Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1880-03-19

I'd ,h.t when it left Gouldsboro for the office
81 Tho Secretary of State the name was OH
rar Rraslon. and that the eiasure and adj
d;,;on to the letter P. were made after IT lett
tho torn where it was sealed up. He produc-
cd the town record, and upon Inspection It
anpeared that the name was invariably writ
ron Oliver p, Bragdon and that the letter r.
was uniformly made in the same manner;
tho loon forming the top of the letter resting
AGAINST the bods of the letter With
ont anv addition. 1t is perfectly evident to
the committee upon inspection that the letter
p found in the return was originally made IN
this way. but that since it was written an at
tempt has been made to change IT to the let
ter b, BY adding in different ink
the lower loop. 1t is also evident that LOT
some reason the party making the alteration
scratched out the lower half of the added
curved line, as if to leave the question IN
Doubt whether it was the letter L or Is. IL
has occurred to your committee that TINS era
sure NAV have been made in order that the
letter could be read for the purpose OF
counting out the vote, and could be read p
in case the forger should be detected and IN
dicted for mis- crime.
The tabulation shows that the vote was
ori finally tabulated for Oliver =. Bragdon,
and that his name was carried out as the
person who appeared to be elected. but that
afterwards the name was erased: that the
vote of Gouldsboro was tabulated for Oliver
Il. Bragdon: that the name of James FIVE, the
fusion candidate. was substituted for that OF
Bragdon and the certificate issued to- Flye.
The committee entertain no reasonable DOUBT
that the alteration and erasures were made
after the returns came to Augusta, for the
purpose of counting out Oliver p. Bragdon
and counting in James FIVE.
Hebron.
In the return of the town of Hebron for
county officers of Oxford county. the name of
Henry G. Walker, fusion candidate for Com
missioner, was originally written Henry c.
Walker, but it appears that the
letter C has been changed to g..
by the addition of a curved line or stem pass
ing down through the bottom loop of the Z.
and below the line converting the letter {. to
c. and enabling the seventy-two votes
thrown for Henry c. Walker to be counted
for him aud they were so tabulated by the
Governor and Council. 1t is evident upon
inspection that this addition has been made
by different hand and with different ink
from the original letter. As late AS Decem-
Der s. 1879 the county being very close, the
returns were examined by prominent gentle
men from Oxford county, and it was discov-
cred that the return was for Henry c. Walk
er. and the attention of John Il. Foster, one
of the council. was called to it. 1t also ap
pearcd that soon after, that the fact was pub
lished in the Oxford Democrat. After this
date it was changed from c. to G. the vote
tabrlated for Henry e. Walker instead OF
Henry c. Walker. The tremor of the hand
of the person making the change is plainly
visible under the magnifying glass. and dis
closes the agitation which would naturally
attend such glaring forgery. The certiti-
cate of election was given to Henry G..
Walker. the fusion candidate.
Berwick.
In the senatorial return from the town of
Berwick. the middle initial letter in the name
of George II. Wakefield, republican candi-
date for senator has been changed to the let
ter A. The republican vote for George II.
Wakefield was two hundred and fiffv-eiyht.
The letter II was originally made by two
downward strokes of the pen. open at the
top, and connected together by a cross-tie: a
very common way Of making the letter II.
1t is evidenttO your committee upon inspec-
ton that the alteration was effected by clos
ing the top of the II by a curved line, max
ing it an A with a rounded top. and chang
George A. Wakefield. The color of the ink
is different and the line of joinder between
the letter and amendment is clearly defna-
Bile. The town clerk of Berwick was be-
fore the committee and testified that he never
made the letter \ in the manner disclosed in
the name of George II. Wakefield, and never
made the A in question. The record of the
town clerk fully confirmed this statement
that he was well acquainted with the names
and that the alteration was made, and the
forgery done after it came to Augusta. The
vote was in the first instance tabuated for
George II. Wakefield, but afterwards was
erased, and the vote was then tabulcted for
George A Wakefield and the certificate was
issued to Ira S. Libby, the fusion candidate.
There can be no doubt under the testimony
that this alteration was made for the purpose
OF counting in Ira s. Libby, the fusion sena-
tor from York, and that it was made while
in the hands of the Governor and Council.
and while the business of tabulaton was in
progress.
Wells.
In the senatorial return from Wells, there
has been an alteration in the name of Josiah
A. Stover, the fusion candidate for senator.
by inserting the middle initial letter "a. ="
and by erasing part of the letter S. in Sto.
WI, al" iS-"iitiiiS tiie s'tiilc so as to leave
room for the insertion of the added letter.
George G. Hatch, the town clerk of Wells.
was summoned before your committee and
produced the town record, and also the oripi-
nal minutes from which he made up the re-
turns. In both record and minutes the name
was written Josiah Slower. After inspection
of the returns the clerk testified that the letter
"a was not in his handwriting, or the
handwriting of either Of the municipal off,
GERS, and that it had been added since it left
the town Of Wells. The letter is made in
imitation of the same letter found in other
parts OF the return, and is evidently moor
forgery. The vote was tabulated for Josiah
A. Slower
DAYTON.
In the senatorial return from DAYTON two
changes appear in the names of the fusion
candidates for senator. In this case the let
ter A. in the name of Josiah A. Slower. was
originally II. but has been changed in mucb
the same way as the change was effected in
the name Of George II. Wakefield
but with opposite motives. In WakefielJ's
case the change was made for the purpose of
depriving republican Senator of the votes
which appeared to hare been thrown for him !.
IN Stover's case it was to enable the Governor
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