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532 West Virginia’s Civil War–Era Constitution C h a p t e r 2 2 The Executive Department The convention delegates devoted much more of their attention and effort to the other two branches of government, the legislative and judicial, than they did to the executive. They expended even more consideration and work in forming county organization. Historical and realistic reasons accounted for this lack of interest. Because of the colonial American experience, framers of state constitutions, including those of Virginia and West Virginia, had kept the office of governor and other executive offices that they constitutionally created relatively weak in power. The legislature, the courts, and local courts and officers were more powerful branches of government that more affected the ordinary citizen. When they wrote their first constitution, West Virginians, though they did continue the Virginia tradition of keeping the office of governor constitutionally weak, did break in some ways from the Virginia precedent. West Virginia did not create the office of lieutenant governor. Its original executive department was limited to the offices of governor, secretary of state, treasurer, and auditor. The people directly elected all executive officers for two-year terms beginning 4 March after the election. The West Virginia governor had no veto power and little role in the legislative process. No limitation restricted the number of terms a governor could serve. Becauseofwartimeconditionsratherthanconstitutionalallowance,thefirstWest Virginia governor, Arthur I. Boreman, exercised more power and directly affected state citizens more than his successors. The constitutional conferment of the title of “Commander-in-Chief of the military forces of the State,” his power to call out the militia “to repel invasion, suppress insurrection and enforce the execution of laws,” and his authority to appoint military officers above the rank of colonel had real dayto -day significance and meaning during the Civil War and the years immediately following the conflict. Also, his power to grant reprieves and pardons after conviction had impact on a population struggling in civil and military conflict. The often 532 The Executive Department 533 closecollaborationbetweenGovernorBoremanandPresidentAbrahamLincoln,his cabinet, and national military commanders in civilian and martial matters affected federal policies and their application within the state on individuals and groups. The wartime and post–Civil War actions of Governor Boreman and his Republican successors were well within the convention delegates’ experience and influenced their constitutional views of the governorship and what it should be.1 Of the several dozens of resolutions of reference introduced by convention members to guide standing committee deliberations, only six pertained to the executive department. James M. Jackson of Parkersburg introduced the first resolution that recommendedtheplacementofthegovernorinthelegislativeprocesswiththepower of approval or veto of any enactment before it became law. It prescribed in detail the veto procedure and the legislative process of override. A motion of Delegate William D. Pate of Mouth of Short Creek, Boone County, requested the Standing Committee on the Executive Department to consider fixing the governor’s term at four years. Delegate George H. Moffett of Glade Hill near Dunmore introduced a resolution calling for a four-year gubernatorial term beginning on 1 January after the election. FollowingsomewhatJackson’slead,Col.JohnBlairHogerecommendedthecommittee ’s inquiry into the governor’s participation in the legislative process by approving bills or resolutions before their enactment, but in regard to the veto power, Hoge’s resolution went further. He suggested that the governor be empowered with an item veto to disapprove sections of acts or appropriations. On 30 January, Alexander McClearyintroducedthelastresolutionurgingthecommitteetoexaminetheexpediency ofconferringuponthegovernortheresponsibilitytoexamine,semiannuallyormore often, the treasurer’s and auditor’s offices and their bank and account books.2 A memorable senatorial election stimulated one of the resolutions introduced concerning the executive department. In February 1869, five days before his third gubernatorial term expired, Arthur I. Boreman was elected by the West Virginia Legislature to the United States Senate. He resigned from the governorship on 27 February when the president of the state senate, Daniel D. T. Farnsworth, became governor until 4 March, when the previously elected governor (in October 1868), William Erskine Stevenson, was inaugurated. Hanson Crisswell of Moundsville asked the standing committee to inquire into the expediency of incorporating into the constitution a provision to prevent a governor during his term of office from being a candidate for the United States Senate.3 On the same day, 1 February, that the chairman of the Committee on the Executive Department, Okey Johnson, laid his committee’s report before the convention, he also issued an unanimous special committee report addressing Crisswell’s resolution. In asking that his committee...

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