Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1831-01-04


omission. Of carele. corrupt officers Of whose
limnary Quahc aons the voters must OF necessity, 10
NEST in ,ance' be Ignorant aud over which they WI ud
have no power any tiH isn't ccntroui; tina,
however r~nsurae obao>i,us 10 legal penalties the
officers ihema-lve. may 30 heid. whose neglect OF du
rhal ,nv"lv. such irregularities "a that un ic
cen lon, your committee perceive in such
reguiar,y alone efficient can.e Ter surerseding ts
wi o,e election itself, aud exposing the people secon,
time TO the inconvenienciss OF called eleci,o,
incl season. a notice necessarily short
under other crcu instances tending rather TO ob.ru,
than full aud iair expression oitheir will.
Your committee is OF opinion, that II L. exp 5isnt il
ITSELF aud enial with the sprit Of existog eec
ton laws, 10 refr again to the people, controversy
quilting from irregularities on tho part OF ministerial Of
hccr. conducting an election, in those only where
il shall IN ,nilesilY appear. that the ire guares
such as TO have affected the result of he election itself
and deprived those entitled 10 vote, OF their just RELATIVE
wsg' t. in the exercise Of hit most imp9r ant OF al
'vies-s, the elective fssnehi's.
Rcsofued, therefore, Thet Isaac Adams rs en''ied
to seat in the prcs.n, House Of Delegates, - the
m smber from the county OF Patrick
Mr. Rive, of Prince George proposed to amend the
report by striking all after the preamble, aud insert
ing the following as substitute:
"It appears to your committee, by the statement o
the Sheriff who conducted the election at the Court
house Of the county Of Patrick and admitted TO be
by both the sitting MEMBER and the contesting candi
date that at the close of the election in said county
Isaac Adams had 3t3 votes, and that Archibald Stuart
had 273 votes. II furthermore appears 10 your Com.
mittce by the statement of said Sheriff, and admitted
by the parties interested, as fact on which the val d
iavaidity Of sad election should turn, that the
persons appointed TO hs separate lscors
in .aid county had been sworn aud tina, al
said separate elections, sheriff. deputy sheriff,
attended TO poll the votes. and hence he the
tifca,e Of return TO Archibald Stuart bs having re-
ceived the creates, number of votes poed by off,
Ger authorized TO conduct eieciiocs.
"Your committee Of opinion that, the polls
ken at tbs said separate elections received
POLLS in the ee elton OF Delegate for said county by
the sheriff who conducted the election at the Court
House, he had no right, however irregular add illegal
tbs manner Of taking the 10 disr. gard them, but
should have returned the candidate who had received
the greatest number OF votes. Although Your COM
nitee do not know nor have they any TO think
the oberva OF all the forma,iti-s Of the laws con.
corning the election Of members OF the General Assem-
bly, would have changed the result, they bound
say (no wi,hstandng the said Isaac Adams should have
been returned by the sheriff member OF the pre-
sent House OF Deega;es) that he c,npnt legally hold
his seat therein. That the election i'm Patrick
illegal election seems to them manifest; sheriff
deputy sherf justice OF the peace coroner or sworn
superintendent poled the votes at two OF ths separate
elections in said cou,ty. IL appears your commit
tee, the Statutes the subject elections have not
recognized other than the officers hsvs
- competent to di charge the duties therein defined
IT, them they to saw that Isaac Adams il entitled
to seat in the present House Of Deegates under the
election sofe said, il would be declaring your Statutes
on the snhect, useless and void This your committee
are rot willing TO do; and, Therefore,
"ResOIUsd. As their opinion tina, the election is void
and that writ Of election issue to the sheriff Of Pat
rick, to supply the vacancy thus occa-ion-d
Mr.. Rves of p. c., said that his purpose was to
read ihs law on the points under and sim
ply apply to the present case, without going at length
into an argument or the subject which, after much
had been said on this and the Orange case, would be
an useless con'ump,ion OF time. Mr. II. here read
that por ion of the Statute in which il is required that
the sheriff shall ap.'in, one C his deputies to attend
each precinct election SC In this Particular he observ
ed, the law in the Patrick election nal not been com
piled with. 1t tho duty Of the sheriff 10 appoint
deputy TO attend and assist the superntendents of tn.
precinct elsrtionsbu in this that duty was not
performed INC r. here read that portion OF the law
which declares that each Cnnmissi,ner SHALL bsfore
en- orng upon hs duc- cole unly rwcar 10 pprform
those duties faithfully, SIC In this respect also the
law had not been complied with. But il assumed |
in the report that the Commissioners had performed
their eutes correctly. and that the result had been the
same "a il would have been had they taken the GA bs
But, he would ask il they did not know that it was me-
ce-sary Tor then to take the oaths, how they could
have known the nature of tho oaihs required by law
or how they could have known that they were bound
10 reject legal yotss Even supposog that the cleo
lion adj been conducted in The same manner as IL would
have been had the oath been taken, still 1t could not
be shewn that the Commissioners were entitled to SUI
perin,end the election until they had taken tho oath
which the essential quali6c alton for the perform
auce Of the duty There another act on the sub.
set in the revised code, which he had rot at hand
but Il would not be denied-n which il was provided
that the sheriff present the presiding maeis.
oldest magistrate the coroner. IL seemed to Mr.
that these laws being in existence, thy ought TO re
Dorced, and ihat off Dug be Taught compli
ance with them. IL this was not done, an example |
would be set. which would doubtless he followed. |
would be said that the compliance with the laws was
net OF very great importance, and that the Legislature
sanctioned their violation. He aware that come {
foreign au hori would be cited in avor Of the report
and that an opinion OF Judge Kent of New Y ork would
be referred to in s support. But he was no l,wyer
and neither acqusntcd with or had much regard
Tor, foreign authorizes, in such case. He wi.hsd
only to adhere TO the laws OF the State Of Virginia
which were oil suffice on this subject.
Mr.. Brodnax said that without particle Of PERSONAL
interest in ths he sustain the report of the
committee, ard he would ask ihs indulgence Of the |
House, while he submitted few reflections on This
subject. This was certainly a question OF great i'm
porauce, and it was certainly not without its difficult
tee And they would he found upon amin ton, TO
from improper cgsation,--ffom the making Of lave
Tor circumstance which never happened from n
deavoripg 70 stretch garment upon giant limbs which
Il couu never be made TO flor to engrai on the |
rough fragments Of law, principles which could not
take ro0' In the outset OF this discussion " was
cessafy to sec how far he and the gentleman from
Prince George disagreed, in order srrivs some
tangible poiot. No could doubt the iIlegality Of
the eherihs return. That officer had right sirks
from the polls single vote, except In provided
Tor by statute-tHo votes having heeD given hy the
same person.-And this was strong cass, in which he
had not the shadow Of right TO interfere. The law
appointed proper persons make up tbs poIs and there
was appellant body but this House. Certainly the
sheriff not the person TO whom appeal could be
made. 1t therefore decided BY the committee that
the return was illegal, aud that the sbsrH ought t.
have returned Isaac Adams he having the majority Of
the votes An ulterof question then presented tse-Ii
the wrong person had been returned, WAS ihs cleo.
ton vacated This was, in this case the naked ques-
ton. In most other IL was attended with diff
hculties which did not here present themselves. In
the Orange Election contest the committee did not de-
eide the nvady Of the return alone but also that
the Of taking the votes operated unustly and
I'll