, holding that the boards of contest had no jurisdiction in the matter which they undertook to try, and that the demurrer should have been carried back to the petition and sustained.
The present Constitution of the state of Kentucky of 1891 provides, § 90: 'Contested elections for governor and lieutenant governor shall be determined by both houses of the general assembly, according to such regulations as may be established by law.' This was taken verbatim from the 24th section of article 3 of the Constitution of 1850.
'Sec. 1535. No application to contest the election of an officer shall be heard, unless notice thereof, in writing, signed by the party contesting, is given.
'1. The notice shall state the grounds of the contest, and none other shall afterward be heard as coming from such party b ut the contestee may make defense without giving counter notice.
'Sec. 1596 A, . . .
'First. On the third day after the organization of the general assembly which meets next after the election, the senate shall select by lot, three of its members, and the house of representatives shall select by lot, eight of its members, and the eleven so selected shall constitute a board, seven of whom shall have power to act.
'Second. In making the selection by lot, the name of each member present shall be written on a separate piece of paper, every such piece being as nearly similar to the other as may be. Each piece shall be rolled up so that the name thereon cannot be seen, nor any particular piece be ascertained or selected by feeling. The whole so prepared shall be placed by the clerk in a box on his table, and after it has been well shaken up and the papers therein well intermixed, the clerk shall draw out one paper, which shall be opened and read aloud by the presiding officer, and so on until the required number is obtained. The persons whose names are so drawn shall be members of the board.
'Third. The members of the board so chosen by the two houses shall be sworn by the speaker of the house of representatives to try the contested election, and give true judgment thereon, according to the evidence unless dissolved before rendering judgment.
'Fourth. The board shall, within twenty-four hours after its election, meet, appoint its chairman, and assign a day for hearing the contest, and adjourn from day to day as its business may require.
'Fifth. If any person so selected shall swear that he cannot, without great personal inconvenience, serve on the board, or that he feels an undue bias for or against either of the parties, he may be excused by the house from which he was chosen from serving on the board, and if it appears that the person so selected is related to either party, or is liable to any other proper objection on the score of its partiality, he shall be excused.
'Sixth. Any deficiency in the proper number so created shall be supplied by another draw from the box.
'Seventh. The board shall have power to send for persons, papers, and records, to issue attachments therefor signed by its chairman or clerk, and issue commissions for taking proof.
'Eighth. Where it shall appear that the candidates receiving the highest number of votes given have received an equal number, the right to the office shall be determined by lot, under the direction of the board. Where the person returned is found not to have been legally qualified to receive the office at the time of his election a new election shall be ordered to fill the vacancy; Provided, the first two years of his term shall not have expired. Where another than the person returned shall be found to have received the highest number of legal votes given, such other shall be adjudged to be the person elected and entitled to the office.
'Ninth. No decision shall be made but by the vote of six members. The decision of the board shall not be final nor conclusive. Such decision shall be reported to the two houses of the general assembly, for the future action of the general assembly. And the general assembly shall then determine such contest.
'Tenth. If a new election is required it shall be immediately ordered by proclamation of the speaker of the house of representatives to take place within six weeks thereafter, and on a day not sooner than thirty days thereafter.
'Eleventh. When a new election is ordered or the incumbent adjudged not to be entitled, his powers shal immediately cease, and, if the office is not adjudged to another, it shall be deemed to be vacant.
'Twelfth. If any member of the board wilfully fails to attend its sessions, he shall be reported to the house to which he belongs, and thereupon such house shall, in its discretion, punish him by fine or imprisonment or both.
It is obviously essential to the independence of the states, and to their peace and tranquillity, that their power to prescribe the qualifications of their own officers, the tenure of their offices, the manner of their election, and the grounds on which, the tribunals before which, and the mode in which, such elections may be contested, should be exclusive and free from external interference, except so far as plainly provided by the Constitution of the United States.
And where controversies over the election of state officers have reached the state courts in the manner provided by, and been there determined in accordance with, the state Constitutions and laws, the cases must necessarily be rare in which the interference of this court can properly be invoked.
The writ in Foster v. Kansas ex rel. Johnston, 112 U. S. 201, 28 L. ed. 629, 5 Sup. Ct. Rep. 8, 97, rested on the same ground.
In each of the foregoing cases the determination of the right to the offices in dispute was reposed in the judicial courts, and no question was expressly considered by this court as to whether the right to a public office of a state was or was not protected by the 14th Amendment.
The grounds on which our jurisdiction is sought to be maintained in the present case are set forth in the errors assigned, to the effect, in substance: (1) That the action of the general assembly in the matter of these contests deprived plaintiffs in error of their offices without due process of law. (2) That the action of the general assembly deprived the people of Kentucky of the right to choose their own representatives, secured by the guarantee of the Federal Constitution of a republican form of government to every state, and deprived them of their political liberty without due process of law.
For more than a hundred years the Constitution of Kentucky has provided that contested elections for governor and lieutenant governor shall be determined by the general assembly. In 1799, by a committee, 'to be selected from both houses of the general assembly, and formed and regulated in such manner as shall be directed by law' Const. art. 3, § 27; since 1850, 'by both houses of the general assembly, according to such regulations as may be established by law' Const. art. 3, § 24.
The statute enacted for the purpose of carrying the provisions of the Constitution into effect has been in existence in substance since 1799, 1 Morehead, and Brown, 593-4; Rev. Stat. Ky. 1852, chap. 32, art. 7, § 1, p. 294. Many of the states have similar constitutional provisions and similar statutes.
We do not understand this statute to be assailed as in any manner obnoxious to constituional objection, but that plaintiffs in error complain of the action of the general assembly under the statute and of the judgment of the state courts declining to disturb that action.
It was earnestly pressed at the bar that all the proceedings were void for want of jurisdiction apparent on the face of the record; that under the Constitution and statute, as there was no question of an equal number of votes or of the legal qualifications of the candidates, the action of the general assembly could only be invoked by a contest as to which of the parties had received the highest number of legal votes; but that the notices put forward a case, not of the election of the contestants, but of no election at all, which the contest boards and the general assembly had no jurisdiction to deal with. The notices were, however, exceedingly broad, and set up a variety of grounds, and specifically stated that the contestants would ask the boards of contest and the general assembly to determine that they were legally and rightfully elected governor and lieutenant governor at the said election and that the contestees were not. And the determination of the boards and of the general assembly was that contestants had received the highest number of legal votes cast for any candidate for said offices at said election, and were duly and legally elected governor and lieutenant governor,a determination which adjudged the notices to be sufficient, and which did not include any matter not within the jurisdiction of the tribunal.
