Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 11.djvu/119

 On Power to Increase Supreme Court 113 tion," and the motion was lost. Mr. Peebles thereupon moved to amend section 1, article XIII., on salaries, by striking out all after the word "offices" in the fifth line, to and including the word "constitution" in the seventh line ; and Mr. Bristow moved to amend by striking out all from and including the word "provided," which was accepted by Mr. Peebles, and the amendment thus amended carried by a vote of twenty-two yeas to nineteen nays, leaving section 1, article XIII., as the same now appears in the constitution. The record shows that the article on judicial department and on salaries received great consideration, and while the proceedings of the constitutional convention cannot be con- sidered as conclusive of the true meaning of the section to be construed, they may be considered as placing the court in a position to interpret the constitution in the light of those who framed its provisions. 2 Lewis's Sutherland Statutory Con- struction, Sec. 470, 2d Ed. The record is silent upon the adoption of article XIII. as amended, and it is likely that the convention restored the amendment of Judge Williams, as apparently stricken out by the motion of Mr. Peebles, so that as adopted it now reads : "The compensation of officers if not fixed by the constitution shall be provided by law." The word "fixed" was evidently used in the sense of "limited," so that the salary could be neither increased or decreased. In cases of salaries not so fixed the legislature could provide what they should be, beyond the minimum specified. In a spirited discussion between Mr. Logan and Mr. Grover as to the report of the committee on judicial depart- ment, under consideration on Wednesday, August 25, 1857, in committee of the whole, it appears that the committee origin- ally agreed that the Supreme Court should consist of four justices, but that it was reported to the committee of the whole that the court should originally consist of three justices created by section 2. The Weekly Oregonian of Saturday, September r 9> I ^57, in reporting the proceedings of the constitutional convention, says: