| Show CONTESTED ESTED ELECTION nv OV OF cean UTAH tr geo R maxwell T TT ar geo oleo Q cannon cannou mia w MIS i argument of halbert albert ll K E raine baine counsel for sitting member before tt cye committee on elections of te tle of the United I 1 ahing td D caf cac 01 CONTINUED A I 1 t y the proceedings will willbe be found on P of the 80 soth volume P tp e of the tho globe in the congress 0 si 1 meo n corley corig coiley cor coi ley of south Car carolina carlina llna lina P al B 13 youna rodn aud nelson neison oe anda andr anda R butler of tennessee ennesser enn essee and in the ceo coo ls ej E shober of north carolina ro na mem bers berkof af the house howse w were ere relieved ell eli e ve d of their political disabilities long after their election and yet when so relfe relle relieved were admitted to their seats irr inn the house all al were vere ineligible when elected and yet ye t it in no case cas Q was wai wa i the election electia n treated as void in tile the thu case cafe of joseph C abbott in the tile senate of the congress the doctrine asserted by the counsel for the tile contestant was fully considered si and was repudiated by the senate it is probable that there thero never wasi wad and never will be in this co country I 1 1 another discussion 8 of tb the 0 an subject act so exhaustive as that which it re received ived in this thi case care the E english rig fig authorities were all presented and very few if any of the A ameri amerl merl meri can decisions whether judicial or par parliamentary la men tary tars escaped the scrutiny of the senators who submitted the majority and minority reports report which you will find printed together in senate report no of ule uie ad session of the congress gregs gregg I 1 inow n aw ask your attention to the case bathe of tile tiie sitting member in 15 order to meet at the threshold of assion the grave v tut ional question involved in this thib case di regarding disregarding A the strictly logical order of the tile argument I 1 will a at t once proceed to inquire whether mr cannon possesses all nil the qualifications ficat ions lons which are prescribed in or can be prescribed und erthe constitution of the united states for nor the office which he now holds awill I 1 will afterwards consider the questions of his election and return contested seat it is charged that mr cannon is a polygamist and has taken ta ken the so called endowment oath of the mormon church and that lie he is for these reasons ineligible to a seat in tha the th ahouse house it I 1 is not bot charged that he has been indicted for or convicted of either of these now let it be assumed assli assil med at thih this pol poi point n t for tb the e pu purpose 0 of f argument m e u t that these charges are as I 1 shall in due time show you that they are not su sustained stained 1 by the proof in the recard record ot of this case I 1 do not believe that polygamy either before or after indictment and conviction can ean be held heid a for congress Cou gress either by this committee commit tw in the consideration of the pending pel iding contest or by the house in judging odthe of tho the election returns and qualifications of its members whether it is or is not a valid ground por nor expulsion by a two thirds yote cofey under the constitutional provision applicable to that subject is question to this case the qualifications of representatives in congress aro are prescribed by thew the 2nd and section of the ish article of the constitution of the united states they are thau that they shall have attained the ageos tN years 2nd and that they shall have been seven years jears citizens 0 of the united states and 3rd ard that they shall when elected be inhabitants rf those states in which they shall be chosen no other q qualifications ya I 1 are prescribed in the constitution if the constitution lof the united states had bad vested anywhere the power to prescribe qualifications of representatives i in congress additional J to 0 or different from those prescribed by the 0 itself it is obvious s that this power would have been conferred either elther r upon congress or upon the house houke alone or upon State in the fhe h history olour of our government it lihs h annever never been claimed d th atthe be house of representative alone possessed posted i the th elower ut to add to or changer change the qualifications of its mem member berr bedr the vain attempt made by mr randolph in the case ease of barne Burne barney yv v mccreery in id the loth congress to vindicate a i claim of th atkind in faver of the states signally failed and has never been repeated in tbt the house it has been claimed that thai congress possesses the power to provide that ineligibility to may be by sentence of court inflicted as a punishment for non crime upon trial triai A nd tion of df the party charged while I 1 am ara not saus nned fled of the vali vall dUy of this position tiou tion J X shall not controvert it itan this ol 01 occasion cag cai loii because beganie it is wholly immaterial fth lih material I 1 to the pending cae cao no such suell statutory provision exists no C harge charge of in indictment I 1 convict conviction iju or judgment undera andera ny such suell statue is preferred against the sitting mein member ber mr justlee justice 6 story in his dincus sion or of the subject of the timis or of representatives in congress