which were not passed with emergency clauses, for the reason that there is not now sufficient surplus revenues with which to pay the appropriations made by said ten acts which have already taken effect.

The office of superintendent of the Colorado Insane Asylum, as created by the Act of 1879, is abolished by the Act of 1899, (Session Laws of 1899, page 257), and the Board of Lunacy Commissioners are authorized by law to appoint a superintendent who shall hold his office during their pleasure.

State of Colorado,

Attorney General's Office. Denver, Colorado, June 15, 1899.

Dear Sir-I have the honor to submit the following reply to your official communication of recent date, requesting my opinion as to the proper construction to be placed upon certain provisions of Senate Bill No. 123, entitled:

"An Act to amend an act entitled 'An Act to Establish the Colorado Insane Asylum, and providing for its Location,' Ap

proved February 8, 1879, and repealing certain acts in conflict herewith," Approved April 18, 1899.

Section 1 of "An Act to Establish the Colorado Insane Asylum, and providing for its Location," Approved February 8, 1879, provides for the establishment of the Colorado Insane Asylum.

2 M. A. S., Section 2969.

Section 2 of said act of 1879, provides that:

"The management of said asylum shall be by a superintendent and a board of three commissioners, who shall together have full control thereof, as hereinafter provided. The superintendent and board of commissioners shall be appointed by the governor, and no more than one of said commissioners shall be appointed from the same judicial district, and the superintendent shall hold his position for a term of six years; and the commissioners first appointed shall hold, one for six years, one for four years, and one for two years, and afterward each commissioner shall be appointed for the term of six years; so that one commissioner shall be appointed and hold for the full term of six years. The superintendent shall give a bond to the state, in the sum of three thousand dollars, conditioned that he will honestly and faithfully discharge all of his legal duties according to law. The superintendent shall be a regularly graduated physician, and he shall reside at the asylum. He shall receive a salary of two thousand dollars per annum, payable quarterly. The commissioners shall receive a salary of six hundred dollars per annum, payable quarterly; and they shall hold regular meetings at the asylum each quarter, for the transaction of the business of the asylum. The superintendent and board of commissioners shall prescribe and publish such rules for the management of the affairs of the asylum and its inmates as experience and observation shall prove beneficial. They shall have power to employ all subordinates necessary to do the business of the asylum. The superintendent shall receive and discharge all persons placed in charge of the asylum under the provisions of this act. The board of commissioners shall not be required to act as such until the asylum is open for the reception of inmates, excepting as hereinafter specified. The superintendent shall be superintendent of construction of the asylum building, and shall have care of the

grounds and everything belonging to the asylum, and he shall enter upon his duties as soon as he is appointed."

2 M. A. S., Section 2970.

I am officially advised by your communication, that "the term of office of the present superintendent does not expire until 1903, while those of the present board expire in 1901, 1903, and 1905, respectively."

Section 1 of said act of 1899 (Senate Bill No. 123), vests the management of the asylum in a State Board of Lunacy Commissioners, to be composed of three members, who shall be appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate.

Section 2 of said act of 1899, provides that:

"The Board of Lunacy Commissioners shall have full control and supervision of all the property and over the grounds and buildings of the institution, and shall have the entire government and management of the same. They shall prescribe and publish all rules and by-laws for the management of the affairs of the asylum and its inmates, and for the government of its officers and employes, * *

Section 4 of said act of 1899, provides that:

"The commissioners shall appoint a superintendent who shall hold his office during their pleasure, and who shall be a physician, a graduate of an incorporated medical college, of at least ten years' experience in the actual practice of his profession and with at least five years' actual experience in a hospital for the treatment of the insane. The superintendent shall reside at the asylum and shall give his entire time and attention to the discharge of his official duties and shall receive such compensation as shall be fixed by the commissioners, not to exceed the sum of three thousand dollars ($3,000) per annum and maintenance. He shall give a bond in the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000), conditioned for the honest and faithful discharge and performance of his duties, said bond to be approved by the commissioners. * * * Provided, that nothing in this act shall be construed as affecting the tenure of office of the present superintendent for causes originating prior to the passage of this act."

Section 8 of said act of 1899, provides that:

"Section two (2) of an act entitled 'An act to establish the Colorado Insane Asylum and providing for its location,' Approved February 8, 1879, and all acts and parts of acts in conflict herewith are hereby repealed."

The said act of 1899 does not contain an emergency clause, and does not, therefore, take effect until ninety days after the date of the executive approval thereof.

In my judgment, the gist of your inquiry is contained in the closing paragraph of your official communication, which presents the following question:

"Whether the proviso to Section 4 can interfere with the performance by the commissioners of their duty to immediately appoint a superintendent to hold office during their pleasure, as soon as the act takes effect?"

It may not be inappropriate, in this connection, to say that the present management of the Colorado Insane Asylum was the object of an official investigation made by the State Board of Charities and Corrections in the fall of 1898. The management of said institution was also the object of an investigation by a legislative committee appointed by the Twelfth General Assembly during its session in the early part of the present year.

The records of the Senate of the Twelfth General Assembly show that said proviso was attached to said section 4, during the final passage of said Senate Bill No. 123, through the Senate.

Section 8 of said act of 1899, contains a direct, positive, express and absolute repeal of section 2 of said act of 1879, which provides for the appointment of a superintendent and a board of three commissioners. This repeal, therefore, operates to extinguish the present board of commissioners and to abolish the present office of superintendent, under the said act of 1879.

The meaning of the phrase "Tenure of Office," may be determined from the following authorities:

"Tenure, in its general sense, is a mode of holding or keeping. Thus, we speak of the tenure of an office, meaning the manner in which it is held, especially with regard to time."

Black's Law Dictionary, page 1161, title "Tenure."

"The manner of holding or exercising the duties of an office; also the duration or term of office."

Anderson's Dictionary of Law, page 1021, title "Tenure of Office."

"Tenure of office-The word tenure, in this connection, includes the duration or term of office, as well as the manner of holding."

25 Am. and Eng. Ency. of Law, page 948.

"The word tenure in this connection means nothing more than the right to, or the manner of holding the place."

Ex Parte Herrick, 78 Ky., 23, 32.

A statute authorizing the appointment of commissioners of deeds declared that they should hold their offices by the same tenure as justices of the peace; who, under the Constitution, held their offices for four years. In construing this statute, the court made use of the following language:

"It was contended by the counsel for the defendant that the term tenure designated only the manner of holding the office; that holding by the same tenure as justices of the peace meant that the commissioners should hold their office in the same manner, and be displaced for the same reasons. I apprehend this is too restricted a definition of the term, and that it was intended to include the duration of the term of office, in addition to the manner of holding, and so the word is understood in the constitution."

People vs. Waite, 9 Wend. (N. Y.), 58.