We repeat, then, that the contention is that, although the statute furnished due process of law, the general assembly in adminstering the statute denied it; and that the court of appeals in holding to the rule that where a mode of contesting elections is specifically provided by the Constitution or laws of a state, that mode is exclusive, and in holding that, as the power to determine was vested in the general assembly of Kentucky, the decision of that body was not subject to judicial revision, denied a right claimed under the Federal Constitution. The court of appeals did, indeed, adjudge that the case did not come within the 14th Amendment,be cause the right to hold the office of governor or lieutenant governor of Kentucky was not property in itself, and, being created by the state Constitution, was conferred and held solely in accordance with the terms of that instrument and laws passed pursuant thereto, so that, in respect of an elective office, a determination of the result of an election, in the manner provided, adverse to a claimant, could not be regarded as a deprivation forbidden by that amendment.
The view that public office is not property has been generally entertained in this country.
In Crenshaw v. United States, 134 U. S. 99, 104, 33 L. ed. 825, 827, 10 Sup. Ct. Rep. 431, 432, Mr. Justice Lamar stated the primary question in the case to be 'whether an officer appointed for a definite time or during good behavior had any vested interest or contract right in his office of which Congress could not deprive him.' And he said, speaking for the court: 'The question is not novel. There seems to be but little difficulty in deciding that there was no such interest or right.' Butler v. Pennsylvania, 10 How. 402, 13 L. ed. 472; Newton v. Mahoning County Comrs. 100 U. S. 548, 25 L. ed. 710; Blake v. United States, 106 U. S. 227, 26 L. ed. 462; and many other cases.
The court of appeals not only held that the office of governor or of lieutenant governor was not property under the Constitution of Kentucky; but, moreover, that court was of opinion that the decision of these contested elections did not deprive plaintiffs in error of any pre-existing right.
Our system of elections was unknown to the common law, and the whole subject is regulated by constitutions and statutes passed thereunder. In the view of the court of appeals the mode of contesting elections was part of the machinery for ascertaining the result of the election, and hence the rights of the officer who held the certificate of the state board of canvassers 'were provisional or temporary until the determination of the result of the election as provided in the Constitution, and upon that determination, if adverse to him, they ceased altogether.' In fact, the statute provided that when the 'incumbent is adjudged not to be entitled his powers shall immediately cease,' and under the Constitution the holder of the certificate manifestly held it for the time being subject to the issue of a contest if initiated.
It is clear that the judgment of the court of appeals, in declining to go behind the decision of the tribunal vested by the state Constitution and laws with the ultimate determination of the right to these offices, denied no right secured by the 14th Amendment.
But it is said that the 14th Amendment must be read with § 4 of article 4 of the Constitution, providing that: 'The United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion, and, on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence.' It is argued that when the state of Kentucky entered the Union, the people 'surrendered their right of forcible revolution in state affairs,' and received in lieu thereof a distinct pledge to the people of the state of the guaranty of a republican form of government, and of protection against invasion and against domestic violence; that the distinguishing feature of that form of government is the right of the people to choose their own officers for governmental administration; that this was denied by the action of the general assembly in this instance; and, in effect, that this court has jurisdiction to enforce that guaranty, albeit the judiciary of Kentucky was unable to do so because of the division of the powers of government. And yet the writ before us was granted under § 709 of the Revised Statutes to revise the judgment of the state court on the ground that a constitutional right was decided against by that court.
It was long ago settled that the enforcement of this guaranty belonged to the political department. Luther v. Borden, 7 How. 1, 12 L. ed. 581. In that case it was held that the question, which of the two opposing governments of Rhode Island, namely, the charter government or the government established by a voluntary convention, was the legitimate one, was a question for the determination of the political department; and when that department had decided, the courts were bound to take notice of the decision and follow it; and also that as the supreme court of Rhode Island, holding constitutional authority not in dispute, had decided the point, the well-settled rule applied that the courts of the United States adopt and follow the decisions of the state courts on questions which concern merely the Constitution and laws of the state.
These observations are applicable here. The commonwealth of Kentucky is in full possession of its faculties as a member of the Union, and no exigency has arisen requiring the interference of the general government to enforce the guaranties of the Constitution, or to repel invasion, or to put down domestic violence. In the eye of the Constitution, the legislative, executive, and judicial departments of the state are peacefully operating by the orderly and settled methods prescribed by its fundamental law, notwithstanding there may be difficulties and disturbances arising from the pendency and determination of these contests. This very case shows that this is so, for those who assert that they were aggrieved by the action of the general assembly properly accepted the only appropriate remedy which, under the law, was within the reach of the parties. That this proved ineffectual as to them, even though their grounds of complaint may have been in fact well founded, was the result of the Constitution and laws under which they lived and by which they were bound. Any remedy beside that is to be found in the august tribunal of the people, which is continually sitting, and over whose judgments on the conduct of public functionaries the courts exercise no control.
We must decline to take jurisdiction on the ground of deprivation of rights embraced by the 14th Amendment, without due process of law, or of the violation of the guaranty of a republican form of government by reason of similar deprivation.
I am unable to concur in all that is said by the Chief Justice in the opinion just announced, and will state briefly wherein I dissent.
We have thus, in four cases, coming at successive times through a period of twenty-five years, had before us the question of the validity of judgments of the highest courts of separate states taking office from one person and giving it to another, in three of which we unhesitatingly sustained our jurisdiction to review such judgments, two of which we affirmed on the ground that the proceedings in the state court disclosed due process of law, and that, therefore, the rights of the plaintiff in error were not infringed; in the third of which we held that the proceedings could not be sustained, and reversed the judgment of the state court ousting one person from the high office of governor of the state and giving it to another; and in the fourth of which, while we dismissed the writ of error, it was not on the ground that there was no property involved, but because the reasons assigned for a review were so frivolous as not to call for consideration. Such a series of decisions should not now be disturbed, except upon very cogent and satisfactory reasons. And this case, it must be borne in mind, is exactly like the others,a proceeding in error to review the judgment of the highest court of a state in an action to remove an incumbent from his office.
Aside from these adjudications, I am clear, as a matter of principle, that an office to which a salary is attached is, as between two contestants for such office, to be considered a matter of property. I agree fully with those decisions which are referred to, and which hold that as between the state and the officeholder there is no contract right either to the term of office or the amount of salary, and that the legislature may, if not restrained by constitutional provisions, abolish the office or reduce the salary. But when the office is not disturbed, when the salary is not changed, and when under the Constitution of the state neither can be by the legislature, and the question in simply whether one shall be deprived of that office and its salary, and both given to another, a very different question is presented, and in such a case to hold that the incumbent has no property in the office, with its accompanying salary, does not commend itself to my judgment.
