The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-07-12

ufCIy D!Hcyni uIu-ifo Ht3"s 1tet"' '''
Made 10 the Conanissioncrs-L There an
Election Lao or Not'-Thc Judge and
the Question Of a Ne'o Election Who Has
Porer to Order a Neao Election-Po,1ers
of the city Council an the Matter-Gc.,
&C., &c.
The Hustinms Court met yesterday morn
ing at IL o'clock-Judge Glligon presiding.
The contested election case was resumed,
Colonel Marmadtke johnson continuing
his argument, which was unfinished on Sa-
turday last. .
THE QUORUM OF JUDGES.
Mr.. johnson. after briefly re-stating the
points made in his argument OH Saturday,
held that the failure to have duplicate
poll-books at the third precinct of Jefferson
Ward was grnnnd for the court to rule the
poll held there to he no poll at all. The ne
ccssity of having three judges present was
imperative under the law. Does anybody
two judges Of the Court of Appeals would
| amount to anything, or that acts done by
less than majority of the Legislature,
where Il majority is required for the per-
| formance of those acts, would not he null ?
| Ofcoursc not; and yet here it is cOntended
| that where the law in terms requires three
| Judges Of election to be present, and only
| two were present, that the acts of these two
are legal.
| BALLOTS NOT READ ACCORDING TO LAW.
The 37th section Of the law requires that
the ballots shall be read by the judges when
| they are counted, and the witness Paul tcs-
titled that the reading of these ballots was
continued only up to 3 O'Clock in the morn
II ,fnfl rnf
read, as the law plainly prescrlbcs they
shall be. After o'clock A. NJ. they only
looked ut the heading Oh the ballots, though
| there were forty-two candidates. 1t is not
known how many were counted in this
way, but we know that it could be done
| with much greater rapidity than by reading
the forty-twO names, and can infer how
much larger number could be dispo scd OF
in this rapid way. Looking ut only the
heading Of the tickets, how could these
Judges give any correct returns of who
was voted for? Could not voter cast
his ballot for Elyson, and all the rest on the
ticket Radicals, or for Chahoon, and all the
rest OH the ticket Conservatives! How dId
| these three judges, reading only the head
ings, make out these returns of the vote
cast for candidates in that precinct? Were
they not made out merely on the dsSuntp-
| ton that ill who voted for EllySon voted
the Conservative ticket, and all voting tor
| Chahoon voted the Radical ticket? And
vet in the face of this proof that the ballots
were not read, and nobody knows what
names were on them, these Judges send
these books here us the correct returns ol
| the election
| THE BLACK AND WHITE PoLL-BOOKS.
| The fact that these books are here, as tho
list of white and blacks separately kept,
shows that it was impossible, even II there
had been three judges present, that the iaN
recurring the ballot to he handed to ono
Judge in the presence of the other two
could have been complied with.
TIE RETURNS NOT WRITTEN OUT ACCORDING
TO LAW.
The law prescribed that tho name O
every person voted for, and the number o
votes he received. in figures and written Al
full length, should he placed ut the bottom
of the list OF voters and signed by the com
missioncrs. None Of This had been done
The figures only were there, to which ;
lmlmcral might easily be added and thu
whole poll changed. The names of the can
ddatcs were not written there, and there
Twas nothing there but Il few words si@nct
by the commissioners, saying that the par
I tics who l;,d been voted FOR had rccoiyot
the number of votes opposite their name!
in the voters list. Is the whole law to bt
ldiSrcgarded? There is but ono path b,
which we can march TO the polls, and thai
is the path that law points out. This is tllt
Ionly safe path. Else government would fail
THE ACTION OF THE COMMISSIONERS. +
The duties Of commissioners of election
who, in point of fact, are set above tht
Judges Of election, are defined III sections
III, IL, and 43 of the election law. They arc
tsworn TO award certificates to the person:
lrccciving the largest number of votes
When they got these returns of the thlrt
precinct they found that the law governing
elections had been totally dSregarded, ant
they were forced to set them aside.
| Judge Guild The commissioners nevel
saw the inside of those poll-books at all
They never even opened them.
MIR, johnson: They had their evidence
from witnesses. It was not necessary tx
open the books. There was no evidence
that the certificates Of these commissioners
were not given in form of law, and yet i
was urged to take these certificates away or
such evidence rs these books, which arc ut
tcrly without form of law. Would Il dect
without the name of the grantee m IL De e, Q
any account? There is no safeguard to tho
franchise save the laws Of the land, am
when, as the opposing counsel claim i
fright, the laws may be set aside, the axe Il
already laid to the root Of the tree OF re
publican liberty.
SPEECH OF HON. JAMES II. NELSON.
Mr.. Neeson said that after the eXpendi
lture of much time and labor in the frs
contested election under the new law VIZ
found ourselves at the beginning Of the end
and he congratulated the Court that it wa
40 near its close. We had had an election
and were now in court to find whether tha
election had been held in lawful and con
stitutional manner. An election was grea
Dublic institution. It was the exercise o
/ the right of a freeman under law which
guaranteed that right, and guaranteed tina
authentic results should be had. Tht
authorization of that result is devolvet
upon officers charged with the conduct Q
the election, whose duty it is to certify in I
lawful manner the choice of the people. !
THE QUESTIONS NOW IN COURT. !:
!. The Court had decided that the question
tof fraud could not be gone into, and tina
we could not 60 into an investigation 0
who did receive the largest number OF lega
votes in this city. Other questions tll'
Court had said might be considered. Thes'
election returns now present those ques
lions. The complainants aver that the com
imissioners, had fraud,llcntly and illegall,
disrcgarded the returns from the third pre-
cinct of Jefferson and second precinct 0
Marshall Ward. And now these paper
lalleged to be the returns from the third pre-
cinct of Jefferson Ward are in court fol
|your Honor to Judge whether in disregard
inc them the commissioners disregarded tn,
LEGAL returns from that precinct. It woult
have been illegal for those commissioners K
Ihaye regarded them rs any returns at all
Your Honor has decided that we cannot e
into the frauds perpetratcd in casting bal