elect whom they please. Suppose a man is
elected who does not know how to make the
entries; will you force him to do it. A large
proportion of the clerks in the State do not
know how to make the entries properly. All
that they are expected to do is to give their
supervision to the office, and to be responsible
upon their bonds for the proper persons to
perform the duties. If you say that no man
shall be elected clerk except one who is a
practical clerk, then you wilt have to take
persons who cannot give the necessary bonds.
If a clerk is responsible for what is done, and
gies a reasonable amount of attention to
seeing that the duties of the office are properly
discharged, that is all that is expected.
And who is to take the place upon the
terms proposed by this amendment? No one.
except some man who has acquired the manual
experience and execution sufficient to enable
him to write up the entries, and yet is not
able to give the necessary bonds; or some
man who is broken down in his other business
and relies upon his friends to give the bonds.
One great part of the business of the clerk is
to receive the public money, the license fees,
etc., and he must give heavy bonds for the
faithful discharge of that duty. A great part
of his bond, is for the performance of that
duty. You do not expect a man, who may be
qualified to do that, to be thoroughly read up
in " Harrison's Entries," and to know how to
enter all proceedings in court.
Mr. THRUSTON. There is so much objection
to my amendment that I will withdraw it.
The amendment was accordingly with-
drawn.
Mr. AUDOUN.. The section as it now stands
provides for the removal of the clerk, but it
does not provide for the filling the vacancy
created by the removal. I therefore propose
to amend the section by adding "and va-
cancies in said office of clerk by death, resig-
nation or removal from office, shall be filled
by the judge of the counties or city respective-
ly, for the residue of the term thus made va-
cant."
Mr. THOMAS. I would suggest to my col-
league (Mr. Audoun,) to add after the words
" removal from office" the words " or other
'disqualification."
Mr. THRUSTON. That amendment might
take away from the people for three, four or
five years, the right to elect their clerk.
The PRESIDENT. The incumbent is to bold
his office for six years, or until his successor
is elected and qualified. You must strike out
that provision.
Mr. Audoun. Not necessarily so. There is
no provision in this section, as it now stands,
to fill the office of clerk should he be removed
from office.
Mr. HEBB. I am opposed to this proposi-
tion. In the section in relation to the regis-
ter of wills, provision is made that in case of
vacancy the judges of the orphans' court shall |
fill the vacancy until the next election. 1
would prefer a provision of that kind to this
amendment, and have the new clerk elected
for six years at the next general election for
county officers.
The question was then taken upon the
amendment of Mr. AUDOUN, and it was re-
jected.
Mr. PARRAN submitted the following
amendment:
Add to the end of section twenty-three, the
following:
" In the event of any vacancy in the office
of the clerk of any of the circuit courts, said
vacancy shall be filled by the judge of said
circuit in which said vacancy occurs until the
next general election when a clerk of said cir-
cuit court shall be elected to serve for six
years thereafter."
Mr. HEBB, I would suggest to the gentle-
man to make it "until the next general elec-
tion for county officers."
Mr. PARRAN. I will accept the amendment.
The amendment as modified was then
adopted.
Mr. ABBOTT. I offer the following as an
additional section:
"Sec. 24. The election for all judiciary
officers shall be held on the third Wednesday
of May in each year, that such officers may be
required to be elected, and no other officers
except a judicial one shall be elected at the
same time."
1 offer this section for the purpose of sepa-
rating the election of judicial officers from
other elections, and having it held in a season
of the year when there are none of those po-
litical gatherings and troubles that there are
frequently in the fall of the year. This will
in a great measure satisfy many of those who
are in favor of an appointive judiciary system,
because it. takes it out of the bustle of the
elections for members of the legislature, State
officers, and members of Congress, and makes
it a separate and distinct election.
Mr. THOMAS. I would suggest to my col-
league (Mr. Abbott) that he except from the
operation of that section, the judges to be
elected for the new judicial districts. It
seems to me that they should be elected as
soon as possible after the adoption of this
constitution.
Mr. ABBOTT. Provision can be made for
that hereafter; this is only to establish the
general rule.
Mr. STIRLING. The only difficulty I have
about this proposed section is that this report
makes no provision at all for the time of elect-
ing the judges, having been based upon the
appointive system. I think some provision
should be adopted to apply to all elections of
judges.
Mr. THOMAS. I think myself that the whole
thing should be left to the committee on the
schedule, and let them fix it. |
