The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1872-01-19
Ihe columbian,
BLOOMSBURG, PA.
FrjdHy, january ~, 1872


In contested elections for members of
the Legislature, the report OF Inc com
mittee ia final The trainers Of the
law, for the purpose Of securing Impair
tiality, and to guard against partisan
influence, made the following regula-
ton: After the Clerk calls over the roll
of members and notes the absentees,
"the names Of all the members are writ
tenlon distinct pieces of paper, as nearly
alike as may be, each OF which is rolled
up and put in box by the Clerk, and
placed on the Speakers table. The
Clerk having shaken aud intermiXed
the said papers, draws them out, one
by one, aud puts them alternately into
three boxes, which are also placed on
the Speakers table; and when they
are SO distributed, the Clerk again
shakes aud intermiXes the papers in
each box, aud draws alternately from
each box the said papers and delivers
them singly to the Speaker, who opens
them and reads aloud the name on
each, which is taken down by two
members appointed by the Speaker,
and also read aloud by them. If any
objection is made, by either Of the par
ties, to any member 80 drawn by lot,
another drawn in his place, and so on
until seventeen members lin the House
of Representatives and thirteen in the
Senate) shall be drawn who are unob-
iected to. Bat if objections are made to
all, 50 that only seventeen remain
in the boxes to be drawn out, then no
further objections shall be submitted,
but said seventeen shall be drawn out
singly and submitted to the Speaker,
who reads them aloud and they are
taken down by the tellers. When the
list Of seventeen is thus completed, the
parties, with their counsel and the
Clerk, retire to some adjoining room
and there strike from the list, alter
nately, the names of members until but
nine (in the House of Representatives,
nine, in Senate, SeUen,) remain, and
these shall constitute the committee"
On the face Of it the law seems to be
perfectly fair, but in practice, Of tate
gears, it has resulted in giving unan-
imous Republican committees, as wit
ness the Lynd, Bunn-Witham, and
more recently the Green. Shortt cases.
For example: excluding contestants,
aud Dickerson, deceased, the present
House Of Representatives has 81 Demo
Gratis and 60 Republicans. A fair draw
ing would give the Dem 0crats four and
and the Republicans five members on
the committee in the Green-Shortt case
They hare not q single member as drdcn
When the number was reduced to seven
teen, the Democrats, by usual laws
would have had seven or eight mem
bers out of that number, whereas in
fact they had but one!
1t will not answer to say that this is
chance; the laws Of chance do not rur
continually in that rut. We venture
the assertion that q betting man would
wager money that if the Democrats hat
one-third of the House, under fail
drawing they would have one.third o
the members Of the committee; bu
as it is, he would not stake dollar
evenifthe Democrats were much strong
er, that they would get man on the
committee.
We do not mean to charge the officer;
of the present Legislature with unfair
ness, because we have no evidence oft
but it is at least singular that with
chances so varied, the results are uni
formly the same.