Democratic Sentinel, Volume 11, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 March 1887 — THE RECORD. [ARTICLE]

THE RECORD.

[Continued from last week.] Ar.d before any of the very lengthy and learned opinions could have been at all studied or considered, the republican majority in the House passed without debate, and under the previous question, the following resolution: “Resolved by the House of Repre sentatives. That until the House shall be officially informed that Robert 8. Robertson is in the actual and peace able discharge of the duties of his of* flee as such presiding officer, the House of Rrpre-entptivea must regird the He ate ns illegally and uncoil stitutionally organized. And no official communication can be had wit ; them in order to the due preserv t a [ion of the just rights and responsibilities of this General Assembly.” This resolution was passed, notwithstanding, the fpet that there was nothing in either of the opinions to support the claims of the pretended Lieutenant Governor, th.ee of th ■ judges in fact Hon. Alexander C. Ayres, circuit court judge, and judges flowk and Mitchell, of s the supreme court, had de-

cided that he was utterly without right. No judge of any court at any time had given the least opinion in support of his title. Yet tbe House, over the protest of the Democratic members thereof, by this summary, inconsiderate and wholly unparliamentary action, cut* itself off from communication with the Senate, obstructed legislation and prevented the discharge of publ : c business for the remainder of tlie session. The fact is, they deliberately established themselves and declared themselves to be an insurgent body, an insurrectionary mob no longer having intercourse with any co-ordinate branch of the Government. The next day after the passage of t is resolution by the House, the pretended claimant of the office of Lieutenant-Governor having taken ymmns clandestinely to assemble, a large number of thugs, bullies and bruisers for the occasion, under the auspices of the republican conspirators, against tlie law, peace and dignity of this Commonwealth, filtered tlie senate chamber 1 and made an attempt to

take the chair of the President and to address the senate upon what he called “his claims.” The mob outside, meanwhile, being engaged, urged and encouraged by republican state officers and other leaders to force an entrance into the hall of the senate to compel the President thereof to abandon his rightful authority and position. At the time, republican mejiftieriof the| senate with few exceptions, were employed in aiding hnd abetting Robertson in his attempt b£ force to seize the duties of the chair, and in countenancing and encouraging the gangs of ruffians on th-. outside in their attempts to break into the senate chamber. These attempts f tiled. The claimant was expel led from the senate chamber, the mob was repulsed, and the senate, after great risk, danger and hazard, was restored to order and quiet, with President Smith in the chair. The pretended Lieutenant-Governor was not strut kai all. The only person who received a blow in the melee was an old Union soldier, an old member of the Legislature, senator McDonald, from Alle and Whitley, who, with great dignity, refused then and there to resent it, and told th republican senator who had struck him that that was not a proper place to settle difficulties between gentlemen. This scene of disgraceful violence offered to the members and officers of the Senate of Indiana was the direct result, the outgrowth of that republican conspiracy which had resolved, at all hazards, and in disregard bf every law, to obtain control of the legislative bodies. There was nothing in the opinion of the supreme court to justify it or cause this base-born insurrection against authority. That opinion had determin’d nothing against the rights of Smith a,s President of tne seriate, and had added not a jot or tittle to the value of the worthless pretensions of the person who claimed to be Lieutenant. Governor.

The question rested, t the time this scandalous gang of miscreants attacked the senate chamber, just where it did at the very commencement of the session. One party claimed that there had been a lawful election in 188G;the other claimed that there was none. Republicans claimed th t the spurious Lieutenant-Governor had been inducted into office; the other claimed that his pretended induction was a fraud, supported by an undeniable forgery, to which the speaker of the house had given the sanction of his name, in stating the senate and house had met for the purpose of canvassing tne vote for Lieutenant-Governor, when, in fact and in truth, he knew, and every person else knew, who was present at the time, or at all attempted to ascertain wliat the facts were, that only nineteen sen-

ators bad attended that meeting, and that the senate had refused and absolutely declined tef attend any su li meeting, the senate having adju ged, as it had a right to do, that there had been no election of Lieutenant-Governor, andmliat there were no votes to be counted. In this the action of t(h y senate was supported by the unbroken precedent in Indiana, and’by usage all the other states, which have "such air officer as Lie Tenant-Gov-ernor; for,in none of such states is there ever a vacancy in such office filled by a popular election. Also by the usage of t e Federal Government .ever since its organization m the case of Vice-President, a vacancy which is never filled by popular election, but always 1 y succession by the President of she 1 senate. As now senator Sherman, of Ohio, is succeeding Yice-Pre.-i----dent Hendricks. When it became known to the senate and t-i> the Democratic members of the house that the majority of the house had, by its resolution j of secession, expelled itself, as far j as its own action could do it, from ( any further participation in legis- ; lation, by its refusal to recognize the senate *s a co-ordinate branch of tße Government, every effort

was made to have the fact-Ois majority in the houce leave lac lion and attend to the public business of the state. The senate went on in regular order and passed the following bills: Seoat bill No. 27. To piotectpo'iti«4 purity, aud authorize the holding of primary elections Senate am No. 29. An act to regulate inT’iop of coal and manner of weighing same. Senate bln No. 58. An act prohib*itipg County Auditor* from drawing warrant! on County Treasurers in violation of law. i Scnale bill No. 172. An act to proMbit Child Jen under the age of fourtpen years in mining coal or other minerals manufa turing steel or iron. benste bill No 2815. An act auth rWug the coin.racting of a loan by tho W#te to meet casual deficits lu the agd to pay interest on th© State so ns to provide funds to complete the various State buildings now in process of construction, and bus avoid the necessity of disc-burg-, ing the large cumber or emploves engaged thereon.