While not concurring in the order of dismissal, I am of opinion that the judgment of the court of appeals of Kentucky should be affirmed. The state of Kentucky has provided that contests in respect to the office of governor and lieutenant governor shall be decided by the general assembly. Such provision is not uncommon, is appropriate, and reasonable. The contestants, William Goebel and J. C. W. Beckham, filed with the general assembly within due time their notices of contest. Those notices were broad enough to justify action by the general assembly and a decision setting aside the award of the canvassing board and giving to the contestants their offices. The prescribed procedure was followed, the committee authorized by statute was selected, its report made, and upon that a decision awarding to the contestant the offices. It is true that the first decision of the general assembly was made at a secret session outside its ordinary place of meeting, and without notice except to those who were supposed to be willing to concur in the report of the committee. If that ended the proceedings I should be strongly inclined to hold that the decision thus rendered could not be sustained. For when a tribunal is constituted of several members I understand that all have a right to be present, and, if any session is held elsewhere than at the appointed time and place, each one must be notified in order thathe may have the opportunity of being present and contributing by his advice and opinion to the final judgment. But the record does not stop with this award of a part of the assembly in secret session, for subsequently when the general assembly was in session at its regular place of meeting, in the discharge of its ordinary duties, and at a time prescribed for its meeting, the action taken on February 2 was ratified and confirmed, both in single and joint session. Now, I agree with those members of the court of appeals of Kentucky who hold that this final action of the general assembly is conclusive. I do not ignore the many allegations of wrong, such as that the selection of the committee was not by lot, as prescribed by the laws, but was a trick on the part of the clerks of the assembly, and it must be conceded that the outcome of that drawing lends support to this allegation. Curious results sometimes happen by chance, but when those results happen so largely along the lines of the purposes of those who have control of the supposed chance, it is not strange that outsiders are apt to feel that purpose, and not chance, determined the result. Be all these things as they may, the general assembly was constituted as the tribunal to conduct and supervise the contest. It approved what took place, and it is familiar law that no question can be raised in the courts as to the honesty or integrity of the members of the legislature in the discharge of their duties. Whatever of purity or honesty may be in fact lacking in the conduct of any one of them is a matter to be inquired into between his constituents and himself, and it is no part of the province of the judiciary to challenge or question the integrity of his action. So we have the case of a committee apparently selected by lot, the propriety of whose action was approved by the tribunal having charge of the controversy, the report of that committee in favor of the contestants, and the judgment of the assembly, not merely at the secret session, but later, when all were present, or were called upon to be present, approving such report. This, in my opinion, constitutes due process of law within the meaning of the 14th Amendment, and I agree with the court of appeals of Kentucky that upon that award thus made by the proper tribunal, no other judgment can be entered than that which sustains it. But because, as I understand the law, this court has jurisdiction to review a judgment of the highest court of a state ousting one from his office and giving it to another, and a right to inquire whether that judgment is right or wrong in respect to any Federal question, such as due process of law, I think the writ of error should not be dismissed, but that the judgment of the court of appeals of Kentucky should be affirmed.
For dissenting opinion by Mr. Justice Harlan, see 20 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1009, 44 L. ed. .
At the regular election held in Kentucky on the 7th day of November, 1899, William S. Taylor and William Goebel were, respectively, the Republican and Democratic candidates for governor of that commonwealth.
As required by law, the returns of the election were made to the secretary of state.
Upon examining and canvassing the returns, the officers charged with the duty of ascertaining the result of the election certified, as to the office of governor, that Taylor 'received the highest number of votes given for that office, as certified to the secretary of state, and is therefre duly and regularly elected for the term prescribed by the Constitution.' According to the returns upon which that certificate was based Taylor received 193,714 votes and Goebel 191,331.
The Constitution of Kentucky provides that the governor 'shall be elected for the therm of four years by the qualified voters of the state. The person having the highest number of votes shall be governor; but if he receives an injury.' votes, the election shall be determined by lot, in such manner as the general assembly may direct;' and that the governor 'shall at stated times receive for his services a compensation to be fixed by law.' Ky. Const. §§ 70, 74. That instrument further provides that 'contested elections for governor and lieutenant governor shall be determined by both houses of the general assembly, according to such regulations as may be established by law.' § 90.
Taylor, having received his certificate of election based upon the returns to the secretary of state, took the oath of office as governor on December 12th, 1899,the oath being administered by the chief justice of the court of appeals of Kentucky,and entered at once upon the discharge of his duties, taking possession of the public buildings provided for the governor, as well as of the books, archives, and papers committed by law to the custody of that officer. After that and until he was lawfully ousted, his acts, as governor, in conformity to law, were binding upon every branch of the state government and upon the people.
Within thirty days after the certificate of election was awarded to Taylor he was served by Goebel with notice of contest for the office of governor.
'First. On the third day after the organization of the general assembly which meets next after the election, the senate shall select by lot three of its members, and the house of representatives shall select by lot eight of its members, and the eleven so selected shall constitute a board, seven of whom shall have power to act.
'Second. In making the selection by lot the name of each member present shall be written on a separate piece of paper, every such piece being as nearly similar to the other as may be. Each piece shall be rolled up so that the name thereon cannot be seen, nor any particular piece be ascertained or selected by feeling. The whole so prepared shall be placed by the clerk in a box on his table, and, after it has been well shaken and the papers therein well intermixed, the clerk shall draw out one paper, which shall be opened and read aloud by the presiding officer, and so on until the required number is obtained. The persons whose names are so drawn shall be members of the board.
'Third. The members of the board so chosen by the two houses shall be sworn by the speaker of the house of representatives to try the contested election, and give true judgment thereon, according to the evidence, unless dissolved before rendering judgment.
'Fifth. If any person o selected shall swear that he cannot, without great personal inconvenience, serve on the board, or that he feels an undue bias for or against either of the parties, he may be excused by the house from which he was chosen from serving on the board; and if it appears that the person so selected is related to either party, or is liable to any other proper objection on the score of his partiality, he shall be excused.
'Seventh. The board shall have power to send for persons, papers, and records, to issue attachments therefor, signed by its chairman or clerk, and issue commissions for taking proof.
'Eighth. Where it shall appear that the candidates receiving the highest number of votes given have received an equal number, the right to the office shall be determined by lot, under the direction of the board. Where the person returned is found not to have been legally qualified to receive the office at the time of his election, a new election shall be ordered to fill the vacancy: Provided, The first two years of his term shall not have expired. Where another than the person returned shall be found to have received the highest number of legal votes given, such other shall be adjudged to be the person elected and entitled to the office.
'Tenth. If a new election is required it shall be immediately ordered by proclamation of the speaker of the house of representatives, to take place within six weeks thereafter, and on a day not sooner than thirty days thereafter.
'Eleventh. When a new election is ordered or the incumbent adjudged not to be entitled, his power shall immediately cease, and, if the office is not adjudged to another, it shall be deemed to be vacant.
'Twelfth. If any member of the board wilfully fails to attend its sessions, he shall be reported to the house to which he belongs, and thereupon such house shall, in its discretion, punish him by fine and imprisonment, or both.