bays days that it would seem but fair upon ile lie he pla pia plainest friest principles pies piea of interpretation in that when the constitution established certain qualifications as nece neet necessary for office it meant to exclude ail all a I 1 others as prerequisite qi that from th every elvery nature of bucia buch such a provision of these qualifications would seem to t imply ri ne negative ga of all ali others othera t that lat the EJ states tates can exercise no powers whatsoever I 1 which exclusively spring ap ring out of the th e existence of the national gover government n which the constitution does not delegate to them that they as no moro to prescribe new qualifications eions sfern fer far a representative as they havo have for fon a president that each is ti officer of the un union ion lon deriving his powers and qualifications from the constitution and neither created by dependent upon nor controlled by the states that it is no original prerogative of state power to appoint a representative Be a senator or president for the union I 1 these omm off meers officers owe their exi exl existence S t e nc e and functions to the united voice of the whole not of a portion of the people a state can assert the right it must show that the constitution has delegated and recognized it but no state cah can can say that kilat it h has hag a 9 reserved jv what at it never possessed story on const see sec 7 T this h subject subject was considered by the house in the contested election cases of fouke v trumbull and turney v marshall 1 I bartlett from the state or of illinois the th e ton tenth th section of the fifth B etli article or of the constitution 0 of inthe the state of illinois which was wag adopted on the ath day of may 1848 provided that the judges of the supreme and circuit courts should not be eil eli eligible 1 to tb any other office or public trust of profit in that state or the tile united states during the term for which they were elected nor for one year thereafter that all votes for either of them for jor any elective office except that of judge of thee the supreme bup court gi given ven by the or the people peopled should be void vold each of tha the contestants in these cases eases claimed the right to a seat f in the thirty fourth congress solely upon tile tiie ground that the votes cast for marshall marshal I 1 and tiu tin trumbull m respectively were null and void not because of any disqualification fi in the electors who thus voted but because mr marshal marshai had been elected A circuit judge and mr tru trumbull ni bu I 1 I 1 a supreme rd preme judge within the state for a term ocsears oc years which term had bad not expire expired dat at the time of the election tion this thia presented the question I 1 wh wb ethers etherA state could radd to the qualifications prescribed for representatives w ak congro by the constitution of ortho tho united state the com eom committee of elee elec elections t 4 an n their report which was wpc submitted by nin din mr Bing Bin ghana hanle having showy alow that the qualifications of a repress n tation under und er the constitution are that he be shall ghali have havo attained tile tiie age of twenty nive evo years shall have been seven years a etlen etien citizen of the united states and when t elected an inhabitant of the state lir irr irr which he shall be chosen declare that it Is ia a fair fain presumption that when the constitution prescribes these qualifications ficat fleat ions lons as necessary tor to a representative enta tive in congress it was way lueana to exclude all others and they co dulude conclude that it is equally clear thata that a state af pf the euion has not the power to eions to those prescribed by the constitution for representative to take away from u of tho the the right given them by the tho constitution tion to el chose I 1 ose avery bevery second yedra bedr I as their representative in congress ANY TER sor soa soy who has the required age citizenship zen ship and residence that toad to admit such a power in any state is to admit the power of the states by a legislative enactment or a constitutional provision to prevent altogether the choice of a cepres enta tive by the people that the assertion of sueh such a power by a state Is ii inconsistent with the supremacy of the tho constitution of the united state and annd makes void the provision thab that that on shall bethe be the su supreme law of the land 12 anything inthe in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding they submit that the position assumed by those who claim for the states this power that its exercise in nowise eco 1 ts with the constitution or the right of the people under it to choose any person having the qualifications therein prescribed lias has no foundation in fact that by the constitution the people have havo a right to tto choose as representative any person having only the qualifications therein mentioned without supe super addling thereto any additional qualifications whatever that a power pouter to add new qualifications is certainly equivalent to a power pomer to vary or change them and that an additional qualification imposed by state authority would necessarily d disqualify is qualify any person n who ha donly had donty onty tile the qualifications pr prescribed e s bribed by t the lie federal constitution conati aution TO BE CONTINUED |
