Marshall v. Harwood

Mason, J., delivered the opinion of this court. There is but one clause in the constitution relating to the office of librarian, and that is the 7th section of the 7th article, which provides, that “the State librarian shall be elected by the joint vote of the two branches of the legislature, for two years, and until his successor shall be elected and qualified.” The import of this language, taken in its usual sense, is free from doubt. Unless then it be repugnant to sound sense and reason, and to the manifest intention of the framers of the constitution, as gathered from other analogous portions of the instrument, we must give it its natural and ordinary interpretation. We can discover no such repugnancy.

First, then, the librarian is to be elected by the joint vote of the two houses of the legislature. Mr. Harwood was so elected. In the next place the office is to be held for two years. Mr. Harwood was elected on the 23rd April 1853.

We think he is elected for two years from that date. There is no intimation in express terms in the constitution, nor can we infer by analogy from any of its other provisions, that it was the duty of the legislature to regard the term of Mr. Bateman, thp ⁴³² former incumbent, as still subsisting at the time of the election of Mr. Harwood. Nor can we discover any sound reason why it should lie so regarded. Neither the public interest, nor any wise design of the constitution, that we can discover, would be promoted by coupling Mr. Harwood’s election with the previous term of Mr. Bateman.

The only reason that can be assigned why the appellee’s election should not be regarded as the commencement of a new term, is; that it would expire at a time when the legislature would not be in session, and that it was the design of the constitution that the terms of this office should only expire during the sessions of the legislature. We have already said that we can discover no authority for this position, either in the enactments of the constitution, or in sound sense and' good policy. Suppose the first election under the constitution had taken place in April" 1852, instead of January, this being a session of the legislature which was exempted from the constitutional limit, and that there had been no resignation, would the election have been less valid because of