'Thirteenth. If no decision of the board is given during the then session of the general assembly, it shall be dissolved, unless by joint resolution of the two houses it is empowered to continue longer.' Ky. Rew. Stat. § 1596 A.
As to the legislature, it was made its duty by express words to determine the contest, without regarding the decision of the board as final or conclusive. But, as alread suggested, its jurisdiction to act was not without limit; for, in addition to the restriction above referred to, by the statute under which it proceeded no application to contest the election of an officer could be heard unless notice thereof in writing, signed by the party contesting, had been given; and 'the notice shall state the grounds of the contest, and none other shall afterward be heard as coming from such party, but the contestee may make defense without giving counter notice.' Ky. Rev. Stat. § 1535. The board of contest, as the court below has said, 'was only a preliminary agent to take evidence and report the facts to the general assembly. The assembly itself finally determined the contest.' As the general assembly could determine the contest only upon the grounds set forth in the contestant's notice, it had no authority or jurisdiction to oust the incumbent unless those grounds or some of them were sustained by proof laid before it. If no proof was laid before it, then the prima facie right of the incumbent, based upon the certificate awarded to him, must prevail.
With these preliminary observations as to the trial by a board of contest of a contested election for governor, and as to the powers of the legislature in determining such contest finally as between the parties, I come to the consideration of the grounds upon which the majority of the court have dismissed the present writ of error.
The report was not accompanied either by any abstract of the evidence or any recital of the grounds upon which it based the statement that Goebel had received the highest number of legal votes. Nor was the evidence itself transmitted to the legislature, not a line nor a word of it. According to the uncontradicted statement made by counsel at the argument, the proof made nearly two thousand pages of typewriting. The report simply followed the words of the statute and stated that Goebel had received 'the highest number of legal votes,' giving no basis, not the slightest, upon which the legislature could determine the correctness of that statement.
Immediately after the board's report reached the body claiming to be the lawful legislature of the state, that bodyof course without reading the evidence, or causing it to be read, for it had no evidence before itapproved the report, and declared Goebel to have been legally elected governor. Upon that action alone the present suit was based, and by the judgment of the highest court of Kentucky such action was declared to be conclusive upon the judiciary.
The first question to be considered is whether Taylor has been denied by the judgment of the state court any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution of the United States. The appellant invokes the clause of the 14th Amendment declaring that 'no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.' There ought not, at this day, to be any doubt as to the objects which were intended to be attained by the requirement of due process of law. 'They were intended,' this court has said, 'to secure the individual from the arbitrary exercise of the powers of government, unrestrained by the established principles of private rights and distributive justice.' Bank of Columbia v. Okely, 4 Wheat. 244, 4 L. ed. 561.
The majority of this court decide that an office held under the authority of a state cannot in any case be deemed property within the meaning of the 14th Amendment, and hence, it is now adjudged, the action of a state legislature or state tribunal depriving one of a state officeunder whatever circumstances or by whatever mode that result is accomplishedcannot be regarded as inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States. Upon that ground the court declines to take jurisdiction of this writ of error. If the court had dismissed the writ or affirmed the judgment upon the ground that there had been no violation of the principles constituting due process of law, its action would not have been followed by the evil results which, I think, must inevitably follow from the decision now rendered.
The first case in this court relating to this subject is Kennard v. Louisiana ex rel. Morgan, 92 U. S. 480, 23 L. ed. 478. That was a writ of error brought by Kenar d to review the final judgment of the supreme court of Louisiana declaring that he was not a member of that court. 'The case,' the report states, 'was then brought here upon the ground that the state of Louisiana acting under this law, through her judiciary, had deprived Kennard of his office without due process of law, in violation of that provision of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States which prohibits any state from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property 'without due process of law." Looking also into the printed arguments filed in that case, on behalf of the respective parties, I find that the attorney for the plaintiff in error, a lawyer of distinction, insisted that the sole question presented for determination by this court was whether the final judgment of the state court deprived Kennard of his office in violation of the above clause of the 14th Amendment. And this view was not controverted by the attorney for the defendant, also an able lawyer. The latter contended that the 14th Amendment had no application because in what was done no departure from the principles of due process of law had occurred. The opinion of Chief Justice Waite delivering the judgment of this court thus opens: 'The sole question presented for our consideration in this case, as stated by the counsel for the plaintiff in error, is whether the state of Louisiana, acting under the statute of January 15th, 1873, through her judiciary, has deprived Kennard of his office without due process of law.' Of course, this court had no jurisdiction to inquire whether there had been due process of law in the proceedings in the state court, unless the office in dispute or the right to hold it was property within the meaning of the 14th Amendment, or unless Kennard's liberty was involved in his holding and discharging the duties of the office to which, as he insisted, he had been lawfully elected. But this court took jurisdiction of the case and affirmed the judgment of the supreme court of Louisiana upon the ground that the requirement in the 14th Amendment of due process of law had not been violated. If, in the judgment of this court, as constituted when the Kennard Case was decided, an office held under the authority of a state was not 'property' within the meaning of the 14th Amendment, the case would have been disposed of upon the ground that no Federal right had been or could have been violated, and the court would not have entered upon the inquiry as to what, under the 14th Amendment, constituted due process of law in a case of whichaccording to the principles this day announcedit had no jurisdiction.
In Foster v. Kansas ex rel. Johnston, 112 U. S. 201, 28 L. ed. 629, 5 Sup. Ct. Rep. 8, 97,which was a writ of error to review the final judgment of the supreme court of Kansas,the sole issue was as to the right of Foster to hold the office of county attorney. The defendant in error moved to dismiss the writ for want of jurisdiction in this court, and accompanied the motion with a motion to affirm. This court refused to dismiss the case, and, referring to Kennard v. Louisiana, affirmed the judgment upon the ground that there had been, in its opinion, no departure from due process of law in the proceedings to remove Foster. It never occurred to the court, nor to any attorney in the case, that the 14th Amendment did not embrace the case of a state office from which the incumbent was removed without due process of law. If such an office was not deemed property within the meaning of that Amendment, that was an end of the case here. But this court took jurisdiction and disposed of the case upon the ground that the requirement in the Federal Constitution of due process of law had been observed.
This court, had a different view of these questions, and, taking jurisdiction, considered the merits of the case, so far as it involved Federal questions, and rendered a judgment which, by its necessary operation, put into the office of governor of Nebraska one whom the highest court of that state had adjudged not to be the lawful incumbent.
