Stevens County tribune. (Morris, Minn.) 1877-1880, 1878-10-10
To the Voters of stevens County

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Democratic voters, as they are not only in
terested, but are to be held responsible for
what they may do in this instance. AS a
party, it seems to me, we have made
grave mistake in nominating the man we
have for Register of Deeds. He is an old
man, and one whom l would delight to
honor, but his previous managem ent of the
office was such that do not see how an
honest fair-minded man can support him,
if he understands how it is.
There are reasons why any man should
not support him for the office that he as
pires to, and for which he got the nomina-
tion by having packed convention in his
own interest, which / have hesitatcd here
tofore to give, and those reasons are patent
in tie books that he kept while holding the
position before. l have hesitated hereto
fore to speak of this, on personal grounds,
but after calmly deliberating upon the
matter, feel it my duty to state that his
books that he kept while Register of Deeds
before, were not kept in shape so that any
one could tell how things were, and the
County Commissioners at one of their last
meetings, employed another party to try
and fix the Registers books in some kind of
shape, and it will not cost the county now
less than $75 to pay for doing, what he has
already been paid for doing. If he ever
was competent, his age or something else
has totally united him for such work. tt
urged in his behalf that he is all old man
and we ought to give him the office to help
him, and it would be praiseworthy to sup
port him for such q reason were he compe-
tent, but as it is, what man has done he
is liable to do again, and his incompetency
may be seen by any one by their examin-
ing the Registers books. You need not
take any ones word, the evidences of his
incompetency are in his own hand. Such
things as recording warranty deeds in the
the mortgage record, and the like, are such
acts of incompetency as no sane man will
desire to have done with books in his own
business at least; and are we as voters OF
Stevens county, prepared to put our records
again in such hands. The record he
makes is something more than an account
of the financial transactions of the day,
for that is soon settled by thorough 60
ing business man, and mistakes if they oc-
cur, can be more easily rectified; but mis-
takes in these accounts often make much
trouble. The records in this Office are
to be handed down to posterity, for their
future guidance. The title of the property
Of our children and our children's children
is in issue; and it is dependent largely up
on the record kept in this office; and ask,
are we prepared TO put our Registers books
in such hands again? 1t is said by some of
my friends ~ that I am no Democrat
Gentlemen, my past political life and rec
ord is open to you all, and no man who
knows it will say am no Democrat. But,
gentlemen, Democracy does not consist in
being the tool or cats paw of any clique
or ring, and | will not support man for a
public position when believe him to be
incompetent 10 fill it, no matter by what
party name he may call himself, or how
many nominations he may have had. This
is matter of business to great extent,
and Democrats and Republicans alike are,
or should be, interested in having the books
kept SO that in the future it may be known
what was done In our time, in the way of
transferring titles to our lands. These de-
ficiencies or mistakes, which now seem of
little account, are all certain to breed
trouble, and the longer it runs, the more
litigation and expense it will make to get
your titles perfected. Gentlemen, 1t Is
from no personal feeling that write this,
but feel that the records are unsafe in the
hands of the man who has received the
nomination of our party, and / ask all
thinking men to pause and reflect, examine
the books in the Registers Office, and then
vote as if you were employing the man to
conduct your own individual business.
Yours, respectfully,
L. E. PEARcE.
Morris Oct z 1879