Mower County transcript., 1871-07-27
A CHAPTER OF MOWER COUNTY
HISTORY.

ot every State, County, society or taml-
" that should be remembered. The
proncncss to forget truth is one Of the
Weaknesses Of mankind. For this rea-
son error, constantly vigilant to take
advantage OF slumbcring moment Of
its opponent. often gets uppcrmost- To
refresh the memories Of those who are
inclined to forget, and to inform those
who arc hones;ly y or pcrsistcntly ignor>
ant. we here recount few Of the lead
in. facts of public Importance in this
-ounty. that have been crowded into the
last eight cvcntful months.
Passing over the sharply contested
canvass Of the election of 1870, which
like others was to srcat:'r or less ex-
tent legitimate i'll proportion as it was
characterized by an honest cndcavor to
accomplish au honest purpose, wo take
as our starting point, the eliminating
act Of fraud. which BY single stroke of
"a corrupt and wicked pen set aside the
expressed will of the people and sub
sti,uted therefor the personal choice of
three Insignificant but s:hcmlng lndi-
viduals and their still moro corrupt and
wicked conductors. Calvin J. Short,
Andrew J. P&elps and Harvey NJ. AL
len, accidentally dressed in little
authority for moment by an unfor-
tunate accident, the mere executors OF
thc law. clothed with no judicial power,
selected to perform mere ministerial
duty-that of asccrtaining and disclos-
iug the wishes Of tho people as express
ed through the ballot box in palmer
tern,s-thc board of canvassers Of elec-
tic. returns for this county for the gen.
cral election Of 197O-unQer the ssnotii
ty Vt an oath, mutilated the returns,
core them in two, destroyed portions and
erased figures and then made these
wicked acts Of their own, coupled with
some slight irregularities in making the
returns, the weak and miserable prct" xt
to declare the candidates Of their own
personal choice elected. The people cleo
ted the Republican tickct-thesc three
occn7c~tal men elected a mongrcl ticket
the choice Of the minority. In Other
words this trio Of pcrjurod men: tho
caormity Of whose crimes 40 pen Car
picture, stood arraycd against thc cx
pressed will Of ten thousand citizens.
AZ direct result aad consequence o
this proceeding tho burden of an ex
pcnsive litigation was thrown upo'
those whom the people had honestl,
choscn AZ their officers and for the frs
time the pub];c were fully aroused an
made TO sec the crimes that were bcini
committed, in their tree light. Otte'
had they been warned and cxhorto'
tAvouyh the columns Of the TRANSCRIPT:
to watch with critical interest the mel
who were entrusted with the n,aks &c
mont cf public affairs, frequently Ira
they been appriscd Of the existence
irau,ir ti fearful character, and as ire
oucn'!y had facts been adduccd to prov
the charges that we're brought, and st'
yerc they slow to bc1ie@c and still slo"
Ay 10 act. 1Ec very enornity OF tn
crime. disclosed staggered then an
made then. skrp,irAl. They could Ro
be conviu,r.} that their confidence ha
been betrayed to such an alarming OK
tent. But this open, bold, defiant ou
rage upon public litcrty, brought the'
to their senses. 1t wa' a crime tn;
everybody could sec can1 :':', and "hlc
all honest rit;zcna were prompt TO so'
denim
4 public a:cct,n;: wa: h' ii III Aust
cn the 3D. day Of Dee. 1870, attcod'
U~ dc.r. ,..'.,i =. - -. '.''! ~