The latest case involving the present question is Wilson v. North Carolina, 169 U. S. 586, 42 L. ed. 865, 18 Sup. Ct. Rep. 435. That was an action in the nature of quo warranto to test the title to a state office. Judgment was rendered for the plaintiff. The defendant claimed that the state statute and the action taken under it not only deprived him of his office without due process of law, but denied to him the equal protection of the laws, both in violation of the 14th Amendment. In this court a motion to dismiss the writ of error was sustained upon the ground that, looking at what occurred in the state court, there was 'no fai c olor for claiming that his the plaintiff's rights under the Federal Constitution have been violated, either by depriving him of his property without due process of law or by denying him the equal protection of the laws.' After observing that this court would be very reluctant to decide that we had jurisdiction in the case presented, and could supervise and review the political administration of a state government by its own officials and through its own courts, great care was taken to say: 'The jurisdiction of this court would only exist in case there had been, by reason of the statute and the proceedings under it, such a plain and substantial departure from the fundamental principles upon which our government is based that it could with truth and propriety be said that if the judgment were suffered to remain, the party aggrieved would be deprived of his life, liberty, or property in violation of the provisions of the Federal Constitution.' Here, as I think, is a distinct declaration that this court has jurisdiction to review the final judgment of a state court, involving the title to a state office, where there has been a plain and substantial departure from the principles that underlie the requirement of due process of law. The opinion in Wilson v. North Carolina shows a deliberate consideration of the scope of the 14th Amendment, and a refusal to hold, as is now held, that a contest about a state office could not, under any circumstances, involve rights secured by that Amendment. We there substantially declared that the constitutional requirement of due process of law could be enforced by this court where, in depriving a party of a state office, there had been a plain and substantial departure from the fundamental principles upon which our government is based.
It thus appears that in four cases, heretofore decided, this court has proceeded upon the ground that to deprive one without due process of law of an office created under the laws of a state, presented a case under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of which we could take cognizance and inquire whether there had been due process of law.
When the 14th Amendment forbade any state from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, I had supposed that the intention of the people of the United States was to prevent the deprivation of any legal right in violation of the fundamental guarantees inhering in due process of law. The prohibitions of that Amendment, as we have often said, apply to all the instrumentalities of the state, to its legislative, executive, and judicial authorities; and therefore it has become a settled doctrine in the constitutional jurisprudence of this country that 'whoever by virtue of public position under a state government deprives another of property, life, or liberty without due process of law, or denies or takes away the equal protection of the laws, violates the constitutional inhibition; and as he acts in the name and for the state, and is clothed with the state's power, his act is that of the state. This must be so, or as we have often said the constitutina l prohibition has no meaning. Then the state has clothed one of its agents with power to annul or to evade it.' Ex parte Virginia, 100 U. S. 339, 25 L. ed. 676; Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. Chicago, 166 U. S. 226, 41 L. ed. 979, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 581; Scott v. McNeal, 154 U. S. 34, 38 L. ed. 896, 14 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1108. Alluding to a contention that the partya railroad companywhich invoked the 14th Amendment for the protection of its property, had the benefit of due process of law in the proceedings against it, because it had due notice of those proceedings and was admitted to appear and make defense, this court has also said: 'But a state may not, by any of its agencies, disregard the prohibitions of the 14th Amendment. Its judicial authorities may keep within the letter of the statute prescribing forms of procedure in the courts and give the parties interested the fullest opportunity to be heard, and yet it might be that its final action would be inconsistent with that Amendment. In determining what is due process of law regard must be had to substance, and not to form.' Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. Chicago, 166 U. S. 226, 41 L. ed. 979, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 581. Again, in another case: 'Though the law itself be fair on its face and impartial in appearance, yet if it is applied and administered by public authority with an evil eye and an unequal hand . . . it is still within the prohibition of the Constitution.' Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U. S. 373, 30 L. ed. 227, 6 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1064. See also Henderson v. New York, 92 U. S. 259, sub nom. Henderson v. Wickham, 23 L. ed. 543; Chy Lung v. Freeman, 92 U. S. 275, 23 L. ed. 550; Neal v. Delaware, 103 U. S. 370, 26 L. ed. 567; Soon Hing v. Crowley, 113 U. S. 703, 28 L. ed. 1145, 5 Sup. Ct. Rep. 730.
It is said that the courts cannot, in any case, go behind the final action of the legislature to ascertain whether that which was done was consistent with rights claimed under the Federal Constitution. If this be true then it is in the power of the state legislature to override the supreme law of the land. As long ago as Davidson v. New Orleans, 96 U. S. 97, 102, 24 L. ed. 616, 618, this court, speaking by Mr. Justice Miller, said: 'Can a state make anything due process of law which, by its own legislation, it chooses to declare such? To affirm this is to hold that the prohibition to the states is of no avail, or has no application where the invasion of private rights is effected under the forms of state legislation.' More recently we have said: 'The idea that any legislature, state or Federal, can conclusively determine for the people and for the courts that what it enacts in the form of law, or what it authorizes its agents to do, is consistent with the fundamental law, is in opposition to the theory of our institutions. The duty rests upon all courts, Federal and state, when their jurisdiction is properly invoked, to see to it that no right secured by the supreme law of the land is impaired or destroyed by legislation. The function and duty of the judiciary distinguishes the American system from all other systems of government. The perpetuity of our institutions and the liberty which is enjoyed under them depend, in no small degree, upon the power given the judiciary to declare null and void all legislation that is clearly repugnant to the supreme law of the land.' Smyth v. Ames, 169 U. S. 466, 42 L. ed. 819, 18 Sup. Ct. Rep. 418.
I had supposed that the principles announced in the cases above cited were firmly established in the jurisprudence of this court, and that, if applied, they would serve to protect every right that could be brought within judicial cognizance against deprivation in violation of due process of law.
It seems, however,if I do not misapprehend the scope of the decision now rendered,that under our system of government the right of a person to exercise a state office to which he has been lawfully chosen by populr vote may, so far as the Constitution of the United States is concerned, be taken from him by the arbitrary action of a state legislature, in utter disregard of the principle that Anglo-Saxon freemen have for centuries deemed to be essential in the requirement of due process of lawa principle reaffirmed in the Kentucky Bill of Rights, which declares that 'absolute and arbitrary power over the lives, liberty, and property of freemen exists nowhere in a Republic, not even in the largest majority.' § 2. I cannot assent to the interpretation now given to the 14th Amendment.
Let us look at the question from another standpoint. The requirement of due process of law is applicable to the United States as well as to the states; for the 5th Amendmentwhich all agree is a limitation on the authority of Federal agenciesdeclares that 'no person shall . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.' If Congress by some enactment should attempt, in violation of due process of law, to deprive one of an office held by him under the United States, will not the decision this day rendered compel this court to declare that such office is not property within the meaning of the 5th Amendment, and therefore the incumbent would be without remedy unless he could invoke the protection of some other clause of the Constitution than the one in the Amendment relating to due process of law? Or, would the court hold that while a Federal office is property within the meaning of the clause in the 5th Amendment declaring that 'no person shall . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law,' a state office is not property within the meaning of the clause in the 14th Amendment declaring, 'nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law?' Can it be that Congress may not deprive one of a Federal office without due process of law, but that a state may deprive one of a state office without due process of law?
