The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1877-02-24

returning toard, IS to prevent an in
9uify into their acts" No; The answer
was, that when their acts were CON
iirmed In accordance with the laws Of
the State, tie inquiry was checked Ina
Louisiana anu Florida. They had pass I
ed beyoad tie certificate % tie gov /
ernOr, and reschsd the certificates of
the returning board; they stopped
there, not through ranctity OF the 4
returning board or the virtue Of Weils Z
aud Cassnaye, but because they
reached the great seal offhe State. To I.
Tx the line between the state and
Federal government had teen one of
the most difficult tasks of The fathers,
and they had fixed the 80 t,iat there
could be no internal strife IL each adj
hered 20 the line the fathers had
drawn. The decision Of this tritunsi
must rest IN the confidence Of the PEG
pie, II il rested in their confidence a;
all, on some great principle II the
State rights n compared Win Federal
authority. If II rested upon technical
grounds the people would not receive
II in confidence, aud the wound which
this commission was organized To heal
would continue To bleed tor the next
four years.
Mr.. Merrick said the law required
secretary OF state to prepare two list
of the electors-noi those who had re-
ceived the highest hunter Of Vote.
but those elected. Who was TO deter
mine who We're elected, but the pariie-
engaged In this transaction They
must determine who were elected. In
the Florida case It WIS claimed that
The power to determine rested In the
returning board. Ia Oregon he clEimed
the power 10 issue the rertifisst. ear.
ried with it the perquisite Of deter
mining towhom they should he issued.
To withhold the certificate from
party deemed TO be disqualified was.
he submitted, the legitimate execution
Of an executive trust. In the ether
cases it was claimed the only
time when al error could
be reached was between the
counting OF the votes and the time
when the electors entered upOn their
duties. IL Was 1T precisely this time
that this much abused governor at
tempted to preserve the State from the
odium Of charge of having violated
the constitution OF the United states
Referring 10 Mr.. Matthew = a!llsion 10
conspiracy, and the syphtr 'e,esrsus
between Gramacy park suf Oregon.
Mr.. MeTrick said no such eylaoucs was
offered, aud had u been of feI they
would not have or -cl-I FIzy antei
the truth, aaI nothing bJ. the truth.
Mr.. Merrick continued his remarks
in reference to this defiance of the
act Of the governor, aud said
his certificate was conclusive until
otherwise decided 10y legal tribunal.
! He maintained that 10y the position
of the certiil ,ates which the governor
had placsd in his hands CroLin wa
de fGoto an elector. Which as the
eleetor, Cronin OF watts? What had
Watts ? Nothing; the abstract which
was certified IN certificate uumber one
was not, he maintained, 8 canvass
I of the votes. II was the resul; # the
votes cast at the election, aid not a
statement Of The canvass made accord
ing TO the law by the secretary 81 state
IN the presence Of the governor.
Judge Miller asked il there were
other papers ia the possession Of the
secretary of State. what other papers
could be made?
Mr.. Merrick said it had tsen shown
in the other Stases, that other and
very remarkable papers were made
He understood that lie canvass
and the abstract were very different
papers, and il il had been intended a.
the canvass, the certificate should have
certified that it was a canvass.
Justice Miller asked what Mr.. Mer-
rick mesDt by canynss Of votes.
Mr. Merriek replied THAI lac meant a
sighting OF the votes. Here were The
votes 10 be caDvassed. He would Eft
them and return them. In this can.
ysss the secretary OF State had not Ger
titled TO the returns. He next Insisted
that certified COPY OF no paper In the
I Office OF the secretary OF the State of
/ Oregon could be -ei up in opposition
TO the certificate of the governor.
Here was the certificate of the gov
ernor, signed by the sec etary
( OF State, with the broad
seal OF the State and no mere
certified copy of an abstract Of votes
could be set up against it
MIR. Merrick briefly contended that
the constitution did execute ITSELF aud
cited authorities Ia support OF his por-
ton, In reference 10 The vacancy. He
coutended that il Odell aud Cartwright
filled vacancy. they did so on the
resignation Of Watts, and not on the
absence of Cronin, who holding the
certificate was bonafide elector. The
Law said and provided for a vacancy
occasionei by q word of limited mean
| ing, which did not cause vacancy
existing.
Mr., derrick closed with request to
the commission to adhere 10 the
decisions in the case OF Louisiana and
Florida, it mattered little whether
they conformed to his views or
the decisions, but it was
essential that they should stanS un-
ehalisnged by the power by which
they were pronounced. He ssid the
people looked upon the supreme court
as en- idol, and cherished 1t as above
reproaeh. When they lost their con-
hdeace in 1t, then, indeed, the night
would have come.
ct half-past four o'clock the com
mission took the ease, and the result
Tat y:S0l is expected momentarily.
LOUISIANA.