The Portland daily press., 1879-11-20
TbY TELEGRAPH.
THE CONSPIRACY.
Republicans Still Refused Ac-
cess to the Returns.
Gov. Garcelon Evading
His Promise.
THE PRACTICE OF PREVIOUS
COUNCILS.
Republicans Preparing to Appeal
to the Courts.
THE SITUATION VIEWED FROM DIFF
FERENT sTANDPOINTs.
THE PRACTICE OF PREVIOUS
COUNCILS.
Republicans Preparing to Appeal
to the Courts.
THE SITUATION VIEWED FROM DIFF
FERENT STANDPOINTS.
Especial to the Press.l

| Especial to the Press.l
AUGUSTA Nov 19.-The more decent men
look into this retur ming board business the
| more odious does it become. There is in fact
| no redeeming feature about the whole proceed
ing
| Republicans surely have no reason to COM
plain of the proceedings of the past two days.
On Monday the Governor, by his frankness
and seeming fairness, succeeded in lending
| quite an air of responsibility to the Councils
plot If the Republicans could have free ad-
mission to the returns and opportunity to COR
rect them they could not complain so far as the
counting of the votes goes If the Council
made any unjnst and outrageous decisions, that
| is another matter. But the Council, by their
| high-handed action in refusing such permits
sion when asked for, completely upset the
| whole matter, and the few Democrats who are
in town have given them some pretty severe
/ tongue lashings. This bull-headed action on
the part of the Council is attributed in part to
| Capt. Chase, but chiefly to Councillor Brown,
who, as is well known, takes the ground that
! the returns are for the especial use of the
| Governors Council. AS the matter now
stands the Republicans have the vantage
| ground and they will take very good care that
they do not lose it.
Owing to the attitude of the Council the
Republicans have been placed in the embar-
RAISING position, temporarily, of not knowing
what their opponents were going to do or what
| position they were going to take. They are
now, however, ready for them. They have
considered every possible position the Council
can take and are getting in readiness to meet
them on their ground. The advisory commit
tee have been carefully studying the situation
and have got their plans into shape. 1t is safe
to say that every inch of the ground will be
contested.
Some injudicious or over-zealous friend Of
Gov. Garcelon has put him in very unpleas-
ant position by attributing to him words which
he never uttered. One paper has published
that he said to Gov. Dingley, when he appear
ed to inquire at what time the returns would
be considered open, ETC.:
II am surprised that gentlemen occupying
the position of those you name should engage
in such proceeding. | can but consider the
whole exhibition here this afternoon a most
out, of which we have heard so much, L can
| not conceive how you should have arrived at
| such conclusion, unless it was your guilty
| conscience that prompted the idea."
| Gov. Garcelon never used any such language
to any of the Republicans who have called
upon him. The person who originated this
saying drew wholly upon his imagination The
conversation between the Governor and gen.
tlemen who called upon him was very brief
and consisted entirely of questions and ans
wers. The Governor is reported to have said
this morning that he did not, in his conduct of
the business propose to be governed by any
precedents which may have been established.
The practice has grown up Of giving certiti-
Gates to those members who it was evident had
| majority of the votes whether the returns
were technically correct or not. He, however,
proposes to be governed only by the law. His
decision in every case will be governed by the
law let it hit who it may.
The report has been current here today that
the National Democratic Committee are at the
bottom of this scheme to capture the Legisla-
tn re, having an eye to the possible necessity OF
seven G. ectoral votes next December
The Democrats and Greenbackers in the
country, who are mixed up with this scheme,
are very vigorously at work supplying back
bone to the Council Letters by the dozen are
coming in from different parts of the state
urging them to stand firm. MCLEAN.
ITO the Associated Pressl
AUGUSTA, Nov. Ex-Governor Garcelon sat
with the Council to-day, both in the forenoon
and afternoon session. Hon. Andrew Lacy
of Wiscasset called at the council chamber in
the forenoon to seq the returns from Lincoln
county He stated that he had been promised
by the Governor that he might see them The
Governor stated that the conversation related
to the returns of the election of county officers,
and not to those of senators and representa-
tives. Mr.. Lacy then stated that his desire
was to see the returns of coun ty commissioner
and senator, but the council declined to let
him see the returns in either case.
Hon. E. G. Harrington of Fryeburg, a men,
Der of Gov. Connor's council for two years,
stated to the advisory committee to-day that
the uniform custom for the two terms in which
he was in office was to advise the parties in in
terest of defective returns in all cases where
their rejection could possibly change the result
of the election, and that the returns were in
all cases freely exhibited. He cited the we'll
known Observation-Disclosures case, in which the
Hon. Mr.. Madigan and Peter Charles Keegan
of Aroostook were permitted to spend long
time in examining with mnuteness the returns
from every town and plantation in the county.
No communication having been received
from the council in response to any of the let
tiers addressed to them by counsel or by sena-
tors elect, Messrs. Baker & Baker, counsel,
addressed them the following letter this after
noon:
AUGUSTA, Me-, Wednesday afternoon,
Nov 10, 1879.
To the Honorable, the Governor and Council of
the State Of Maine.
We beg to call the attention of your honora-
be board to the communication we laid before
you yesterday. After its receipt yep continued
in session for some hours, and to-day you held
another session lasting the entire forenoon, and
up, indeed, to one o'clock p. m. We cannot
wait over your adjournment of this afternoon
session without endeavoring to impress upon
your honorable board the great hardShipS and
wrongs under which our clients are suffering
in consequence of being excluded from an ex-
animation of the election returns. You have
by official order duly recorded in the office of
the Secretary of State, declared that the twen-
ty days allowed by statute for applications for
corrections should begin to run from Monday,
the 18th inst. We are now at the close OF
Wednesday the 18th, and have lost three days
of the legal period according to the terms of
said order. Excluding the three Sundays Nov.
I'D and 30th, and Dec. 18th, we should only
have fourteen days for actual examination
of returns if we were permitted access
to them tomorrow. One of our clients has
received the suggestion from a member Of
your honorable board that he might get
certified copies of records from the town
clerks of all the towns i'll his county
Putting ont of consideration the labor aud eX-
pense of so doing we beg to submit to your
honorable board that after the certified copies
had all been procured our client would stand
precisely where lie stands today. What he needs
Joknow and what the statute gives him the
right to know, as we respectfully submit, is
whether the returns before your honorable
board are in all respects regular or whether
they are defective in those points for which
the statutes provide the mode of correction.
III regular there remains nothing to be DONE
Ii irregular and defective on those points
which are durable by a reference to the town
records then the party interested may at once
procure the necessary certificates from the
town clerks 1t surely cannot be necessary to
argue before your honorable board that the
law giving the right to correct errors carries
with it of necessity the right to ascertain what
those errors are. 1t could not be possible
to have been in the contemplation of the law
making power to confer upon parties interested
the right to correct errors i'll returns, and at
the same time to give to the Governor and
+Io r,yjt tn cav hat tbosp nartips hal