I stand by the former rulings of this court in the cases above cited. I am of opinion that, equally with tangible property that may be bought and sold in the market, an officecertainly one established by the Constitution of a state, to which office a salary is attached, and which cannot be abolished at the will of the legislatureis, in the highest sense, property of which the incumbent cannot be deprived arbitrarily in disregard of due process of law; that is, as this court said in Kennard v. Louisiana, in disregard of the 'rules and forms which have been established for the protection of private rights.' Apart from every other consideration, the right to receive and enjoy the salary attached to such an office is a right of property. And a right of property should be deemed property, unless we mean to play with words, and regard form rather than substance.
What more directly involves the liberty of the citizen than to be able to enter upon the discharge of the duties of an office to which he has been lawfully elected by his fellow citizens? What more certainly infringes upon his liberty than for the legislature of the state, by merely arbitrary action, in violation of the rules and forms required by due process of law, to take from him the right to discharge the public duties imposed upon him by his fellow citizens in accordance with law? Can it be that the right to pursue a lawful calling is a part of one's liberty secured by the 14th Amendment against illegal deprivation; and yet the right to exercise an office to which one has been elected and into which he has been lawfully inducted is no part of the incumbent's liberty, and may be disregarded by the mere edict of a legislative body, sitting under a Constitution which declares that absolute arbitrary power exists nowhere in a Republic? Can it be that the right to vote, once given, cannot, under the 14th Amendment, be taken away except by due process of law,and it was so decided in Minor v. Happersett, 21 Wall. 162, 22 L. ed. 627,and yet that the right of the person voted for to hold and exercise the functions of the office to which was elected can, without violating that Amendment, be taken away without due process of law? Does the liberty of an American embrace his right to vote without discrimination against him on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, and yet not embrace his right to serve in a position of public trust to which he has been lawfully called by his fellow citizens who voted for him? The liberty of which I am speaking is that which exists, and which can exist, only under a republican form of government. 'The United States,' the supreme law of the land declares, 'shall guarantee to every state in this Union a republican form of government.' And 'the distinguishing feature of that form,' this court has said, 'is the right of the people to choose their own officers for governmental administration, and pass their own laws in virtue of the legislative power reposed in representative bodies, whose legitimate acts may be said to be those of the people themselves.' Re Duncan, 139 U. S. 461, sub nom. Duncan v. McCall, 35 L. ed. 224, 11 Sup. Ct. Rep. 573. But of what value is that right if the person selected by the people at the polls for an office provided for by the Constitution, and holding a certificate of election, may be deprived of that office by the arbitrary action f the legislature proceeding altogether without evidence?
I grant that it is competent for a state to provide for the determination of contested election cases by the legislature. All that I now seek to maintain is the proposition that when a state legislature deals with a matter within its jurisdiction, and which involves the life, liberty, or property of the citizen, it cannot ignore the requirement of due process of law. What due process of law may require in particular cases may not be applicable in other cases. The essential principle is that the state shall not by any of its agencies destroy or impair any right appertaining to life, liberty, or property in violation of the principles upon which the requirement of due process of law rests. That requirement is 'a restraint on the legislative as well as on the executive and judicial powers of the government.' Den ex dem. Murray v. Hoboken Land & Imp. co. 18 How. 272, 276, 15 L. ed. 372, 374; Scott v. McNeal, 154 U. S. 34, 38 L. ed. 896, 14 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1108; Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. Chicago, 166 U. S. 226, 41 L. ed. 979, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 581. 'That government can scarcely be deemed to be free,' this court has said, 'where the rights of property are left solely dependent upon the will of a legislative body without any restraint.' Wilkinson v. Leland, 2 Pet. 627, 7 L. ed. 542.
It is to be regretted that it should be deemed necessary in a case like this to depart from the principles heretofore announced and acted upon by this court.
Looking into the record before us, I find such action taken by the body claiming to be organized as the lawful legislature of Kentucky as was discreditable in the last degree and unworthy of the free people whom it professed to represent. The statute required the board of contest to give 'true judgment' on the case, 'according to the evidence.' And when the statute further declared that the decision of the board should be reported to the two houses 'for the future action of the general assembly,' that such decision should not be 'final and conclusive,' and that the general assembly should determine the contest, it meant, of course, that such determination should rest upon the issues made by the parties and upon the evidence adduced before the board of contest. If the evidence had been before the legislature it would have been physically impossible to have examined it; for, as we have seen, its final action was taken immediately after the board of contest reported its decision. But, as heretofore stated, the evidence before the board was not transmitted to the legislature, nor were the grounds upon which the board proceeded disclosed. Yet the body which assumed to determine who had been elected governor, without having before it one particle of the proof taken upon the issues made by the notice of contest, 'adjudged' that Goebel had been legally elected governor of Kentucky. No such farce under the guise of formal proceedings was ever enacted in the presence of a free people who take pride in the fact that our American governments are governments of laws and not of men. That which was done was not equivalent to a decision or judgment or determination by the legislature of a matter committed to it by law. It should be regarded merely as an exercise of arbitrary power by a given number of men who defied the law. It is not a pleasant thing to saybut after a thorough examination of the record a sense of duty constrains me to saythat the declaration by that body of men that Goebel was legally elected ought not to be respected in any court as a determination of the question in issue, but should be regarded only as action taken outside of law, in utter contempt of the constitutional right of freemen to select their rulers. They had no jurisdiction to determine the contest for governor except upon the evidence introduced before the board of contest, and in the absence of such evidence they were without authority to declare anything except that Taylor's right to the office of governor, based upon the certificate awarded him, had not been impaired. Their determination of the contest without having the evidence before them could have no greater effect in law than if the issue had been determined simply by a joint resolution, without taking proof or without notifying or hearing the parties interested.
