The Congressional Globe, Volume 26: Thirty-Second Congress, Second Session Page: 47
xxxix, 1168 p. ; 25 cm.View a full description of this book.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
1852.
THE CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE.
47
ewe like the present has been found. Several eases have
occurred in which the Executives of different States, in
anticipation of the expiration of the regular term ofservice,
have appointed Senators, (the Legislatures not being in ses-
sion,) and in all oftfiese cases, the Senators thus appointed
were admitted to Uieir seats; until the called session ot the
Senate in March, 18*25. when Mr. Lannian, ofCoiiiieetieut,
wh(w term of service expired on the M of March, 1825,
produced liis credentials from the Governor of Connecticut,
and the Senate decided he was not entitled to his seat by a
vote of -j;l to 18.
"The decision seems to have been generally acquiesced
in since that time; nor is it intended liy the committee to
call its correctness in question. The principle asserted in
that case is. that the Legislature of a State, by making elec-
tions themselves, shall provide for all vacancies which must
occur at stated and known periods; and that the expiration
of a regular term of service is not such a contingency as is
embraced in the second section of Uie first article of the
Constitution."
The case now under consideration, it may be
said, differs from that. Wherein does it differ?
It was unknown to the Legislature of Arkansas
what term Mr. Sevier would draw in the lottery
which had to take place. When they assembled
here, that faot was not known, and because it was
unknown, it was not like the regular occurrence,
every six years, of one of those constitutional va-
cancies to be filled by the Legislature. They
therefore say, because that faot did not appear,
and was not known, that the Executive appoint-
ment made in January, when the office did not ex-
pire until March following, was a valid Executive
appointment when the Legislature was not in ses-
sion; but if the Legislature had been in session,
and they had elected, knowing the fact, would not
that Jiave been a valid election ? I use this case to
show that there is nothing in the idea presented
here, that the Executive may not appoint, and
make a valid appointment, prior to the expiration
of the actual term of the incumbent then in office.
Here, he did appoint months before Mr. Sevier's
term expired, and that appointment beforehand
was regarded to be a valid and good appointment.
I will not detain the Senate by referring at length
to other cases; but here is Anderson's case, and
Williams's case, and, 1 believe, one or two others,
to which I might refer, to show that the rule for-
merly was, that the Executive might appoint to fill
the regular occurrence of vacancies in the regular
terms of the Senate. But that rule was set aside
in Lanman's case in 1825, and since that time the
decision in it has been acquiesced in; but in Se-
vier'scase they did notacquiescein the rule, because
of the fact, that the Legislature could not have
known what class Mr. Sevier would draw; there-
fore they sanctioned the appointment from Decem-
ber until March, while Mr. Sevier was holding the
regular commission conferred upon him by the
Legislature. Now, when Mr. Clay resigned, and
left a period of time, from the first Monday of Sep-
tember to the end of his term, which there was no
one provided to fill by the Executive, or by Legis-
lative appointment, was there not such a vacancy
in that period which Mr. CIlay could neither resume
nor fill, and nobody else could fill, and, therefore,
the Legislature, being in session, must necessarily
fill it? It seems to me to be so.
Whatelse happens in this case? Mr. Clay re-
served to himself, in this term of six years, the
time up to the first Monday in September. I think
he had a right to reserve it. He had the right to
fill the office up to that time, according to his letter;
but before that time he died, and here is presented
another question. It produced another vacancy;
but what vacancy did it produce? It produced a
.vacancy in the time of the lease which he had re-
served to himself up to the first Monday of Sep-
tember. But what is the argument of the gentle-
men on the other side? Ah, they say his death,
instead of producing a vacancy merely in the
time reserved to himself, produced a vacancy in
. the whole of the remainder of his term. There
is no reason in that. A vacancy had already been
created by his resignation, after the first Monday
of September. He had retained to himself the
right to serve up to the first Monday of Septem-
ber. When he died before that time, a vacancy
was created by his death only in the unexpired
portion of the time which he had reserved.
