The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-04-09
THE MAINE FRAUD.
What the Legislative Investigation
DisclOsed---A Clear Statement %
Counting Out Process.

what the Legislative investigation
Counting Out Process.
A New York tribune reporter recent
ly interviewed Eugene Hale, who was
chairman of the Legislative committee
that investigated the attempt to steal the
state government of Maine and the ma
jority of the legislature, and, among
other things, secured from hIm the fol-
lowing clear statement of the method of
procedure of the conspirators: Some
Of the expedients to which Garcelon and
his council resorted to manufacture
Fusion majority in the Legislature were
amazing for their lack of decent con-
sistency and their utter recklcssness.
For example, they laid down rule that
when an initial was used instead of the
full first name of candidate on q por-
ton of the tickets, such tickets should be
they applied to the Republican candi-
dates, but refused to apply to the
Fusion candidates. The same course
was pursued in regard to trifing errors
in names. Thus in Oxford county one of
the Republican candidates for senator was
Francis w. Redlon, and in the town of
Hanover the Republican vote as shown
by the return was for Francis w. Red
lond. The governor and council refused
to count the vote for Mr.. Redlon and he
lost the vote of the town. But in Lin
coin Plantation, in the same county,
while the Fusion candidate was Charles
Rankins, the vote of the plantation was
thrown for Charles Rankin, and the gov
ernor and council tabulated and counted
1t for Charles Rankins. In Cumberland
senator ~as Isaac r.. Quimby, but the
New Gloucester and Raymond vote was
thrown for Isaac F. Quinby. The gov
ernor and council tabulated and counted
the vote for Isaac F. Quimby, while in
Aroostook county, where in the Ashland
district John Burnham was the Repub-
ican candidate for the legislature and
the vote of Ashland was returned for
John Burnam, the governor and council
refused to tabulate it for John Burn
ham,"
"What did Garcelon say when you
questioned him about these perform
ances 2"
81 put the cases of Quimby and
Burnham to him. His excuse was that
he did not know any family in the state
by the name Of Quinby, 30 he ordered
oil the votes tabulated for Quimby, but
he knew there were humans rs well as
Burnhams in the state, so he directed the
separation of the vote. will give you
one more example of the way they disre-
garded their own rules. They had q
rule that the returns mnst by signed by
each of the town officers individually.
Under this rule, because the signatures
on the return from New-Sharon bore
some resemblance to each other the re-
turn was rejected, and, although the town
officers forwarded affidavits establishing
the fact that each had written his own sig
nature, Republican representative was
thrown out. But in the town Of Somer-
vile, in Lincoln county, where the
signatures of all the selectmen and the
town clerk are plainly and undeniably in
the handwriting of the town clerk, and
when the town clerk testifes that he
wrote them al-yet, as the vote in the
town resulted in Fusion majority Of
eleven, and senator depended on that
vote, the return was received and count
ed, and upon it certificate issued to
Isaac T. Hobson, the Fusionist candi-
date"
evil you give me one or two exam
Piles of the forgeries they committed ?"
Gone of their tricks was to alter the
middle initial of Republican candidates
names ON a portion Of the returns and
then count such alterations as If they
were returns for another person. Thus
in the representative return from Han
cock the letter P. in the name of Oliver
p. Bragdon was changed to B. In the
senatorial return from Berwick, the II.
in the name of George 81. Wakefield
was converted into an A. These altera-
tions were made with o different kind of
ink from that used in the original re-
turns, and the clerks who made the
returns swore that the changes were
made after they left their hands. It
would weary you to hear a repetition of
oil the frauds we discovered. At the last
minute when we thought we had got to
the bottom of the business We found
that one Repubh, an representative had
been counted out by false footing in
the tabulated return of about two hun
bred votes-a trick 30 simple that we
had neglected to look for it.