It is to be also said that a fair interpretation of the record leads irresistibly to the conclusion that the body of men referred to were wholly indifferent as to the nature of the evidence adduced before the board of contest, and that there was a fixed purpose on their part, whatever the facts might be, to put Goebel into office and to oust Taylor. Under the evidence in the case no result favorable to Goebel could have been readched on any ground upon which the board of contest or the legislature had jurisdiction to act. The Costitution of Kentucky, as we have seen, declares that 'the person having the highest number of votes shall be governor.' And the statute provides that the person returned having received the highest number of legal votes given 'shall be adjudged to be the person elected and entitled to the office.' With the Constitution and the statutes of the state before him when preparing his notice to Taylor of contest, Goebel, it is true, did claim in very general terms that he was legally and rightfully elected; but he took care not to saythere is reason to believe that he purposely avoided sayingthat he had received the highest nember of legal votes case for governor. The evidence renders it clear that the declaration that he had received the highest number of legal votes cast was in total disregard of the factsa declaration as extravagant as one adjudging that white was black, or that black was white. But such a declaration made by the body to which the board of contest reported should not surprise anyone when it is remembered that it came from those who did not have before them any of the proof taken in the case and were willing to act without proof. Those who composed that body seemed to have shut their eyes against the proof for fear that it would compel them to respect the popular will as expressed at the polls. Indignant, as naturally they were and should have been, at the assassination of their leader, they proceeded in defiance of all the forms of law and in contempt of the principles upon which free governments rest, to avenge that terrible crime by committing another crime, namely, the destruction by arbitrary methods of the right of the people to choose their chief magistrate. The former crime, if the offender be discovered, can be punished as directed by law. The latter should not be rewarded by a declaration of the inability of the judiciary to protect public and private rights, and thereby the rights of voters, against the wilful, arbitrary action of a legislative tribunal which, we must assume from the record, deliberately acted upon a contested election case involving the rights of the people and of their chosen representative in the office of governor without looking into the evidence upon which alone any lawful determination of the case could be made. The assassination of an individual demands the severest punishment which it is competent for human laws in a free land to prescribe. But the overturning of the public will, as expressed at the ballot box, without evidence or against evidence, in order to accomplish partisan ends, is a crime against free government, and deserves the execration of all lovers of liberty. Judge Burnam, speaking for himself and Judge Guffy in the court of appeals of Kentucky, although compelled, in his view of the law, to hold the action of the legislature to be conclusive, said: 'It is hard to imagine a more flagrant and partisan disregard of the modes of procedure which should govern a judicial tribunal in the determination of a great and important issue than is made manifest by the facts alleged and relied on by the contetees, and admitted by the demurrer filed in this action to be true, and I am firmly convinced, both from these admitted facts and from knowledge of the current history of these transactions, that the general assembly, in the heat of anger, engendered by the intense partisan excitement which was at the time prevailing, have done two faithful, conscientious, and able public servants an irreparable injury in depriving them of the offices to which they were elected by the people of this commonwealth, and a still greater wrong has been done a large majority of the electors of this commonwealth, who voted under difficult circumstances to elect these gentlemen to act as their servants in the discharge of the duties of these great offices.' I cannot believe that the judiciary is helpless in the presence of such a crime. The person elected, as well as the people who elected him, have rights that the courts may protect. To say that in such an emergency the judiciary cannot interfere is to subordinate right to mere power, and to recognize the legislature of a state as above the supreme law of the land. The Constitution of Kentucky expressly forbids the exercise of absolute and arbitrary power over the lives, liberty, or property of freemen. And that principle is at the very foundation of the government of the Union. Indeed, to sustain that principle our fathers waged the war for independence and established the Constitution of the United States. Yet by the decision this day rendered, no redress can be had in the courts when a legislative body, or one recognized as such by the courts, without due process of law, by the exercise of absolute, arbitrary power, and without evidence, takes an office having a fixed salary attached thereto from one who has been lawfully elected to such office by the voters of the state at a regular election. The doctrine of legislative absolutism is foreign to free government as it exists in this country. The cornerstone of our republican institutions is the principle that the powers of government shall, in all vital particulars, be distributed among three separate co-ordinate departments, legislative, executive, and judicial. And liberty regulated by law cannot be permanently secured against the assaults of power or the tyranny of a majority, if the judiciary must be silent when rights existing independently of human sanction, or acquired under the law, are at the mercy of legislative action taken in violation of due process of law.
Other grounds are disclosed by the record which support the general proposition that the declaration by the body referred to, that Goebel received the highest number of legal votes cast and was entitled to the office of governor, ought not to be regarded as valid, much less conclusive, upon the courts. But as those grounds have not been discussed by this court, and as it declines to determine the case upon the merits as disclosed by the evidence, I will not extend this opinion by commenting on them.
What has been said in this opinion as to the contest for governor applies to the contest for lieutenant governor.
I am of opinion that the writ of error should not have been dismissed, and that the court should have adjudged that the decree below took from Taylor and Marshall rights protected by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.
liam S. Taylor was not rightfully or legally elected to said office; and said contestant will then and there ask the said board of contest and the general assembly to take such proceedings and orders in the matters of said contest as is required by law for his induction into said office.
'For grounds of such contest, the contestant on the 7th day of November, 1899, for the office of governor, the contestant, William Goebel, was the Democratic candidate, and the contestee, William S. Taylor, was the Republican candidate, for said office of governor, and were then and there voted for as such candidates; and at said election held in the counties of Knox, Jackson, Magoffin, Pike, Martin, Johnson, Owsley, Lewis, Carter, Pulaski, Bell, Clinton, Russell, Adair, Harlan, Casey, Wayne, Whitley, Todd, Caldwell, Crittenden, Perry, Muhlenburg, Monroe, Metcalf, Butler, Letcher, Leslie, Lee, Laurel, Hart, Greenup, Grayson, Estill, Edmonson, Cumberland, Clay, Breckenridge, Boyd, and Allen, and in each precinct thereof, all of the official ballots used, in all of said counties were printed upon paper so thin and transparent that the printing and the stencil marks thereon made by the voters could be distinguished from the back of said ballots; that none of the said ballots used in said counties were printed upon plain white paper sufficiently thick to prevent the printing from being distinguished from the back of the said ballots, whereby the secrecy of the said ballots were destroyed and the said election in all of the said counties rendered void, and the printed vote thereon should not be counted in ascertaining the result of the election in this commonwealth.
'Second. That the said alleged election held in the county of Jefferson and the city of Louisville on the 7th day of November, 1899, was and is void, because the contestant says that upon that day, before the said election, the governor of the commowe alth unlawfully called the military forces of the state into active service in said city, armed with rifles, bayonets, and gatling guns, for the purposes of overawing, intimidating, and keeping Democratic voters from the polls thereof, and did himself, in violation of the law of the land, go to the said city and county the day before said election, and assume direction and command of the said military forces, and ordered and directed them to go, and they did go in obedience to said order, to the polling places in said city, on the said day of said election, and thereby many thousand of voters, to wit, more than enough to have changed the result of the said election, were intimidated and alarmed, and failed and refused to go to the polls or to vote on said day; that for this cause the said election in the city of Louisville and county of Jefferson was not free and equal, but is void, and the said alleged votes cast thereat should not be counted.
circiut judges of the county and city aforesaid, without authority of law, issued a mandatory injunction, by which he required the legally appointed officers of the election for the city and county aforesaid to admit in to the polling places during said election many persons who were not authorized or required by law to be in said polling places, and take part in said election and the pretended count of ballots, and were kept and maintained in the said places unlawfully and wrongfully by the said officers of said judge and the military power of the state, under the direct command of the governor, by reason of which the votes cast at said election were not fairly counted, but the result left in doubt and uncertainty, and for this cause the said election was void, and the alleged and pretended votes cast thereat in said city should not be counted.
