CASE OF MR. LANMAN--TEMPORARY SENATORIAL APPOINTMENT FROM
CONNECTICUT.
Mr. Lanman had served a regular term as senator from Connecticut.
His term of service expired on the 3d of March of this year, and
the General Assembly of the State having failed to make an election
of senator in his place, he received a temporary appointment from
the governor. On presenting himself to take the oath of office, on
the 4th day of March, being the first day of the special senatorial
session convoked by the retiring President (Mr. Monroe), according
to usage, for the inauguration of his successor; his appointment
was objected to, as not having been made in a case in which a
governor of a State could fill a vacancy by making a temporary
appointment. Mr. Tazewell was the principal speaker against the
validity of the appointment, arguing against it both on the words
of the constitution, and the reason for the provision. The words
of the constitution are: "If vacancies happen (in the Senate) by
resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of
any State, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments,
until the next meeting of the legislature." "Happen" was held by
Mr. Tazewell to be the governing word in this provision, and it
always implied a contingency, and an unexpected one. It could not
apply to a foreseen event, bound to occur at a fixed period. Here
the vacancy was foreseen; there was no contingency in it. It was
regular and certain. It was the right of the legislature to fill
it, and if they failed, no matter from what cause, there was no
right in the governor to supply their omission. The reason of the
phraseology was evident. The Assembly was the appointing body. It
was the regular authority to elect senators. It was a body of more
or less members, but always representing the whole body of the
State, and every county in the State, and on that account vested
by the constitution with the power of choosing senators. The terms
choose and elect are the words applied to the legislative election
of senators. The term appoint is the word applied to a gubernatorial
appointment. The election was the regular mode of the constitution,
and was not to be superseded by an appointment in any case in which
the legislature could act, whether they acted or not. Some debate
took place, and precedents were called for. On motion of Mr. Eaton,
a committee was appointed to search for them and found several.
The committee consisted of Mr. Eaton, of Tennessee; Mr. Edwards,
of Connecticut; and Mr. Tazewell, of Virginia. They reported the
cases of William Cooke, of Tennessee, appointed by the governor of
the State, in April, 1797, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the
expiration of his own term, the 3d of March preceding; of Uriah
Tracy, of Connecticut, appointed by the governor of the State, in
February, 1801, to fill the vacancy to occur upon the expiration
of his own term, on the 3d of March following; of Joseph Anderson,
of Tennessee, appointed by the governor of the State, in February,
1809, to fill the vacancy which the expiration of his own term would
make on the 4th of March following; of John Williams, of Tennessee,
appointed by the governor of the State, in January, 1817, to fill
the vacancy to occur from the expiration of his term, on the ensuing
3d of March; and in all these cases the persons so appointed had
been admitted to their seats, and all of them, except in the case
of Mr. Tracy, without any question being raised; and in his case by
a vote of 13 to 10. These precedents were not satisfactory to the
Senate; and after considering Mr. Lanman's case, from the 4th to the
7th of March, the motion to admit him to a seat was rejected by a
vote of 23 to 18. The senators voting in favor of the motion were
Messrs. Bell, Bouligny, Chase, Clayton, DeWolf, Edwards, Harrison
(General), Hendricks, Johnston of Louisiana, Kane, Knight, Lloyd of
Massachusetts, McIlvaine, Mills, Noble, Rowan, Seymour, Thomas--10.
Those voting against it were Messrs. Barton, Benton, Berrien,
Branch, Chandler, Dickerson, Eaton, Findlay, Gaillard, Hayne, Holmes
of Maine, Holmes of Mississippi, Jackson (General), King of Alabama,
Lloyd of Maryland, Marks, Macon, Ruggles, Smith of Maryland,
Tazewell, Van Buren, Vandyke, Williams, of Mississippi--23; and
with this decision, the subsequent practice of the Senate has
conformed, leaving States in part or in whole unrepresented, when
the legislature failed to fill a regular vacancy.