Year: 1859

State it became necessary to properly discharge my duty to you that should resign that posi- ton. and feel it but due to the people of the State and myself, that should make public the reasons and motives which prompted my action in that respect. am driven to this course for the protection of myself and those who sus- tain me from misrepresentation abroad.

 By reference to the journals of the present session of the General Assembly, it will be seen that on the 18th day of December last, the House adopted the following resolution:

 Resolved, That this House adj journ on Friday the 2lst inst, to meet again ou Monday llth January proximo, and that the Senate be re-

 quested to concur herein. '"

 At the time of the adoption of the above resolution, was confined to my bed by SICK ness-and hence unable to vote upon it. Upon the 17th day of December last, the House re- ceived from the Senate message of which the following is part:

 "The Senate have amended the resolution of your honorable body, proposingto take recess from the 2lst of this month to the llth of Jan- uary next, by striking out the word House and inserting the words General Assembly Tn lieu thereof, and by adopting the following provlso: P,ovidei, that no member of this General Assembly shall receive any per diem pay dur ing the recess, unless detained at the capital by provdental causes.'"

 Upon the 2Oth day of December the ques- ton came up in the House upon concurrns in the above amendment, proposed by the Senate

 oplI I twenty nine others, in favor of it, but the House refused to concur.

 Upon the 2lst day of December. when there was a quorum, the following resolution passed the House:

 Resolved That the General Assembly take recess after the 2lst day of December, 1853, to the 10th day of January. 1859, that we may be able to have quorum present for the trans action of business.

 voted, with 26 others, against the passage of the above resolution. The resolution was then transmitted by message from the House to the Senate and the concurrence of the Sen ate thereto was respectfully asked, which was refused.

 On the 22d day of December, as will appear from the journals, there were only 36 members present. On the 23d there were only B mem- bers present. Tho cause of the absence of SD many members was the sickness of themselves and families, and leave of absence granted them by the House to others. Upon that day mes sage was received from the Governor adjourning the General Assembly of the State of Arkau- sas, on account of the disagreement between the two Houses as to the time of adjournment, over to the 17th day of January, 1859, upon which day said message required all the members of the Senate and House of Representatives to assemble in their respective places in the legislative halls of this State at the seat of go- vernmeut to complete the unfinished legislative business and to enact such laws as the public interests require In obedience to sail message and proclamation of the Governor, the two Houses adjourned; the members of the General Assembly dispersed and most if not all of them went to their respective homes. Upon the said 17th day of January, in pursuance of said pro- camaton of the Governor the two Houses again assembled and resumed their labors.

 

 Soon thereafter one of the members from Sebastian county, to- wit: B. T. Duval, made application to me as speaker of the house of representatives, to certify for him the correct ness of an account made out for the sum of ninety six dollars, the amount which he claimed as his per diem pay during the recess. Acting as the speaker of the house of representatives and by virtue of the law governing that office, made, as it were, the auditing office to adjust accounts between the State and the members of the house, refused to allow said claim, and hence refused to certify to the Auditor of State the correctness of said account. was ask ed to indorse upon the back of said account my refusal to allow and certify the same which I did and application made to John J. Clendennin, judge of the circuit court for the 5th judicial circuit, for a writ of mandamus to compel me to allow and certify said account to the auditor, which the said John J. Clendenin refused to grant, and the papers were prepared for an appeal from his decision to the Supreme Court.

 Shortly afterwards and in the face of my de- cison that the members of the house were not entitled to their per diem pay during the recess and in the face of the fact that John J. Clen- denin, judge as aforesaid, had sustained my de- cision by refusing to grant the writ applied for, the following resolutions were passed by the house of representatives:

 Resolued, That it is the sense of this house also, that the recent adjournment mere continuation of the session of the General As semby, and that its members are entitled to their per diem for the whole session, including the recess

 Resogvea .further That the Speaker of this house is authorized and hereby required to sign the accounts of members accordingly"

 The morning after the passage of the above resolutions, accounts were presented to me by members of the House, against the state, for the sum of 96 dollars--the amount claimed by them as their per diem pay during the 24 days which the two houses were not in session. l stated from the speakers desk, that, acting under my convictions of right between the state and the members of the House. as we'll as under the law and my constitutional oath--to faithfully discharge the duties of speaker, 1 could not and would not sign certificates for per diem pay during the recess-and immediately after said statement, motion was made by MT. Carroll, of Franklin, to reconsider the vote authorizing and requiring the speaker of the house tc certify the accounts of mem- bers for their per diem pay during the recess which motion the house refused to adopt, and thereupon resigned my position as speaker because 1 could not and 1 would not be the instrument or channel through which ten or twelve thousand dollars was to be drawn from the treasury, which, according to my opinion of the law and the constitution, was not due from the state to the members of the house. And further be the instrument of establishing pre- 'cedent, which, should governor hereafter ad- journ legislature for twelve or eighteen months, that TWO or THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS might be drawn from the treasury, ,or in plain an- guage from the tax payers of the state for services not perto,naed by members of the legislature. For if Is true that if the povarnor can adiourn tha