Senate bill No. 324. An act to provide Jor the government and discipi ins of the State rrisou North and the State Prison South by one Board of Directors; and determining tb© Officers and directors of the Stat© Pri*6n Scut . Senate bill No. 387. An aot making appropriations for the State Govern-* meat and its institution for :he fiscal year commencing November 1,1686 and benat> o*l No: 235. An act making annual ippropriations for the State Government and its institutions for the flteal year beginning November 1 1887, and ending Oetobei 31, 1888, and each year t' ereafter. beglahing on the Ist day of November and ending the 31st day of October of each year; directing the application of such appropriations, requiring accounts to b® kept of Ue same, and ®tner matter? connected therewith. Senate bill No 134 An act authorizing ilie issue of graduated drain* age bonds bv the Board of Commissioners fpr the payment of assess An ait amending tue®l^gJnH^r^s^ , Lieu Jaw. An act to prevent the unjust enrnishmen: of the wages of laboring men. An act to ippoiut a Live Stock Sanitary Commissioner to prevent the spread of pleuro pneumonia and otlur contagious and infectious diseases among the live a ock cf the State. Senate concurrent resolution No. 2. A joint resolution proposing an am* endmeut to section 2 of article 6 of the constitu ion providing that all county oilieers shall hold tneir term for four years and b- ineligible for r#-electiou in any term of eight years

These bills and the joint resolution, together with many others needed by t ], e people, required by the public welfare, were passed by the senate and transmitted in due course, under the rules of the two houses, to the house of representatives, which ivas duly notified of their having been passed; but the house of representatives, in pursuance of their resolution of obstruction, and deliberately persisting in their determination to defeat and destroy all further legislative action,refus d to receive such bills, or to take any notice of the senate message declaring that they had passed, and the same Avere ieturned to the senate, and yet remain upon its files. These bills Avere passed by the vote of the Democratic members of the senate, and by the further record thereof, showing tlmt the Republican men be sos the senate Avere presenteluripg the time the | vote Avas taKen upon the passage ! and refused to Avote; for the Republican members o l ' the senate, aide the passage of the h use resolution of obstruction to legislation, conceived themselves to bo bound by the action of their coconspirators in the house, and de- ! dined t<> vote on any of these meas--1 ures. They open Died their seats 1 after the 25tli of February the [ same ns they had done before. | Tli »y maintained very strict quiet | and order. They sat in sil nee 1 ke deaf irmles ' SoA T crnl of them, hoAvever, drew their pay by virtue of vouchers signed by President Smith, an o'ficer whose authority they declined to recognize. Irt so doing these senators did recognize linn in the mo >tposi itive manner as President of the i senate; and as these Awichers Aveie

p*esented to Bruce Carr, the Republican Auditor of State, and warrants drawn by him upon them, he recognized Smith’s authorit ; and asthe Treasurer of paid sncii warrants he recognized Smith’s authority. The speaker of the louse, after the 25th day of February, still continu*d the consideration of senate bills upon his files certified to be passed by the r-ignature of Smith as President of the senate, and the spe ker of the house, together with the insurrectionary majority and revolutionary mob which had pretended to usurp the functions of legislation, if they recognized nothing else, they recognized Smith’s authority as President of the senate in c msidermg the bills which had been transmitted to them verified by his signature. One of the measures passed by both houses, coming into the hands of the speaker after the 25th of February, was that appropriating a sum of money

8200,000 —for the erection of a soldiers’ monument by the state of Indiana. To this bill speaker Sayre attached his signature, and afterward pr cured the spurious pretender to the office of Lieuten-ant-Governor to attach his signature thereto, and then transmitted the bill to the Governor his actio*. Tin Go ernor, declining to recognize the signature of the pretended Lieutenant-Governor, directed its erasure and asked that the bill be igned by Smith as President of the senate, which being done the Governor promptly approved the same and filed it in "the office of the Secretary of State, and seut the following message to the House of Representatives:

