, 1873-04-22
THE WEST SIDE ELECTION.
A Middle That the Lawyers Fail to
Soc Through.
Tho Question Whether Common Law
or Equity Shall Bo Ap'
poalod to.

Various Views Of tho Proceedings Of
-: April 1, Looked at Through
Interested Glasses.
The Wost silo oloclion caao waH up before
Judge Williams yesterday. The notcs Of tho
aalthoritioB quoted alono would fill soyorai col
u,uns Of THE TRIBUNE, and synopsis only Gun
given Of tito gonoraI result. and tho togal ar-
glmont must DO dsrogardod. g.,
In opening tho argument for tho dofenso Mr..
Knickorboclor hold that tho Court WAS not q
proper tribunal for tic disposal Of thts cause,
and tlnt tho plaintiffs Ind their remedy nt COM
mon law IL they doaircd to avail tlomaclyoB
Of 1t. Equity wns no placo to dotorlnino tho
election OF M officer; which was tnattor OF
faot to DO discussed BY evidence, 1lo oitod
numerous nuthoritios He also held as to tho
place Of meeting for election PURPOSES md tho
charge TINT 1t Ind not boon ntlvortscd, and TINT
tho proceedings woro irregular, that It was noar
enough to tlo Office Of tho dtorh to bo soon by
that 1t was thoro that tho mooting waB going on;
that tho change from tho Olorlk's room 10 No. 10
.South Halatod street WINS rendered. necessary by
tho fact that THO oler1k's Office WAS unfit for tho
Hl4INHtg AAA ukutE tuhk AUIGhkkGE A1luiAT.
In support Of uomo Of those allegations, lo filed
the following aflldavlts:
Thomas Fitzgerald doposod that OH Tuesday,
tho 1st Of April ho WINS present at the town
election, lotwoon and 10 q. m.; md that Henry
Pilgrim gavo notice TINT tho town meeting would
tnko place Mt No. Ii South 1iaeted street, whore
upon tho Moderator Of sad town meeting aud
electors then present proceeded to TINT plaee,
nnd continued to hold Raid mooting, until p. m.,
said place bong distant not moro than 10U foet
4tn +r7$ ht1st5t,ey
lcr's Office WAS situated wllere Hnid town moot
ing WIS advertised to bo hold. Aflant waB oloctod
ono Of Tho Modoratore of said town meoking, and
acted as auch, and tho counting Of votes, etc.,
WA conducted With duo observance OF tho lows,
nnd without OWL practice Of any kind; and, fur
thor. said meeting 80 adionrned, for the roason
that tho entrance to said office was through
tho office Of Justice Van 'tWoua, u Hmall room
adequate for the accommodation Of tile electors;
md that by such removal tho interests Of no
electors wore injured.
Peter o'Flanagnn deposod that hc WAS present
at N1fller'e Office on the said OCCASION, and that
tho announcement OF tho chango was made, as
already stated, and everything dono aceording to
Law. Ho WAS elected ono Of tho clerks OF said
meeting, md aotod aa such throughout. Ho
gives tho Same ovldonco as the preceding witness
as to tho counting Of votcs being legally accom-
piiBhed, and as to tho REASONS for The adtourn-
ment: Further, that tho canvaBs of said vote
was commenced by tho Moderator md clerks
IN tho presence Of number OF tho
eonanns esSess q tn p H. O'Clock G5 th9 ho foox5S4 5
morning, whom tho full vote for Supervisor,
Collector, Asscyaor and Town Clerk waB ascor-
tanned. and tho following reraonB wero doclarod
elected to tte following ottlcos: Thomas F.
Lawrence o'Drion,. Collector !; James ". CLARK,
Town Clerk TINT the canvaanors then adjourned
till p. m. Of tho next day, to the house Of
Horny Pilgrim, 38l South Halated street, whore
hoing present. Further, TINT it was impossible
for any elector to havo entored tho building
where said Town Clerks office is situated,
whore the election wes advertised to take plscs,
without seeiag tho election in progress at said
IL South Haistod stroet; and finally, that said
Pilgrim and said Miller were duly sworn to dis
charge their duties before entering upon them.
Patrick 4: sleii made almoat precisely tho
Bamo affidavit aB that Of Thomas Fitzgerald, he
having aotod nj Moderator Mt Haid election.
Ja1noB Ryan, aa ono Of the electors prcBont,
malo Hiuilnr deposition.
Tho cou1iAel urKued at considerab1o longth on
tho above points: lie innistod that tho mon who
last year held office, except Morrison, wero be-
that tho election was aa near to complying with
tho law MS my election i'll the gtato lad eyor
been. These elections were committed to men
/ unskilled in tho law and tcchnicalities,
ana TIC .Conrta took notice Of the
nizod tho vitality Of elections TINT lad not been
procured by fraud. There Ind boon no fraud
charged in these elections; the worst that had
been aaid was that tho proceedings wore looHe
and irregular. Tho plaeo chosen for the meeting
was Convenient to tho Town ClorliB oilico md
tho electors Ind boon dulynoticed Of tho change.
It they had not bcen noticed, they could have
Heon what WAS going on, md taken part In It,.
He had no doubt TINT it waB an election that
would be sustained, no matter what court 1t was
Air. Haincs replied In an exhaustive argument.
Tho question wns whether such an election
could 10 hold at all that LIST April, md, as 10
tho remedy, whother: this Court had juriedicton:
| adopt township organization. Tho law was
changod, however, by which tho town meeting
was authorized, md flnniiy abolished uB59).
Ho had not found any statute that restored TINT
abolished law. Tho Constitution Of 1870 dia not
meeting you may elect town ot1lcora: but
the town meeting itsolf Was abolished
aud lnover restored, and tho tImo for
tho olection Of ofllcora changcd to November.
affairs OF Cook County should DO managed by a
Doard Of Commissioners. Tho counsel reviewed
! the laws touching tho matter In question at
great longth, failing to find anything to donol;sh
township organizations, as tho ,accompanimont
Of ro1noto settlements Of civilization whoro thoro
was no othor 1noana OF government, into tho
maturoa municipality, showing how absurd a
thing it was for Chlcago to have three township
g;o,vornments aud municipal government
her affairs. Tho argument WIS exhaustive on
every point. As to tho meeting at which tho
alleged election took place, ho held tho view TINT
1t wan Pilgrim, not tho electors, who had de-
clarcd the meeting adjourned that 1t was Pill
grim, not the electors, who tranaacted tho whole
Of tho buainosa !; ho polluted out that there wore
tlroo AoderatorB present, OF whom two could
certainly not havo boon hIoderators, for tho