'Fourth. The said contestant says that at the said election held as aforesaid, on the 7th day of November, 1899, in the county of Jefferson and city of Louisville, and Warren, Hopkins, Christian, Knox, Whitley, Pulaski, Bell, and divers other counties of this commonwealth, that many thousands of the legal voters thereof, to wit, more than enough thereof to have changed the result of said election, who were in the employment of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company and other corporation, were intimidated by the officers and superior employees of said company and corporations by threats of less employment and discharge from the service of the said company and corporations, and were thereby forced and compelled to vote and did, for this cause, vote for the contestee for the office of governor, when in truth and in fact they desired to vote for the contestant, and would have done so but for such intimidation and duress. For this cause the said election held in said counties was and is void.
received but for the unlawful and corrupt conspiracy aforesaid, which votes were sufficient to have elected him.
'Sixth. The contestant further says that in the counties of Knox and Lewis, the county board of election officers, whose duty it was, by law, to correctly certify the result of the election held in their respective counties, were compelled by unlawful mandatory injunctions issued by circuit judges and clerks, to sign false returns and certificates of said election, giving to the contestee large majorities of the votes cast in said counties; and in the county of Knox the said board was compelled by duress and open threats of violence from a large body of armed citizens of said county, assembled at the county seat, to sign false and fraudulent certificates. In the county of Jefferson the officers who held said election at the voting places in the city of Louisville were compelled to sign like false and fraudulent certificates of said election, by duress and under threats of Sterling B. Toney, one of the circuit judges of the commonwealth, who announced his purpose to fine and imprison said officers if they did not sign said false certificates. By reason of the duress aforesaid and the said unlawful mandatory injunctions, the votes in the said counties and all the precincts thereof were not correctly counted or certified, and the said votes so certified should not now be counted in determining the result of said election. All of said certificates were signed and made under duress, and would not have been signed but for the facts aforesaid.
'Seventh. The contestant says that in pursuance to a conspiracy of the leaders of the Republican party in Kentucky, and the United States marshal for the district of Kentucky, to intimidate and deter the Democrats and friends of contestant from voting for him, said marshal and other officers and persons threatened to indict many of contestant's supporters in the United States court for the district of Kentucky for alleged violation of law in connection with said election, and, in pursuance to said conspiracy, caused their threats to be published in the daily press of the state, and in other forms, and upon the day of said election caused deputy United States marshals to be and remain at the polling places in the city of Louisville and in various other cities of the commonwealth, intermeddling with the said election, overawing, threatening, and intimidating Democratic voters and their friends and supporters of the contestant, whereby many voters, to wit, more than enough to have changed the result of said election, were prevented from voting for contestant, who otherwise would have done so.
various sections of this commonwealth large numbers of desperate armed men, for the purpose of alarming and intimidating the members of the said election board in the discharge of their duties, and the friends and supporters of said contestant; and that in pursuance to said conspiracy the corporations and persons aforesaid did transport to the city of Frankfort at said time a large number of the militia of the state, dressed in citizens' clothing, and many hundreds of desperate armed men, and unlawfully kept and maintained said militia and armed men in and about the chamber and capitol where said election board held its sessions for several days; for the unlawful purpose of alarming and intimidating the members of said board and the good citizens of the commonwealth; and the said corporation and persons also caused the military forces of the commonwealth to be armed and equipped and held in readiness and the stae arsenal to be guarded by armed men for the unlawful purpose aforesaid, and Democratic members of the military companies of the state militia to be disarmed and discharged and their places to be filled with Republicans.
'Ninth. The contestant for further grounds of contest herein says that in the county of Jefferson the county board of election officers, whose duty it was to ascertain and correctly certify the result of said election held in said county, were compelled by threats of violence and death to the two Democratic members of said board to accept, and said board by reason of the duress aforesaid did accept, false, fraudulent, and illegal returns from the various precincts in the city of Louisville, which returns were prepared by the attorneys and agents of the Republican party, and were signed by the precinct officers aforesaid under duress and threats of fine and imprisonment, and said board of election officers, by reason of the duress aforesaid, based, upon their certificate as to the result of said election in said county upon the said false, fraudulent, and illegal returns made by the said precinct officers as aforesaid, and for this cause the contestant was deprived of many thousand votes cast for him at said election, and the contestee was given many thousand illegal votes to which he was not entitled, to wit, more than enough to have changed the result of the said election, and for this cause the said election was and is void, and the alleged vote of Jefferson county as certified by said county board should not be counted in ascertaining the result of said election in this commonwealth.
contestee in said election; that the number of votes so cast were sufficient to have changed the result of said election.
Cooley, Const. Lim. (5th ed.) 222; Wright v. Defreese, 8 Ind. 298; McCulloch v. State, 11 Ind. 424; State ex rel. Loomis v. Moffitt, 5 Ohio, 358; Wise v. Bigger, 79 Va. 269; Sunbury & E. R. Co. v. Cooper, 33 Pa. 283; Fletcher v. Peck, 6 Cranch, 87, 3 L. ed. 162; Ex parte McCardle, 7 Wall. 506, 19 L. ed. 264; United States v. Des Moines, Nav. & R. Co. 142 U. S. 544, 35 L. ed. 1109, 12 Sup. Ct. Rep. 308; United States v. Old Settlers, 148 U. S. 466, 37 L. ed. 523, is Sup. Ct. Rep. 650.
And see State ex rel. Grisell v. Marlow, 15 Ohio St. 115, 134; State v. Harmon, 31 Ohio St. 250; Com. ex rel. Atty. Gen. v. Garrigues, 28 Pa. 9, 70 Am. Dec. 103; Com. ex rel. McCurdy v. Leech, 44 Pa. 332; People ex rel. Royce v. Goodwin, 22 Mich. 496; Baxter v. Brooks, 29 Ark. 173; State v. Lewis, 51 Conn. 113.
Sweeny v. Poyntz, Cir. Ct. U. S. Dist. Ky. not yet reported, Taft, J.; Standeford v. Wingate, 2 Duv. 440, 443; Conner v. New York, 5 N. Y. 285; Donahue v. Will County, 100 Ill. 94; Atty. Gen. ex rel. Rich v. Jochim, 99 Mich. 358, 58 N. W. 611; Smith v. New York, 37 N. Y. 520; State ex rel. Atty. Gen. v. Hawkins, 44 Ohio St. 98, 5 N. E. 228; State ex rel. Atty. Gen. v. Davis, 44 Mo. 129; State v. Douglas, 26 Wis. 428; Prince v. Skillin, 71 Me. 361; Douglas County v. Timme, 32 Neb. 272, 49 N. W. 266; Lynch v. Chase, 55 Kan. 367, 40 Pac. 666; Shelby v. Alcorn, 36 Miss. 273, 72 Am. Dec. 169.

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