I have admitted that when Mr. Clay died on the
29th of June, having reserved to himself the right
to act as Senator up to the first Monday in Sep;
tember, there was a vacancy created by his death-
but what vacancy was it? I say a vacancy only
in the unexpired term which Mr. Clay had re-
served to himself. He had by his act of resignation
parted will) all the time beyond the first Monday of
September. He had made that a vacancy. He
could not fill it. Nebody could fill it without an
appointment or an election; and the Legislature
did elect before his death a person to fill that va-
cancy. The Legislature accepted the time which
Mr. Clay threw back upon them, and they pro-
ceeded, by the election of Mr. Dixon, to appoint
a person to fill the vacancy. But there was a part
of the term which he reserved to himself, unex-
pired; and he died before he had served out that
reserved portion of time. He died two months
before the expiration of the time which he had re-
served to himself. That death only produced a
vacancy in regard to those two months. There
were then, in point of fact and under the Constitu-
tion, two vacancies; and the only thing which can
perplex anybody is,that there is a litjenovelty in
the occurrence of two vacancies in a term, one by
the death and the other by the resignation of the
same Senator, and the last happening before the
death occurred; and there is nothing under heaven
in the case but that, which can produce a mo-
ment's doubt or hesitation in regard to the proper
course to be taken to let the Government regularly
operate. Can there be any doubt about that?
None at all. It is not entirely new that there
should be two or three vacancies in the same sen-
! atorial term. There may be twenty. I have
served here, in my short period of five years, with
Mr. Crittenden, with Mr. Metcalf, with Mr. Clay,
with Mr. Meriwether, and I hope to serve with
Mr. Dixon. Here, then, in the short period which
1 shall have been in the Senate, I shall have served,
if Mr. Dixon is admitted, with five distinct gentle-
men as colleagues upon this floor. The incumbent
dying may create a vacancy; the Legislature may
fill it by an election, the man elected may die or
resign, the Legislature or Governor may fill it,
and that appointee may die or resign, and so on
in the course of six years there may be a dozen,
there may be twenty individuals instead of five
filling the vacancies which may occur from time
j to time. If it were a regular succession of vacan-
cies one after the other in that way, nobody would
open his mouth; it would be so perfectly plain and
i intelligible. What then produces the difficulty
| here? It is produced just upon the ground that a
vacancy occurs, in the first place by a resignation,
which is accepted, and filled by a legislative elec-
i tion, and then a vacancy for the reserved portion
j of the time is created by death, and that in the re-
! cess of the Lsgislature.
Without concluding, the honorable Senator gave
way; and the Senate adjourned. .
HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES.
Monday, December 13, 1852.
The House met at twelve o'clock, m. Prayer
by the Rev. James Gallaher.
The Journal of Friday was read and approved.
The SPEAKER. Petitions are in order from
the State of Maine.
TERRITORY OF PLATTE.
Mr. HALL, by unanimous consent of the
-House, introduced a bill, of which he had given
! previous notice, to organize the Territory of Ptatte;
which was read a first and second time by its title,
and referred to the Committee on the Territories.
RULES OF THE HOUSE—GENERAL COMMIT-
TEE ON CLAIMS.
j j Mr. BROWN, of Mississippi, unanimbus con-
! sent being accorded for the purpose, gave notice
| of his intention to introduce the following resolu-
: tion, to change one of the rules of the House, viz:
Retalved, That the following be added to the rules of the
House of Representatives:
There 4hall he appointed a standing committee of the
House of Representatives, to consist of fifteen members,
to be called The General Committee on Claims, whose
duty it shall be to report a bill at each session of Congress
making appropriations for the payment of private claimants.
It shall be-the duty of the other committees of this House,
when they report in favor of any claim, to transmit their
report, together with the evidence on which it is based, to
said General Committee on Claims; and if said committee,
after due examination, shall concur in said report, they
shall insert an item for the payment of said claim in the bill
forthe payment of private claimants, and thereupon submit
to the House the report and evidence aforesaid, to be printed
or otherwise disposed of, as the House may direct. And
upon the demand of a single member, a separate vote shall
be had on any section of said bill designated by liim, not-
withstanding the previous question may have been moved
and seconded.
