The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-02-28

affidavit, for think ii will aid us ia determin-
ing the true character Of the case which the
gentleman has clothed in an argument that
completely ignores the facts upon which we
are to pass. The affidavit reads as follows:
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, IS:
l, James D. Jenkins, citizen of the State
Of Iowa, and inhsbitant of the second congress
sonal district of said State, upon my oath, de-
pose and say, that Legrand Byington, Esq,
was publicly announced as candidate for Con.
gress in place Of Hon. VIM. vandever, by news
paper publication throughout the limits Of
said second district, for several weeks previous
to the general election" Of said State for the
year 1861; and that before said election this
affiant saw and read private circular, issued
by the Democratic State central committee of
OF said State, by the terms of which Mr.. By :.
lngton was, in the absence of any nominating
convention ,lnamed as candidate for Congress
within said district, and the several county
committees were requested to place his name
as such candidate upon the State ticket
throughout the limits Of said district.
"a JAMES D. JENKINS.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 10th
day of February, 1852 Witness my hand and
notoria seal, hereto aft xed, the date aforesaid.
u. 81 EDM. F. BROWN, :
5., Notary Public.
Now, sir, all have to say in regard to this
affidavit is that it does not present q single
safeguard by virtue of which the person max
ing 1t could be prosecuted for perjury, if it
were false from beginning to end. 1t is SIM
ply no evidence at all. But the contestant un.
dertakes to show by this affidavit that in the
| newspapers throughout the second congress
| sional district of Iowa he was published as
candidate for Congress-, That is the fimsiest
kind Of secondary evidence, unaccompanied
by any showing to explain the absence of bet
ter evidence Where are the newspapers!
Mr. BYINGTON. Do you deny it.? 8 ans p
Mr.. WILSON. lassert that l never saw the
genteman's name presented for the position to
which he aspires in an Iowa newspaper. The
gentleman's friends published newspapers in
many ofthe counties of the second congresion.
al district, and we allknow that it is the prac-
tice of newspaper publishers to keep files Of
their papers,. The production, Of the papers
which published him as q candidate for Con.
gress, if any such exist, would have been q
very easy task, and when so produced would
be the best evidence in the case. But the pa,
pers have not been presented, and the gentle
man seeks by the affidavit of Mr. Jenkins to
prove one of the material facts in the CASE
Where are the papers Why were they not
presented to committee? Why are they not
presented to the House? The only answer |
| give is that there are no such papers; that the
gentleman was not formally announced by
] any newspaper in the district as candidate,
and no paper that ever came under my obser.
walton advocated his election. If the gentle
man was fairly announced by the press of the
district as q candidate, Why was it necessary
for the State central committee to resort to the
circular system to advise their friends of hi
candidacy If il were known to his party
friends and generally known to the people Of
the district, why resort to secret circular and
send it to the friends Of the gentleman in the
several counties of the district advising them Ia
put his name on their tickets as a candidate !
deny that there was public notice given to the
people'of the district, and will show that by
some other evidence developed in the case.
I In this way We find the gentleman getting be
fore the people, as he terms it, as a candidate
for Congress. But insist that the FIRST step
necessary to be. taken to fill vacancy in the
representation Of Statein Congress does not
| the Constitution of the United States, which
the gentleman seems tohave Overlooked entirely,
as he did not aliude to it in his argument. He
says that the law of Iowa does not require any
| proclamation or writ eff election but what
does the Constitution of the United States say
about il !? The second section Of the first article
Of the Constitution declares that when "vacan-
cies happen 10 the representation Of any State,
the executive authority thereof shall issue writs
OF election to fill such vacancies"s NJ y al
Now,it is not claimed that writ of election
was issued in the second COZ 1ressional district
of Iowa. And yet the ger oman admits that a
1t was issued forthe first congressional dis
II ct to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resig-
nation OF my predecessor, General Curtis. The
result was that the people OF the first congress-
ional district bad the notice contemplated by
the Constitution, and therefore could have q
4 fair and impartial election but the people Of
! the second congressional district had no such
notice, because the Governor did not believe
nor did any one else believe, shat a,vacancy ex.
listed in that district, and none did exist. The
result Of the election evidences not only the ab
sence of the constitutional notice, but, also tina
the people knew there was no vacancy in Their
representation. The following table present.
the result of that election, SO far as concerns
the numbers OF votes Cast for candidates 70
the Office of Governor and for the contestant il
the several counties of the second congressona
district. II s,r f,.i, I.s t.. .a4. = g' fsrI
s...,... 5 ! : :