Executive Department, ) Indianapolis, March 3, 1887. \ The Honorable, the Speaker of the Ht »use of Representatives: Senate bill No. 3, entitled “an act to provide for the erection of a Bta :e Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, or M morial Hall combined, according to .the discretion of the Trustees in this act provided for, and declaring an emergency,” and signed “Warren G. Sayre, Speaker of the House of Representatives;” “R. S. Robertson, Lieutenant Governor,” was presented to me by the House of Representatives for my approval. The bill does not conform to Hie requirements of section 25, article 4, of the (’onstitution, which provides that “all bills and joint resolutions passed shall be signed by the presitling officers o l ' the respective Houses,” and its presenta ion in that form is also in violation of the joint rules adopted by both houses of th present General Assembly, which reads as follows: Rule 2. After a bill or joint resolution shall have passed both houses it shall be duly enrolled on paper, and the Clerk of the house where it originated shall indorse upon the back thereon the h use in which it originated, untDr "Inch he shall place his signature. Rule 4. Every bill or joint resolution reported to have been duly enrolled shall be signed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall send the same to the Senate, then b, tho President of the Senate, after which it shall be presented by the ‘oint Committee of Enrolled Biils to the Governor for his approbation and signature; and the said commit ee shall report to their respective houses the day of presentation, which report shall be entered upon the journals of each house.

Rule 5. Alibi Is and joint resolutions shall be signed by the Sneaker of the House of Representatives and the Fresident of the Senate, in their Houses respectively, when in session, which shall be carefully noted on the journals of each house. The bill was not indorsed or signed by the Secretary of the senate in which the bill originated, was never sent -o the senate, as required by the joint rules, for the signature of the presiding officer thereof, and was not signed by the presiding officer of the senate as required by the Constitution, and did not pur iort to be signed by the presiding officer of th. senate. The constitutional provision which provides that all bills and joint (resolutions parsed shall be signed by the presiding officers of the respective houses does not mean some person who is claiming to be legally entitled to preside, and who is not presiding, but in my judgment means the officer or per-

son who is actir lly presiding and I discharging the duties of the po- ] sitioD. There might be two membr's of the house each claiming to have been legally elected Speaker, and in that case the Executive would undoubtedly have to recognize the signature of the member who was actually presiding, and whom the house recognized as its 7 residing officer.

It is not the pro ince of the Executive to decide who is entitled to preside in either house. The Executive possesses no such power or authority. When the Executive is notified by each house of th Get eral Assembly that it is du>y organized, ready to receive communications and transact business, the Executive must recognize the organization so reported, and has no right to recognize another. The organization reported to me by a committee from each house on the 6th day of January, 1887, has remained unchanged up to the present time, and has been recognized by each house in the passage tliro’ each house of eighteen bills, which were signed by the present presiding officers of each house and approved by me, among which are the bills api reprinting $125,000 for paying the mileage and per diem of the members and other expenses of tiie present General Assembly; for thi reorganization and maintenance of the and Bailors’ Orphans’ Home; for the payment of certain employes every two weeks, and authorizing certain cities to issue bonds.

The present organization of the senate has been recognized by the passage by the house during each day’s session of the present week of a number of seuate bills and ot er measures. The members of each house have, from the organization of the General Assembly, drawn their mile-.ge and per diem upon eertificat s signed by the present presiding officer of their respective houses. If I had approved the bill in die form iu which it was presented to me i y the h use, there certainly **ovld have been no question as to its invalidity. No court could possibly hold that it was signed by the presi ing officer of each house, whee the entire re ord of the Senate shows that Alonzo G. Smith, and no one else, is the pres ding officer of the senate. I can not sanction a proceeding which would inevitably prevent the bill from becoming a law. and bolievine flint Ihe soldiers and sailors of Indiana and the people generally desire the legal passage of the bill for Mm erection of a soldiers’ and sailors’ monument, I have caused the bill +o be transmitted to the senate, and it has been returned to me for approval signed by the presiding officer and secretary of the senate. I have approved the bill and caused the same to be deposited in tne office of the Secretary of State. (Signed) Isaac B. Gray, Governor.

It being thus shown that three Judges of the courts, that the Governor, the Auditor of Shim, the Ti easurer of State, Mr. Speaker S yre and every member of the House of Representatives had recognized Mr. Smidi as President of the Senate, both before and after the 25th day of February, it remains for the Republican plotters in this conspiracy to give some reason why they organized and led at the front, on the 24th day of February, an attrocious and utterly lawless attack upon the Government of the state, an attempt by force to revolutionize the Government, and to prevent by violence one of th ' branches of the lawmaking power from proceeding in the peaceable, quiet, orderly discharge of its duties as such. And it would be well enough to recollect, also, that this attack upon the senate was made in the nterest of a claimant who had never, at any time, resorted to the courts to as sert his rights or sanction his authori y; one who had constantly refused and declined to submit the question of his claims to the judgment of the courts, and had taken refuge in the fact merely that he was a resident of Allen couniy and that the courts of the capital of the State could n t hold him to answer for his attempted acts of arbitrary usurpation. Notwithstanding all this, after the passage of the resolution of obstruction by the insurgent faction, which constit itedthe majority of the House, the Democrats of ihe House and Senate made every effort and left nothing undone to adjust n some

peaceable manner, upon th Q merits the question at iesue between the two parties. i Concluded res! wert.]