Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1871-07-13

Tue 1cca OF 6ne y. -. court |
was SUI red to NV that the trustee
char sin the bill that the
Martin Conan [ortgage had sspr@
q and icsity over" his; unt
til have it from the attorney himself,
and even then / shall think that he.
made great mistake.
/ prefer to adopt the sworn excuse
of the chairman himself, that he ssre-
garded the Mineral Point Railroad
Bonds as so much waste paper" This /;
although it exhibited but little knowL
edge Of the legal rights of the county,
which had been saentrusted to- him
possesses at least the poor apology of
bold recklessness, and may help to-
sustain the uncharitable accasslioh
which was freely made against the
chairman at the time, that he was In
fiuenced by the unworthy motive of
seeking to make capital for the remov-
al Of the County Seat. l do not Inn
Pute such motive, but that it was cur
rently charged is so notorious, that
not to mention it now would leave
the. statement imperfect. a
9 Whatever Were the reasons; either
for ignoring my proposition; or for not
yielding to the strenuous efforts" of
1.-TWO citizens of Mineral Points or
for turning deaf ear to ssevery argu-
ment that could be used" as well as to
the written opinion of an eminent
law firm in Milwaukee, stating that if
the county did not assert it's rights in
this suit, it would by decree be for
ever barred from so doing;;'' the ter
rible damaging fact stands out in bold
relief, undisputed and indisputable,
that for some reason or for no reason,
the just and now acknowledged right
of the county to perfect, adequate
and unimpeachable security for the
entire claims against the county,
amounting to over $500, OOO, was never
insisted upon. The place and the
time to have asserted these rights was
in the United States Courts, before
the order pro confesso in the Martin &
Conan suit was entered. The party
in whose name they should have been
presented was the State Treasurer,
who was defendant in that suit, but
III no sense a party to the suit upon
the county bonds, which could have
been in no manner predjudiced by
any action of the State Treasurer in
the other suits. The golden opportu-
nifty was purposely and Intentionally
neglected, and decree was entered
up; that Samuel d. Hastings, Treas.
urer of the State, and all persons
claiming under him 'be forever barred
and foreclosed Of and from all equity
or equities Of redemption and claim
of in and to the said mortgaged prem
ises." From this decree no appeal was
ever taken or sought to be taken; no
re-hearing ever had or asked. Fatal
decree! The destruction at once of
our securities the grave of our hopes,
and the monument Of our stupidity.
And the only consolation for the
mourners is, that we had the poor sat-
isfaction Of setting up the fruitless
and unthruthful defence, that the
county bonds were fraudulently OBJ
tanned; which poor defence was de-
| MED, even hearing.
1t would not be kind or profitable
to now reproach any oneefor this great
misfortune. But / hope to be par
doned in concluding this necessarily
lengthy statement of how the county
lost its security, for indulging in the self
graduation, that l never missed an op-
portunity to avert the calamity; and
that if my counsels had been needed
more than twelve years ago, the coun-
ty would have been relieved of any
claim upon the county bonds, for a
sum less than one-third Of what it has
expended in fruitless efforts at repudi-
alton.
ELECTION ITSELF FRAUDULENT.
That there were fraudulent votes
cast at the election-or more properly
speaking, votes by those who had no
right to vote-I shall not undertake
to deny. How many exciting cleo
tons were ever held in Republican
country, without such result? And
yet who ever pretended shat because
there were some, Illegal votes, the
whole election was thereby vitiated :?
1t would be monstrous that the honest
and legal voters should be deprived
Of the legitimate and lawful results of
their suffrages, because some reckless
or dishonest persons had been per-
mitted to vote who had no right to, or
had unlawfully abused their right of
suffrage by casting numerous votes
under assumed names or in any other
manner.
All / undertake to assert is that no
such fraud in the conduct of this cleo
could have been established, if the
utmost latitude of proof had been ad-
mitted, as would have amounted to
an equitable defense in suit upon the
bonds, or afforded a considerable rea-
son for refusing to pay them.
With the exception of the polls
held at Dodgeville and Mineral Point,
there was never any accusation that
there was any illegal voting worthy of
At Dodgeville, the
polls were opened before the hour fix
ed by law. A large number of per.
sons, generally minors were permitted
to vote, who had no right to, and a
great number of persons who were ie
gal voters repeated" voted early
and often,' generally under hctitio"s
and assumed names.