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.
Mr. CARTTER asked the unanimous consent
of the House to introduce the following resolution:
Resolved, That the Committee of the Whole on the state
of the Union be discharged from the further consideration
of so much of the President's message as relates to patents
and the Patent Olfice, and that the same be referred to the
Committee on Patents.
Mr. HOUSTON. I would suggest to the gen-
tleman from Ohio, if he intends to divide the Pres-
ident's message at all,—and I see no great objection
to it,—that he include all of the message except
that part which is detained in the Committee of
the Whole on the state of the Union by the present
debate, which is the second branch of the series of
resolutions. Let all, except the branch which re-
lates to the tariff, be referred as indicated in those
resolutions.
Mr. CARTTER. I am willing, with unanimous
consent, to do it. It should be done. The object
of my resolution is to furnish the committee with
which I am connected, with that part of its labor
which is brought to light in the message, and which
is not involved in the confusion of debate. I
adopt the modification suggested by the gentleman
from Alabama.
The SPEAKER. Will the gentleman from
Alabama reduce his proposed modification to
writing?
Mr. CARTTER. By reference to the resolu-
tions which were introduced by the chairman of
the Ways and Means [Mr. Houston] on Friday,
the proposition may be determined.
Mr. HOUSTON. I think the proper way to
accomplish the object, is to discharge the Commit-
tee of the Whole on the state of the Union from
all except the second branch of those resolutions,
and bring them into the House. That can be
i done by a simple motion; and when the resolutions
get into the House, they can be disposed of.
Mr. CARTTER. I am perfectly satisfied with
the course I selected for myself, and if the gentle-
man from Alabama [Mr. Houston] finds any dif-
ficulty with the proposition, I prefer to adhere to
the resolution I offered.
Mr. HOUSTON. It is a matter about which
I have no particular eftneern; what I propose to do
is for the benefit of other committees—not of the
Ways and Means.
The resolution offered by Mr. Cartter was
again read, and then adopted.
! NAVY AND OTHER PENSIONS.
! Mr. HOUSTON reported, from the Committee
i on Ways and Means, " A bill making appropri-
ations for the payment of Navy pensions for the
, year ending the 30th of June, 1854."
Also, " A bill making appropriations for the
payment of invalid and other pensions ofthe United
States for the year ending the 30th of June, 1854;"
which were severally read a first and second time,
referred to the Committee of the Whole on the
state of the Union, and ordered to be^printed.
RELIGIOUS TOLERATION.
I Mr. WILCOX. I ask the unanimous consent
of the House for leave to introduce the following
resolutions:
Whereas, it has been represented by travelers in foreign
countries, and by missionaries preaching the Gospel in
foreign lands under the patronage of American benevolent
societies, that American citizens owing allegiance to no
other Government than to our own free constitutional Gov-
ernment, are compelled to submit to forms of worship,
while temporarily residing in or traveling through coun-
tries with which our Government has treaty stipulations, to
which their reasons and consciences are solemnly opposed :
Therefore, be it
Resolved, That the representatives of this Government
at foreign court* be instructed to urge such amendments of
( all existing treaties between the United States and the other
â– Powers of the world as will secure the same liberty of re-
! ligious worship to all American citizens residing under
foreign flags which is guarantied to all citizens of every
nation of the whole world who reside under the flag of our
Union.
Resolved, That all Commissions hereafter to be ap-
| pointed to negotiate treaties shall consider themselves
i instructed to secure, if possible, this provision in all their
| treaties.
! Mr. STUART. I do not wish to inteipose ob-
! jection to the introduction of these resolutions, but
! merely to suggest to the gentleman whether they
do not interfere with a matter <belonging to the
>; Executive Department of the Government? It
strikes me that they do.
Mr. WILCOX. I introduce those resolutions
i in obedience to the request of a very large and re-
1' spec table religious denomination of the State which
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This book can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Book.
United States. Congress. The Congressional Globe, Volume 26: Thirty-Second Congress, Second Session, book, 1853; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30783/m1/87/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.