The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1870-06-08

4 my 1TlcHu' carpenter HOG 10 -NOUe- |dU
all am liable to.pay him $500, and
to pay $500 to the United States, and
to be imprisoned. If persuade him,
; if reason with him, and say to him,
if'Come now do not let you and me
vote = and by my persuasion, by
my ''otherwise,' / hinder or prevent
him from voting on that occasion,
forsooth, / am liable to. be indicted
under this section, and also to pay
him $500, with costs and such coun-
sci fees as the court may prcscribe.-
Or if persuade him to pair off with
me and then vote, and in that way
humbug him by breaking. my pair, /
should be subject to this penalty. If
broke my pair, should deserve to
be punished, admit; but l do not
think that this is the way in which to
do it. This is criminal statute
which provides for furnishing a man
for hindering or otherwise" prevent
ing persons from voting. But that is
not |. 1t extends to all who shall
hinder or prevent, cor attempt to
hinder, delay, or obstruct - .....=.r
What certainty of description p!
What certainty there is III such an
odense as that! What is the attempt
to hinder or prevent3 l should like
to know what is the attempt to delay.
If undertake to reason with q man
as he goes to the polls that he ought
to vote for A Is instead of G.. D, and
we stop on the roadside and reason
the matter, talk it over, and that de-
! I,,,, 49, t,,,o,, s,,o,1O-o ic fLay nop
make it out that 1 didit with bad
motive that would be held to be an
attempt to delay the man from vot-
ing. .,. -''''', 80 '.'' -
What is the punishment for that +?
If attempt in that way to delay or
hinder man from voting the man is
entitled to $500 for it, aud L must be
indicted and pay $500 to the United
States and 90 to prison besides. Docs
not everybody see that it puts men
completely in the power of the unscru-
lous What man, prav, is safe with
such statute as this There is no
man against whom some bad man
cannot swear, if disposed to make
money out of him, some offense under
| this bill. Here is a reward of $500
for false swearing. There is no man
against whom such q villain may not
swear that he attempted to hinder or
delay or prevent his voting. You
put men completely at the mercy Of
those who swear falsely, and add the
inducement to swear falsely of $500
in their pockets. That is the effect
of this act.
Sir, has any other state ever found
it necessary to pass such law as
this? Has not the purity of the bal
lot-box been preserved as well as it
ever has been preserved in any coun-
| try where there were elections without
such enormities as these? And has
it come to be that the adoption of
! your fifteenth amendment or anything
else has made it necessary thus to
offer a premium for perjury and to
| put every man in the community at
the mercy of a villain? -tl E,. g.
ONE OF IT'S RIDICULOUS LEGAL
| ..4 ASPECTS. t
| But, slr, that Is not all; let us now
come to the fifth section; and here |
want the attention of my friend from
Nevada, who, fathers and champions
this BILL Let us look at this fifth
section and see what a beautiful thing
it is in tho eve of lawyer. / want
some exposition OF this, and if it
should pass into a law the courts will
need some exposition of it L am sure:
''That any person who shall be de-
priyed Of anv Office, except that mem
Der of congress or member OF q state
legislature, by reason ofa violation of
/ the provisions of this act-.ui E a
Thatis, by not allowing people to
vote who are entitled to vote -~.' i
shall be entitled to recover possession
of such office by writ Of n.anda1ans.
Ye gods! writ of mandamus to
recover possession of an Office! Sup
pose somebody is counted in as gov
ernot of Ohio ny the legislature as
our constitution provides; the vote is
counted and the man is declared to be
elected governor Of Ohio, is inaugur-
ated, and the other party, the defeat
ed candidate, goes to the district court
and asks the court for maadamus to
get possession of the Office. VIII the
gentleman tell me to whom that man
damus, will be directed? a manda
mus is Il writ that. commands some
body to do something. If il is an al
ternative writ it commands somebody
to do something OF show cause why
he does not do it To whom will
| your writ of mandamus go to put the
defeated candidate into possession OF
the gubernatorial chair of Ohio p
Shall it be writ of mandamus to the
incumbent to get out? Shall that be
it? In other words shall it be writ
cf quo Vartanto? IF it is, then it is
not writ of mandamus; that is all
| have to say. ..-s-- 4.rlr.,- 81.
Take any other case, say that of a
judge. A judge of the supreme court
of state is elected and duly com
missioned by the governor, and the
defeated candidate goes to Judge
Leavitt, of Cincinnati, to. get man-
damus to put himself, the candidate,
in possession. I should like to know
to whom the mandamus is to be di-
rected. l..,......t -..... ..... ..-.....
Mr.. Stewart. I ask if the writ of
mandamus is never proper proceed
ing for the purpose of getting pos
session ie an office. -,...
Mr.. Thurman. l will answer that
question and will show the only
case in which it is proper proceed
ing. A mandamus is never a proper
proceeding in cases of contested cleo
ton. The cases in which applies