Letter from Mississippi Attorney General T. J. Wharton to Mississippi Governor Charles Clark; March 20, 1865

Documents
Letter from Mississippi Attorney General T. J. Wharton to Mississippi Governor Charles Clark; March 20, 1865

Document Network
Document Metadata

Each transcribed document contains links that connect it to other documents on the same topic in the collection.

People

Clark, Charles, 1811-1877 Cushing, Luther Stearns, 1803-1856 Wharton, Thomas J.

Organizations and Businesses

Mississippi. Legislature Mississippi. Legislature. Senate

Occupations

Attorneys General United States. President

Places

Jackson (Miss.)

Letter from Mississippi Attorney General T. J. Wharton to Mississippi Governor Charles Clark; March 20, 1865

[seal]

Attorney Generals office
Jackson Mch 20^th 1865

His Excy Chas Clark.
Governor.

I add to the list of authorities cited in my opinion of the 18^th inst. the following, taken from a recent work—"Cushing's Elements of the law & practice of Legislative as-semblies in the U S." After having the bills through all the stages to their passage, he says, "enrolled bills, after having been exam-ined, & reported upon, by the committee on enrolled bills, are to be signed in the respective houses, first by the Speaker, and then by the President of the Senate, and entered on the journal of each house.

The committee is then to present the enrolled bills to the President of the United States for his approbation. They are then to report the day of the presentation, which is to be entered on the journal of each house. The signing of an enrolled bill by the Speaker or President is an official act, which can only be done when the house over which he presides is in session, and a quorum is present therein for the transaction of business."

There can, therefore, be no room for doubt that the bill cannot become a law. I only laid my hand upon the above authority this morning. If I had met with it on Saturday, I should have needed no other.

I am, Governor, Very Respy
Yr Obt Sert

T J Wharton